The 2028 presidential campaign likely will start about a year from now, but Democrats are not waiting to take on a likely candidate: Ohioan and Vice President JD Vance.
Late last month, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear took a road trip to Ohio, where he spoke to a crowd of fellow Democrats in Vance’s home turf of Butler County.
Beshear, who is considering a run for president himself, said Vance has abandoned his home region. He called Vance’s memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," hillbilly hate and poverty tourism.
Other potential Democratic candidates for president have also taken swipes at Vance.
A spokesman for Vance told The Associated Press that when Beshear seeks publicity, he ends up humiliating himself.
To preview Vance’s likely presidential campaign, we turn to the "Columbus on the Record" panel. Joining us are reporters Jo Ingles from Ohio Public Radio and Andrew Tobias from Signal Statewide, Democrat Joseph Mas from the Ohio Hispanic Coalition and Republican former state legislator Gene Krebs, who gives us the view from far western Ohio.
Snollygoster of the week
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the state park rangers, what kind of shrewd politics are they up to?
As Signal Statewide and the Columbus Dispatch first reported, they want to change the name of the Charles O. Trump Wildlife Area in Pickaway County, south of Columbus.
Technically, ODNR would not change the name but shorten it to the Trump Wildlife Area.
A spokesman declined to say what prompted the agency to offer the option of eliminating "Charles O." from the area’s signs and marketing materials.
As for Charles, he was a local farmer who died a bachelor 20 years ago and donated 128 acres of land for conservation purposes. He was not related to the president of the United States.
For whatever reason, by trying to change the name of the Charles O. Trump Wildlife Area, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources gets our Snollygoster of the Week award.