I was talking to a friend of mine today who is an insider when it comes to Ohio politics, and we got to talking about the race for Ohio's 18th. Two of the big contenders are Paul Phillips and Jeanette Moll. I've praised them both, Phillips for being a Vet for Victory and Moll for slamming the ACLU. My friend and I got talking about how the economy will be a major factor, and how Phillips has outlined a plan. Here's an excerpt from one of Phillips's interviews:

“We can’t live in the past and have to adapt to a changing world. This isn’t bad, just new. Germany dealt with this problem when the wall fell, as cheap labor and manufacturing went east into Poland, Hungary and the rest of the former Soviet Union. The Germans adapted and changed to focus on jobs that they were well suited for, including precision manufacturing and high-tech. We must have the same philosophy. I like defense industries as these are not as easy to farm out to other countries (and I’m very familiar with this area). I like high-tech jobs that take advantage of our high quality of life in our rural, beautiful district, that will attract companies looking for low cost of living and a happy productive work force. Boise, Idaho and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are examples of growth areas based on a similar marketing approach. The telecommunications of today make this possible…(as long as the infrastructure is in place).”

Moll's site talks about lowering taxes and fighting for small businesses, but doesn't include some of the real talk about job growth like that shown above. As far as the basic stuff, Phillips matches Moll point for point on his website. Moll isn't originally from Ohio's 18th, so maybe Phillips has a better understanding of what could rebuild the area. Just my take on the economic side of this debate...

Update: Matt Hurley from WMD plays devil's advocate, saying that Phillips is looking to bring home defense spending pork. I don't see that as the case at all, rather, that he's looking to make the district friendly to defense technologies.