CANDIDATES PICK UP, MOVE ON

Hagan, Taft Rehash Debate As They Return To Campaign Trail

The day after butting heads in a Dayton debate, Gov. Bob Taft and Timothy
F. Hagan yesterday courted environmentalists and business leaders.

In Columbus, Hagan picked up the endorsement of the Ohio Sierra Club, a
group that said the Democrat "can be trusted to fight for the clean air,
clean water and special places that Ohioans care about.''

In Cincinnati, Taft used the power of incumbency to hand out state money,
awarding $9 million to the University of Cincinnati Genome Research
Institute and touting his $1.6 billion Third Frontier Project designed to
spur high-tech employment.

Meanwhile, both candidates put the best spin on their performances in
Tuesday's debate -- the first of three -- and even second-guessed themselves.

Hagan, looking and sounding tired after the testy, televised debate, said
he remains upbeat but realistic about his chances of beating Taft.

"I feel good I'm in it and it's going to go down to the wire.''

Hagan said he wishes he had been more articulate in explaining his position
on pending legislation that would permit Ohioians to carry concealed weapons.

"I should have been clear in saying I don't think everyone in Ohio should
have access to a gun,'' Hagan said, reiterating that he opposes the pending
legislation.

But he said there are circumstances in which some citizens -- those with
dangerous jobs or who have reason to fear for their lives -- should have
the right to carry a concealed gun under Ohio's so-called affirmative
defense law. A judge must give permission to carry a concealed weapon under
that law.

Taft said he regrets not driving home more succinctly his opposition to the
legalization of marijuana for medicinal uses. After the debate, he said, he
confirmed with his wife, Hope, whom the governor considers a
substance-abuse expert, that marijuana is addictive and considered a
"gateway'' drug that can lead to use of more dangerous narcotics.

Hagan stood by his support for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes
and said he did not regret saying he would send his nephew out to get
marijuana to relieve the pain of a dying relative -- a comment considered a
faux pax by many debate observers.

"If that was my daughter and I could ease her suffering, you bet I would,''
Hagan said yesterday.

Taft said he thought Hagan was "trying to put me off my game'' by implying
that he was an out-of-touch, blue blood who had not earned his political
stripes.

"With all due respect to your ancestors, if your name wasn't Taft, would
you be standing here this evening?'' Hagan asked during the debate.

Taft, who deftly deflected the question by saying he was proud of his
heritage, said yesterday he did not resent it.

"That's politics,'' he said. "Politics is not bean ball.''

On another late-inning campaign development, Hagan also said he hopes the
wealthy backers of State Issue 1 -- the
drug-treatment-instead-of-incarceration constitutional amendment -- will
not financially support his underdog campaign. Issue 1 supporters are
considering shifting their money to an independent committee that would, in
essence, oppose Taft's re-election.

"Issue 1 supporters can do whatever they like,'' Hagan said. "I would hope
they wouldn't be involved in the gubernatorial election.''

Taft said any shifting of pro-Issue 1 campaign money to target him would be
"sour grapes,'' adding, "It's like you're losing in the court of public
opinion, so you're trying to kill one of the messengers.''

Accepting the Sierra Club endorsement, Hagan outlined his environmental
policy, including a proposal to shift regulation of factory farms -- such
as Buckeye Egg -- back to the Environmental Protection Agency from the
Department of Agriculture. The move would reverse one made by the
GOP-controlled General Assembly this past summer.

"Four years of Bob Taft and 12 years of Republican one-party rule in Ohio
have not been good to Ohio's environment,'' Hagan said at a Statehouse news
conference. "Our air quality is bad, our waterways are polluted and urban
sprawl is swallowing up our green spaces and wetlands.''

Hagan's policy also called for:

* Reviewing the EPA, possibly for a reorganization.

* Opposing drilling for oil and gas beneath Lake Erie.

* Promoting environment-friendly purchasing by state agencies, as well as
on state and school construction projects.

* Creating an inventory of brownfields for possible reclamation.

"Under Bob Taft, Ohio continues to be a leader in pollution, not
solutions,'' said Marc Conte of the Ohio Sierra Club.

Taft spokesman Joe Andrews responded that the governor has "a solid record
of conserving and restoring the environment.'' He cited the Clean Ohio
bond, opposition to Lake Erie drilling, brownfield cleanups, wetlands
preservation and water management through the Council of Great Lakes Governors.