Mitt makes a new friend....

So far, it's been pretty hard to find a southwest Ohio Republican elected official who has committed to one of the herd of GOP presidential candidates. They've pretty much been sitting on their hands, which appears to be a posture adopted by a whole lot of potential GOP primary voters as well.

Cincinnati Council member Leslie Ghiz has pledged allegiance to Rudy Giuliani, but it's pretty slim picking after that.

It's most unlike the Democratic side, where you can find plenty of high-profile politicians who have jumped on either the Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama bandwagons.

So, no wonder the Mitt Romney campaign is crowing about an endorsement from freshman State Rep. Shannon Jones, who represents Warren County.

Whether the Jones endorsement will cure Republican timidity about their presidential contest remains to be seen.