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ELECTIONS
Ohio GOP chair blasts McCain over 2012 primary plan
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Days before Republican presidential candidate John McCain was expected to announce his running mate, possibly in swing state Ohio, he received unwelcome criticism from a stalwart ally.
The longtime chairman of the Ohio Republican Party lashed out at McCain late Wednesday for failing to back his plan to change the way the party holds primaries.
"McCain has himself been critical of the drift of the presidential primary system toward a national primary, yet his campaign refused to apply the leadership that would have prevented it," Ohio GOP chairman Bob Bennett said in a statement.
Although Bennett is retiring after the election, he is still the leader of a state political party that must help deliver Ohio's votes to McCain.
His support is crucial given that no Republican has won the White House without taking Ohio and only two Democrats have done so in more than a century.
A Republican National Committee rules committee in April gave initial backing to a plan to spread out the primaries to avoid the creation of a de facto national primary.
But the plan approved by the RNC's full rules committee Wednesday in Minneapolis rejected the so-called Ohio Plan in favor of a system allowing most states to hold primaries in March.
Bennett has been critical of such a system, which he says creates a national primary that focuses attention on a few big media markets.
It also encourages early campaigning, more spending and less contact with the average voter, Bennett said.
The plan approved Wednesday must still be approved by the GOP convention rules committee next week.
Bennett said the McCain campaign refused to step in and support the plan. He also blamed RNC Chair Robert Duncan for the defeat.
Messages seeking comment were left Thursday for the RNC and the McCain campaign.
Such an intraparty attack was rare for Bennett, a powerful state chairman who, after taking the job in 1988, led his party to almost total dominance of Ohio government for more than a decade.
Democrats regained four of five statewide offices in 2006, but Republicans still have all seats on the state Supreme Court and control both chambers of the state Legislature.
Last year, the party selected Dayton-area Republican Kevin DeWine as deputy chairman, a newly appointed post, to groom him for taking over the party after Bennett leaves.
