But while Blackwell may still get some of our individual votes, he's lost our endorsement, for whatever it's worth. His total nastiness at the Monday debate with his opponent, Democrat Ted Strickland, has proven that he's really not the kind of man we need as our next governor. Personal attacks of dubious accuracy should have no place in a political campaign. As Strickland said, "Mr. Blackwell, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Both Blackwell and Strickland have campaigned as religious people. Blackwell is an evangelical Christian and Strickland an ordained Methodist minister. The Monday debate showed which one has a greater understanding of Christian conduct.

But Blackwell still had some good ideas — a state health insurance plan modeled on the one Massachusetts just adopted; a flatter state tax with fewer brackets; leasing the turnpike to promote economic development. It's a shame that these will likely be abandoned now, particularly since Strickland's proposals don't even come close to what Ohio needs.

Strickland is not much of a candidate. In Congress he's voted as a liberal most of the time, heavy on spending and taxation. He has few ideas, and some of the few he has presented have been analyzed as unworkable. He has no daring, no noticeable personality or charisma. But he's a nice man who works well with others ...

With Governor Strickland, we'll likely have another Bob Taft or worse — but with Ken Blackwell we could easily have four years of gridlock, with little or nothing getting done. It's a poor choice, and one that we'll have to let local voters make without any recommendations from us.