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COLUMBUS - Democrats promised to hold themselves to a "higher standard" in 2006 as they rode Republican scandal into office, so some are openly questioning whether the new Democratic regime has surrendered the moral high ground with its first major scandal.

The questions go beyond whether Attorney General Marc Dann can politically survive his admission Friday that his own extramarital affair with an employee may have contributed to an atmosphere in his office that led to accusations that a top aide sexually harassed two state employees.

Will the scandal tarnish the other Democrats who often stood alongside Mr. Dann as they proclaimed a new attitude had come to Columbus?

"This will certainly damage him and his office. I don't think there's any doubt about that," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Center for Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

"Whether it will be damaging to Democrats in general is hard to say," he said. "Democrats made a strong argument that they would be different, that Republicans had been in office too long, had gotten too cozy, and misbehaved. Now here's a newly elected Democrat who's misbehaved, albeit in a different way. There is the danger of guilt by association."

Gov. Ted Strickland said he was unsure whether the scandal could contaminate Democratic hopes to convert Ohio this year into a blue state for the party's presidential nominee or whether it could undermine Democratic re-election efforts in 2010 when Mr. Dann could be on the ballot again.

"This is the failing of a particular individual or particular office," Mr. Strickland said. "Ultimately, the people will decide … I think it depends on how it is dealt with more than anything else."

VIEW: Scandal unfolds for officials in Attorney General's Office
READ : Full report by Executive Assistant Attorney General
READ : Summary report by AG of discipline actions he took
READ : Dann's statement regarding scandal
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Mr. Dann has rejected calls for his resignation, but it is perhaps telling that fellow Democrats did not line up swiftly to back him up. Both Mr. Strickland and Rep. Chris Redfern (D., Catawba Island), chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said they want time to study the results of the investigation into the harassment complaints before they make a decision.

And neither was quick to condemn Republicans for issuing swift calls for Mr. Dann's ouster.

"There are millions of Democrats in this state," Mr. Redfern said. "We are not responsible for the actions of Marc Dann. He will be held responsible for his own actions.

"I understand that the Republican side of the aisle sees opportunities here," he said. "I felt the same way when [former Gov.] Bob Taft lied to us, when [former Treasurer] Joe Deters lied to us, and when [former Taft aide] Brian Hicks lied to us."

Mr. Redfern offered a rare "no comment" as to whether Democrats might yet join Republicans in seeking Mr. Dann's resignation.

"This episode underscores the complete lack of accountability the Democrats have embraced, and they should be ashamed," Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said.

Even Mr. Strickland has suggested a "double standard" might be at play in Mr. Dann's decision Friday to stay in office as he fired top aide and close personal friend Anthony Gutierrez, director of general services, for sexual harassment, fired Communications Director Leo Jennings III for interfering in the internal investigation, and accepted the forced resignation of a third top aide, Ed Simpson, for failing to respond quickly enough to the harassment complaints.

His personal scheduler voluntarily resigned. Although Mr. Dann told investigators she had stayed overnight in the condo he shared with the two men he fired Friday, he has not identified her as the woman with whom he had the affair.

"It's important to point out that Strickland has not been implicated in this or any other problem," Mr. Green said. "[Treasurer] Richard Cordray has not. [Secretary of State] Jennifer Brunner has had political problems, but not personal misbehavior problems. It might be difficult for Republicans to tie this to all of them."

Beyond his admission of the affair and what some characterized as a "frat house" atmosphere in the office, Mr. Dann surprised Democrats when he offered the excuse Friday that he was ill-prepared to run his office when he surprised even himself by defeating Republican Betty Montgomery in 2006.

"I was not as well-prepared for the office as I should have been, and I am heartbroken by that, and I take responsibility for that,'' he said, asking Ohioans to allow him now to undergo a "second transition."

Barring some move by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to impeach him, Mr. Dann, as a constitutionally elected officer, will decide whether he will complete the two and a half years left in his term. He has declined to comment on whether he would seek a second term in 2010.

Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com
or 614-221-0496.

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