ProgressOhio

I can hear it now: "We're just supporting the political process.''

That's often code for, "I'm donating to you with the hope that you'll do what I say.''

In this case, the donors are the payday lending crowd -- the people who engage in legal loan sharking but act as if they're doing the little guy a favor by temporarily putting money in his pocket.

Today's Columbus Dispatch tells us that House candidate John Rabenold -- not a sitting member -- raked in more campaign cash than all but three other House candidates. The three who received more are sitting members.

More astonishing than the total is the source. Of the $176,000 Rabenold collected, more than half ($90,000) came from the payday lenders.

The newspaper reported:

Rabenold is making strong use of his business connections. A vice president in CNG Financial Corp. (Check ’n Go), he has taken in more than $90,000 from the payday lending industry since the start of the year.

"I figured people were going to beat me up for taking dollar one from some of these companies," he said. "But I still need the resources to be successful, and they stepped up."

A Senate member in the 1990s, Rabenold also has former Senate President Richard H. Finan of Cincinnati as his campaign’s honorary chairman. One veteran Republican called Rabenold "the golden one" as Hamilton County looks for another GOP leader in the House to replace the likes of Reps. Bill Seitz and Michelle G. Schneider, who will reach their term limits in 2008.

Even Rabenold said he was surprised by his total take.

"I thought $50,000 would be a good goal to start, and I had a personal goal of $100,000," he said. "The phone kept on ringing. I kept on calling, and people were real comfortable with me."

Does he really think they did this because they are "comfortable'' with him?

I have a suggestion to the media: Why don't you comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. 

Payday lending has to be stopped.