The Dispatch – It seems every day is a bad news day for Josh Mandel.

On Monday, the Akron Beacon Journal whacked the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in an editorial, accusing him of running a smarmy campaign.

On Tuesday, the Plain Dealer editorial page piled on, saying: “For someone who aggressively markets himself as a spit-and-polish Marine, (Mandel) surely seems to have a powerful urge to wallow in the mud of politics.”

Perhaps these editorials — and the avalanche of unfavorable news stories Mandel has received —won’t make a whit of difference in his bid to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

In the age of digital media, the thinking in some political circles is that newspaper stories and editorials have lost their impact, supplanted by television ads and the amazing opportunities for campaigns to connect directly with voters via the Internet.

Robert T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said this appears to be the way Mandel is thinking.

“He’s using social media and the new communication tools and I don’t think he depends a great deal on visiting editorial boards or talking with the print media,” Bennett said.