Meanwhile, in Warren County...

Enquirer reporter Janice Morse, jmorse@enquirer.com, filed this report from Warren County:

Warren County Republicans on Friday fell short of Gov. Bob Taft's request for a trio of candidates for a vacant judgeship.

Only two hopefuls stepped forward -- both white male Republican lawyers in a predominantly Republican county.

Taft will be choosing between Lebanon attorney Jay Revelson, who ran unsuccessfully for a county court job in 2004, and Joe Kirby, who for 10 months has been filling the job Revelson wants.

Whomever Taft chooses will take over judicial duties of Dallas Powers, the 71-year-old jurist who resigned in disgrace last year after he was convicted of some lower-level charges in a seedy sexual-harassment scandal that some labeled as "disorder in the court." Dare we say he was disrobed? Nah.

In other GOP action during a two-hour meeting at the county court in Lebanon, local Republicans chose David Fornshell, a lawyer and Blue Ash prosecutor who lost his bid for Warren County prosecutor in 2004, as their recommendation for a Board of Elections slot. The Ohio Secretary of State will have to decide whether Fornshell gets the job Stella Hagemeyer is leaving.

When she first started the job more than three decades ago, the youthful-looking Fornshell may have been reading about Dick and Jane. Still, the party faithful admire Fornshell for his work with the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004, and they chose him over Hagemeyer's pick: Procter & Gamble retiree Barbara Franco, by a vote of 62-52.