COLUMBUS- Republican candidate Ken Blackwell laid out his economic plan and his plan to improve funding for Ohio’s schools, but it was his one-two punch following a question about prison recidivism that that put democrat Ted Strickland on the defensive.

   And in doing so, conservative Christians across Ohio finally got to let out a collective affirmative cheer for their candidate who verbalized the dirty little secret that even some main line Republicans wanted kept in the closet.

   So what was it that Blackwell so boldly exposed during the fourth and final Ohio gubernatorial debate on Monday Oct 16 when Strickland proposed “community corrections” facilities for “non-violent” offenders?

   Blackwell immediately jumped in and said he questioned Strickland’s judgment as Strickland should know about recidivism when a former Strickland campaign staffer was convicted of “exposing himself … and you knew it...why did you cover up the record of this employee? Why not stand up? You should be ashamed of yourself.”

   Earlier this year during the Ohio Democratic gubernatorial primary, challenger Brian Flannery, also tried to expose the presence of the sex offender on Strickland’s payroll, who has a history of sexual misconduct involving minors going back to 1994. That effort was quickly quashed.

   Finally the information has gone beyond the network of Values Voters because Ken Blackwell took bold advantage of the opportunity.

   In addition, Blackwell, (of which one of the media panelists referred to as Blackwell’s “October surprise”) pointed out that in 1999 Strickland failed to support a congressional resolution that would condemn sex between children and adults, a resolution that NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) supported.

   More in the debate coming soon.