Ohio 13 -- The Democrats new playbook

In Ohio's 13th Congressional District, the race is between incumbent Betty Sutton, a Democrat, and Republican businessman Tom Ganley. The only public poll was in mid August and it showed Sutton two points ahead, a margin that is a statistical tie. Things in Ohio have moved much towards the Republican in the seven weeks since that poll was taken, so now we have the latest ploy to affect this race. A lawsuit was filed on Thurday in Cleveland by a woman who claims that Ganley sexually assaulted her; she is seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages. Ganley says that this is an attempt at extortion and to do his campaign damage. Obviously, there will be no decision on this suit by election day.

So what does this mean? Well, there is one fact that seems to make clear what is truly happening here. The woman who filed the suit has never reported this supposed incident to the police. That's right, this woman says she suffered a traumatic sexual attack from Ganley, but she did not care enough about it to call the cops. Indeed, since the incident supposedly took place months ago, she did not think enough about it to call the cops at any time during the last four months. Instead, some weeks back, she contacted Ganley and threatened to sue unless he paid her a settlement. Let's just say that she seems to be looking for cash rather than justice. And let's not forget this: losing a civil suit does not give rise to any criminal charges. On the other hand, filing phony charges with the police can lead to arrest. This is another reason why the claims of the supposed victim in this case ring hollow.

Since this is a suit alleging sexual assault, the mdia have not disclosed the identity of the woman who filed the suit. Thus, we cannot investigate her background. She may have done this many times before, but we cannot tell. Instead, all the voters will have is an allegation in a civil suit and a denial by the candidate. It seems like the ultimate dirty political trick.