BY SANDY THEIS
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
DAYTON -- The stalemate over gubernatorial debates ended Wednesday when Democrat Lee Fisher agreed to take part in four-way debates rather than insist on head-to-head meetings with GOP rival Bob Taft.
Mr. Fisher, trailing in the polls, announced he has agreed to Mr. Taft's demand and called on him to take part in at least one debate in each region of the state.
Both candidates declared victory.
"We're delighted that he's accepted our proposal for debates for all four candidates to be present so that the voters can be fully informed about the choices and they can learn about all the people whose names will be on the ballot," Mr. Taft said.
"I'm very pleased that he accepted my challenge," Mr. Fisher said. "The bottom line is that we should be having debates."
So far, three gubernatorial debates are scheduled for this month. One will take place in Toledo, one at the City Club in Cleveland, and one in Columbus.
This summer, the Taft campaign announced it would debate only if Reform Party candidate John Mitchel and independent Zanna Feitler, representing the Natural Law Party, were included.
The position drew protests from some debate sponsors, who said Mr. Taft already had committed to two-person debates. It also prompted a torrent of criticism from editorial writers who asserted that Mr. Taft -- not known as a gifted speaker -- was afraid to debate the more glib Mr. Fisher.
Mr. Taft, completing his second term as Ohio's secretary of state, maintains that full inclusion is a long-held principle of his. Because the secretary of state presides over Ohio's elections, he said it would be even more egregious if he did not fight for their inclusion.
Responding to reporters' questions Wednesday, Mr. Taft could come up with no examples of efforts he made as secretary of state to ease restrictions that minor-party candidates face.
"We have worked very hard with minor parties to help them qualify for the ballot under existing law," he said, something his secretary of state duties obligate him to do.
When asked if he ever tried to change the existing laws, he said, "I think our laws are fair."
Under Ohio election law, Democrats and Republicans can qualify as poll workers but minor-party candidates cannot. Only the major-party candidates are eligible to receive money from the tax check-off fund that appears on state tax reforms.
And the name of a candidate's political party appears on the ballot only if its nominee for governor received at least 5 percent of the vote in the previous state election. Because the Natural Law Party did not meet the threshold, Ms. Feitler must be listed on the ballot as an independent.
In another campaign development, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Elections Commission, not a Franklin County court, is the proper place to resolve Mr. Fisher's complaint that a Taft campaign commercial is misleading.
