By Joel Mathis The Week

So how did Josh Mandel get to be Josh Mandel?

It’s a reasonable question. Mandel leads the pack of Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat from Ohio, and he’s achieved that rank with a series of ever-more-outrageous stances apparently designed to ensure no human being alive can flank him from the right. He’s suggested closing public schools and leaving public education to churches and synagogues. He’s declared that the “separation of church and state is a myth.” And, of course, he’s embraced the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. It’s not been so long since a politician with Mandel’s profile would’ve been consigned to the party’s fringes. Now he’s the man to beat.

Naturally, journalists are trying to figure the guy out. “Josh Mandel could be Ohio’s next senator. So what does he believe?” Politico asked last week in a profile. The New York Times offered a similar take: “The Senate candidate was a rising Republican when he abandoned his moderate roots. Now, those who have watched his transformation wonder if his rhetoric reflects who he really is.” Both stories echoed last November’s conclusions from The Atlantic, which examined the question and labeled Mandel a “genuine phony.”

“He doesn’t act the way he used to act, and he doesn’t talk the way he used to talk, say so many Democrats and Republicans alike,” Politico reported. “And they’re right.”

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