We hear plenty of arguments about “establishment” Republicans vs conservatives and the grassroots, though it’s generally played out on a national scale. Sometimes the contrasts can be a bit overblown, but there’s certainly a current of truth to it underneath. That contrast may be even more pronounced on the state and local levels, and one example of that has popped up in Ohio. It’s a critical state in Presidential politics and the situation there is further complicated by the fact that John Kasich has been very vocally considering a run for the White House himself.

But simply being from the state and “considering” the matter isn’t enough to keep everyone on the bench. State Treasurer Josh Mandel has looked over the field and decided to toss his early support to Marco Rubio. It seems that the decision didn’t sit too well with the state GOP chair.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges sharply criticized Treasurer Josh Mandel, a fellow Republican, for backing one of Gov. John Kasich’s potential rivals for president.

Borges described Mandel as a “bit player” who should have waited for Kasich to announce his presidential intentions before endorsing U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for the GOP nomination.

“The smart political move would be to wait and see if [Kasich] decides to get in,” Borges said in a phone interview with Northeast Ohio Media Group.

The remarks came hours after Mandel’s endorsement of Rubio was published by the Daily Caller, a conservative news website.

Some local perspective is in order for a story like this, and Ohio political blog Third Base Politics provides it.

Mandel’s brand is that of a conservative rather than a rank and file Ohio Republican.  True to conservative principles, Mandel opposed Ohio’s Medicaid expansion. He was the first statewide elected official to criticize common core.  And with OhioCheckbook.com, Mandel has proven himself to be a watchdog for transparency in state government.  Now he is a known as a “bit player” to the Ohio Republican Party Chairman for endorsing someone who isn’t John Kasich.

Borges’s swipe at Mandel makes the ORP and Kasich’s campaign look petty. The message being sent here is that you better toe the line and show 100% loyalty, or we are done with you.

There was no reason to wait until Kasich makes up his mind. What Borges is suggesting is that every Ohio Republican better be endorsing Kasich for president, should he decide to run. So, you better just wait and see. But if Kasich does decide to run, we expect your endorsement. And if you endorse someone other than Kasich, we will publicly attack you.

You can almost understand a certain amount of home team loyalty to bubble up in these situations, and Kasich would probably draw his fair share of that on his own. But you also need to be a reasonably promising bet to win, and frankly I don’t know what slot in the GOP starting gate Kasich is a good fit for. It’s not that he seems to have some huge disqualifiers hanging over his head – at least no more than several of the current announced candidates – but he doesn’t seem to fill any vacuum in the field either. Also, he’s waiting quite a while to even begin the long, hard process of building a national campaign and his name recognition outside of Ohio is near the bottom of the barrel.

With all that in mind, it’s rather silly to expect every Republican in the Buckeye State to sit on their hands as the momentum of the early primary race is building. If the state chair is going to start running a scorched earth campaign against anyone who wants to support another candidate he may have a long and messy battle on his hands.