If the 2010 Congressional races in Hamilton County were remarkable for anything, it was their adherence to what many saw as all-but-inevitable results. In the 1st and 2nd districts, the favorites (Steve Chabot and Jean Schmidt) locked in victory — and concessions from their competitors — before midnight Tuesday.   

The 2010 elections will be remembered mostly for the Tea Party movement, though the exact meaning of the movement is yet to be determined. If Republicans are successful in co-opting Tea Partiers' anti-government anger and gain majorities in the U.S. House and/or Senate, the movement will have "arrived." If voters wake up and realize that the Tea Party simply is a "populist" cover for the Republican Party, Democrats will be given further time to continue cleaning up the mess left by the Bush administration.  

The congresswoman for Ohio's 2nd District last week filed a defamation lawsuit against one of her opponents from the 2008 election. The suit by Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township) alleges that David Krikorian of Madeira and his campaign made a number of knowingly false and derogatory statements about Schmidt during and after the election. And from there, things get a little weird.