The Morning After

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Arshinkoff / Coughlin, Democrats '08
• Date: Mar 5,2008

Two results from last night I want to discuss:

First, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama by more than almost anyone expected here in Ohio. I felt she would win and said so, but I thought her best case scenario would be around a 52-48% win. Due to the usual delays in Cuyahoga County (seriously, what is their problem), we won't know the exact tally until tomorrow probably. Clinton also won in Texas and Rhode Island. Anyone counting out a Clinton comeback was jolted by reality tonight. This race is far from over and Obama backers/cultists trying to fool themselves into thinking they have it won are wrong. I dread saying it, but Ted Strickland was also a big winner, as he put a lot of energy and political capital into helping Clinton win our state. Now he can focus on not fixing school funding and bragging about how he moved his office to another state building. Jennifer Brunner did not seem to have a smooth night for her first big election as Secretary of State.

Secondly, after voting in Summit County tonight both Alex Arshinkoff and Kevin Coughlin are claiming they won more seats than the other. Now that I am no longer involved in the race, I will be discussing this race frequently here. Coughlin claims his side won 83-64 in the competitive races while AA says his side came out in top winning 81-66. Four races were exact ties. Coughlin won his personal precinct race against Cuyahoga Falls Don Robart despite a last minute door to door effort by Robart himself; Arshinkoff decided to spare himself the possible embarrassment of a loss by not running for reelection in his own precinct. I know this is a hot topic around here, and I am glad we are finally able to discuss it. We look forward to reading your comments on this battle here at The Point. It has been a heated topic on other Ohio.com boards - I have been following them - and hopefully we can get some discussion started here as well.

Now the fun part begins as the battle to secure enough votes to win for the leadership race begins in earnest. The 475 people who have a say in this race will either stick with the status quo of failure or they will opt for new leadership for the Summit County GOP.