Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel, a man in the mold of Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan [Amalaur]

Correspondent Amalaur reports from southwestern Ohio's Hamilton County -- possibly the most important single county in the U.S. for the presidential race -- where Senate candidate Josh Mandel spoke at a fundraiser.

Brian Thomas, morning host of WKRC 550-AM, introduced Ohio's treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate with the following existential question:

I struggle with this every day. Are the people on the other side of the aisle nefarious or stupid? After many years of consideration, I've finally arrived at the answer: they're nefarious and stupid.

With that statement as ice-breaker, Thomas quickly gave way to Mandel.

Josh Mandel spoke with an impressive, eloquent and deeply passionate voice. Mandel sounds like Paul Ryan's younger brother. All of the facts, statistics and salient details of state and national policy positions were at the tip of his tongue.

Curiously, the man speaks sans teleprompter and notecards.

Mandel said that when he entered the Treasurer's office, the agency was an "ethics nightmare". Since the takeover, Ohio's credit rating has been ratcheted up (not down, got that, Democrats?) and his department has voluntarily cut its budget two years in a row.

Contrast that with the philosophy of today's Democrats who treat businesses -- small and large -- as enemies of government, not partners. Who believe that people don't build businesses on their own, and therefore don't deserve the rewards they achieve.

Mandel highlighted the ideological differences between conservatives and the modern Democrat Party: "It's not two shades of gray... it's two completely different philosophies."

This is why, Mandel insists, that Obama and his opponent -- the Marxist kook Sherrod Brown (my words, not Mandel's, for the most liberal Senator in Washington since Obama surrendered his seat) -- are trying to make the campaign out of small things, tiny things.

Do you care if Mitt Romney released two years or 10 years of tax returns? Do you care if Mitt Romney used to have a horse? How does that affect your life?

80% of Sherrod Brown's (and the vast majority of Barack Obama's) ads are negative. Mandel asserts that 80% of his ads are positive, focusing on what should be done to repair Washington.

Mandel is 34 years old, served two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Marines, received a Bachelor's from Ohio State and a law degree from Case Western.

Many of his family members are entrepreneurs and involved with the medical industry and therefore understand how destructive Obama's policies are. Consider, he said, a businessman who grows his company from 1 person, to 2, to 20, and then to 200.

According to Obama, Pelosi and Brown, you are to be vilified and castigated.

Importantly, Mandel observes, "You cant grow employment when you vilify success."

And Sherrod Brown cast the deciding vote for, well, Mandel doesn't call it Obamacare or the ludicrous "Affordable Care Act". He calls it as he sees it: a federal takeover of healthcare industry.

Why would we want the government running health care? Just look at the Post Office, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Amtrak? Amtrak is a perfect example: why are citizens of Ohio having wealth confiscated to fund train rides for investment bankers riding between Boston and New York City?

Changes are needed in the health care system, first and foremost related to medical liability and tort reform. Mandel's brother is a pediatrician, his sister-in-law is a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, and he has four other close relatives who are physicians. Yesterday, he said, at his family's Labor Day picnic, all of the docs in the family discussed how goverment dictated a smothering system of defensive medicine.

Health care can be reformed with free market principles: allow companies to cross state lines, stop suppressing physician-owned hospitals and facilities. Encourage more choice and quality goes up while costs go down. It's something easy to understand for anyone who's run a business, which excludes the entire Obama administration (that last bit was my description, not Mandel's).

When it comes to energy, Mandel believes that our natural resources are assets, not liabilities as Democrats would have you believe. Our natural resources are blessings -- force multipliers that strengthen our national security posture and simultaneously boost the economy.

When it comes to fiscal responsibility, Mandel asked the rhetorical question: could you family or company go three months without talking about a budget or finances? It has now been three years since Democrats last passed a budget.

One of the reasons we have $16 trillion in debt -- with Social Security and Medicare spiraling out of control -- is that we have no roadmap. Democrats and the old guard GOP are both to blame. That's why the Balanced Budget Amendment, supported by Senators DeMint, Rubio, Johnson, Lee and Paul, is so important.

Mandel closed by making a commitment to the audience: there will be a day in DC when someone powerful puts a hand on my shoulder and says, "You better vote for this bill" if you want that committee assignment, or that endorsement, or whatever.

He promised to look that lobbyist, politician or journalist in the eye and tell them, "Sorry. I don't serve you. I serve the people of Ohio... and when I tell them that, I'll mean it."

Folks, Josh Mandel is the real deal. He's another Marco Rubio or Paul Ryan. If you've got a couple of bucks to spare, consider helping him defeat the radical Leftist Sherrod Brown. Brown needs a pink slip in the worst way imaginable. Maybe he'll gain a new appreciation for the private sector in his next gig, preferably servicing drive-up customers at JiffyLube.