Toledo Blade – The Republican challengers to U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will have to elevate the tone of their campaigns considerably before Election Day if they expect voters to take them seriously.

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In Ohio’s Senate race, Republican nominee Josh Mandel appears to be waging his campaign to respond to the question: How low can you go?

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Politics ain’t beanbag, as Mr. Dooley observed long ago. Voters expect candidates to attack their opponents’ records and, it’s to be hoped, to explain how they would do better. Below-the-belt personal attacks and dubious historical revisionism are other matters entirely.

Above all, voters should not be forced to wonder whether there is absolutely nothing a candidate will not say or do — at whatever cost — to win an election.