John Boehner has a target on his back. It was put there by a young man from Liberty Township in Butler County, Ohio named Justin Coussoule. And what Coussoule is targeting is his votes, votes that Boehner, whom Coussoule calls "an embarrassment on so many levels," has taken for granted — because he could. He’s mostly faced token opposition. His 2008 opponent raised $13,000. His 2006 opponent raised $3,000. The thinking of Democrats in this southwest district abutting Indiana — one of its most conservative regions — was "why bother?" Justin Coussoule doesn’t think like that.
I spoke at length with Coussoule this morning: about why he got into the race, why he thinks the district is more competitive than it might seem, what he plans to do to make it as competitive as possible this year, his biggest roadblocks, and especially, what he believes and what he stands for. I was intrigued by his candidacy before — wouldn’t it be great if we Ohioans no longer had to apologize to the world for the orange blight on our Congress? — but I’m totally sold now.