Steve Austria, today, writing in the DDN, denied that he is mediocre and listed legislative accomplishments to attempt to prove his point. Austria is the Republican candidate to represent Ohio’s 7th District in the US Congress, to replace retiring Republican, David Hobson.
Austria’s article responded to the DDN’s prior endorsement of Austria’s Democratic opponent, Sharen Neuhardt. The DDN’s October 17 editorial urged its readers to choose Neuhardt saying, “Neuhardt is the smarter, bolder choice for 7th District,” and warned that if Austria is elected this year, the 7th District is likely to be stuck with him. The DDN wrote, “If the voters of the 7th District choose Sen. Austria, they are settling for mediocrity, quite possibly on a long-term basis.“
The newspaper seems to be encouraging Republicans in the 7th District, rather than settle for mediocrity, to reject Austria and to use the next two years to find a stronger, more imaginative Republican — one who would be worthy of support for a long career.
Austria in his ads emphasizes that he is “conservative” and accuses Neuhardt of being a “liberal trial lawyer with extreme views.” But the DDN in its editorial endorsement said Neuhardt is in the “mainstream” and, in fact, in 2006 voted for incumbent congressman, Republican Dave Hobson.
Austria makes a big deal in his TV ads that he is all in favor of making Bush’s tax cuts to the wealthy permanent. The biggest beneficiary of that tax cut, by far, was incomes in excess of $250,000. Austria brags that in the Ohio Assembly he helped pass Ohio’s 2005 Tax Reduction Act, but, again doesn’t say that this tax cut disproportionately benefited top incomes. The 2005 law reduced personal income taxes by $2.2 billion each year. What Austria doesn’t say in his ad is that Ohio’s 2005 law, that he helped construct, gave 26% of this big tax cut to a very small group of taxpayers — to incomes in excess of $340,000, averaging about $650,000.
The original DDN editorial that rejected Austria had two parts. The second part used a strong word in the headline — “shameless” — to describe Austria’s attacks on Neuhardt for befriending a Rwandan refugee, and suggests that Austria is engaging in “gutter politics of the most despicable sort.” Austria likes to use the word “harboring,” but the DDN defends Neuhardt’s actions in helping this refugee and shames Austria for making her generosity in doing so a matter of political attack.
The DDN says, “Sen. Austria points to the case as symbolic of the country’s immigration problem. Not even close. This isn’t about people crossing the southern border in pursuit of jobs. This country’s policy of providing asylum to people who face persecution — bureaucratic as the process is — speaks to our sense of humanity. Sen. Austria needs to display that same sense of decency.”
Here is an exchange between Austria and Neuhardt, during their debate, about the Rwandan refugee:
