Combover, the sequel

It looks like we're not totally rid of Steve Chabot yet.

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio has filed a federal statement of candidacy for the 2010 election, saying his unsuccessful re-election bid last November was partially sidelined by the candidacy of President Barack Obama.

Other than the fact that we'd just as soon that he'd go away, this isn't a great development for the Dems. Sadly, Chabot may have a point. With the exception of a few precincts in Delhi, Westwood, and Colerain, he outperformed John McCain's numbers across the board.

Driehaus, as did many other candidates across the country, benefitted from the coattails of Obama, and it's hard to gauge how strong the pull of Ted Strickland's gubernatorial campaign will be (trying to determine his effect in 2006 is almost impossible because of the polarizing effect that Ken Blackwell had, rendering that comparison almost useless).

Clearly this is going to be a swing district, and a hotly contested election, in 2010. Don't you want to be a U.S. Representative? Get yourself elected, and the re-election campaign starts just a few months later. Sighhh.