Don Thibaut Sticks His Snout in John Kasich’s Trough

Update: Julie Carr Smyth of The Associated Press picked up this post. Results for the title of her piece has so I guess it’s fair to say we got the word out on this one!

On March 24, 2010 this headline ran in The Dispatch: “Governor’s race: Kasich leads Strickland 42-37% in new poll”.

Republicans around the state cheered the news and began looking for ways to personally profit in case Kasich was able to pull off a win.

Lots of them began volunteering on the campaign hoping to get a job after the election.

Don Thibaut took a different route.

Don’s been sucking off Kasich’s teet for decades. He spent nearly 20 years as Kasich’s chief-of-staff and, most recently, was paid $20K/year to be John Kasich’s “aide” at OSU.

But this time around Don decided to try something new. Instead of getting a job directly from John, Don decided to start a lobbying firm.

On March 24th 2010 was registered with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. The domain name was the next day.

Just a coincidence that John Kasich’s friend and former chief-of-staff started a lobbying firm the same day polling indicated Kasich might actually win the Governor’s race?

Not a chance.

From Credo’s “About Us” page:

Thibaut was instrumental in John Kasich’s early political career, aiding Kasich’s election to the Ohio Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. He went with Kasich to Washington, serving as his Chief of Staff for nearly 20 years.

Pretty obvious what he’s saying there.

I guess Don didn’t get the memo that John Kasich is planning to “Get the lobbyists and the special interests snouts out of the trough.”