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The Columbus Dispatch

As one who preaches pragmatismon matters of public policy, I generally avoidhighpraise or condemnation of any politician. People have quirks and foibles;Idon't expect anyones recordtobeallgood or all bad.Being a fundamentally decentpersoncounts for a lot with me.

Gov. Mike DeWine is a primary example.Im not a fan of whatOhioRepublicans have done with their governmental monopolyfor the past decade-plus, andDeWinehas made a lot of decisions Idisliked.He also has done a lot of good work in his long political career.

As aU.S. senator,he supported conservation measuresandwas the prime backer ofa proposal to create a national wildlife refuge along theBig and Little Darby Creeksandstood up to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refugefrom oil drilling.

Along with thosestands, though, environmentalists will point out thatSen. DeWine took votes against energy efficiency standardsand in favor of subsidies for oil and gas companies.

Later, back in Ohio, Attorney General DeWinepursued enlightened policies to help victims of human trafficking and continued the work of improving the use of DNA evidenceto prove both innocence and guilt, but he alsosupported abortion and gun-rights laws that manyOhioans consider extreme.

As governor, hespoke seemingly from the heart in vowing common sense gun-law reform after the August 2019 mass shooting in Dayton,but then failed to fight for the bill he backed and, on Monday, surrendered any claim to common sense on gunsby signing a reckless stand your ground law.

The fact that his handling of pandemic-related restrictions satisfies almost no one is evidence of how he has tried to balance competing needs.

Through all of this, Ive maintained the impression of DeWine asdecent man whose beliefs are more conservative than mine but who is trying to serve the public.

Thats whatmakes hisrefusal to confront the reality of President Donald Trumpsdestructiveness so disappointing and so dangerous. As long as seemingly reasonable people like DeWine stay quiet, other Republicans who should know better can tell themselves its okay to ignore the presidentslying, corruption, cruelty and, most recently,his outright attempt to overthrow the election he just lost.

On Sunday, on CNN,DeWine had an opportunity tosay something important: that the stunt planned by far-right Congress membersto objecton Wednesdaytoformal acceptance of President-elect Joe Bidens Electoral College winis a dangerous and cynical ploy that is unworthy of U.S. democracy.

Instead, DeWine went on about the importance ofrestoring the publics faith in the election, with an audit by a bipartisan, blue-ribbon panel.He didnt endorse the Congressional challenge, buthe didnt speak the truth about it, either.

DeWine surely knows that the election already has been audited, by virtue of the official canvassof votes undertaken in every county of every state. He mightsee calling for anotherauditas a harmless way to avoid the wrath of diehard Trump voters, but its not harmless.The only reason a lot of people have questions about the election is because of the nonstop lying by Trump and his allies.

Those lies arent evidence of anything other than their efforts to undermine facts and create doubt, andtreating the liesas if they represent anything close to the truthperpetuatesthe bamboozling of the public.

DeWine is hardly alone inhis inability to speak the truth to Trumps base.But the ugly shadow it casts on his long and decent careermay be his unfortunate legacy one he will share with others who can't bring themselvesto call a lie a lie.

Mary Mogan Edwards is the Dispatch editorial page editor.

Excerpt from:
Column: DeWine had a chance to do the right thing and punted - The Columbus Dispatch