Three's a charm....or deja vu all over again.

There's another election coming up. . . so it must be time for Gov. Bob Taft to leave the United States.

Haven't you read that somewhere before?

Yes. The Cincinnati Republican with the lowest public approval rating of any U.S. governor left our nation the month preceding the last two statewide elections.

Today, Taft announced plans to go on a seven-day trade mission to Mexico in October -- just before his successor is elected Nov. 7. Mexico - the source today of illegal immigrants and political angst - is also Ohio's second-largest export market.

It will be the governor's 10th trade mission in eight years, and second to Mexico, which he visited in 2003.

Taft went on an 11-day European trade mission last October, leaving Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson behind to do the heavy-stumping for passage of the $2 billion Issue 1 state bond issue that included $500 million for Third Frontier research and development. (Johnson was rewarded with a trade mission to China in December.)

Taft's poll ratings continue to be the lowest of any governor in the United States, according to 50-state tracking by Survey USA. http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2006/50StateGov060518Approval.htm

The most recent poll, taken last month, put his approval among Ohioans at 18 percent, with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

In April, two weeks before the primary election, Taft went to Germany and Belgium.

Since his election in 1998, Taft also has led foreign missions to Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Japan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. In a press statement, the governor said the trade missions resulted in $882 million in new business and investments and nearly 2,600 new jobs.

Taft said his fall trip, scheduled Oct. 8-14, will allow economic development and university participants to make business contacts in Monterrey, Mexico City, and Mexico's central industrial region, which includes Queretaro, Guanujuato, Leon and Silao.