Schmidt playing hard to get

More fallout from what Malia Rulon reported in her "Inside Washington" column today regarding Rep. Jean Schmidt and the death penalty:


The Queen City Lodge of the FOP's political action committee would probably like to endorse incumbent Jean Schmidt in the 2nd District GOP primary - after all, the police union endorsed her twice last year - but the congresswoman is making it hard for them to do.

What the FOP wants, president Kathy Harrell said Monday morning, is a straight answer from Schmidt on whether or not she supports the death penalty.

Schmidt said she did support the death penalty, in an endorsement questionaire that went out from the FOP, as did her primary oppponent, Bob McEwen. Then, the FOP found out that on a candidate questionnaire from the Anderson Township Republican Club, she proclaimed herself opposed to the death penalty.

Harrell said the candidates were brought in for interviews following the questionaire and "asked her directly three times.'' Now, Harrell said, the FOP's candidate screening committee wants her to explain the discrepancy.

Schmidt had a different take on it when asked by the Enquirer: "Do I personally dislike (the death penalty)? Yeah. Would I change the law? No.'' In a letter to FOP vice president Keith Fangman, Schmidt included a long list of circumstances under which the federal death penalty is applicable, and ended by saying the federal death penalty "has taken on new importance in the post-9/11 world. I support the federal death penalty as a needed tool in the war against terror.''

Harrell said the FOP still wants to endorse somebody; and is willing to give Schmidt one more shot at explaining.

Update, 2:30 p.m.

McEwen today issued a press release headlined "McEwen Has Always Supported the Death Penalty."

Highlights:

Cincinnati- Bob McEwen issued the following statement today after questions were raised about the record of his opponent’s support of the death penalty.

"Capital punishment is a necessary part of our criminal justice system. It is both a deterrent to committing crimes such as murder and it is also a fitting punishment for those who take a life. The death penalty should be a tool available to prosecutors for certain heinous crimes. It is my hope that, as new technology, such as DNA analysis, brings greater certainty in identifying and convicting the guilty, the interminable appeals process can be streamlined. I have always been forthright in my support of the death penalty with everyone who asks."

McEwen issued this statement today after Kathy Harrell, President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 69, called a press conference to reveal that McEwen’s opponent, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, gave contradictory answers to the FOP and the Anderson Township Republican Club during her campaign last year. This inconsistency, the latest in a string of such statements from Schmidt, was reported in today’s Enquirer. Schmidt is already the subject of two Ohio Elections Commission probes into lying on her resume and falsely claiming endorsements from two Congressmen and a non-profit group.