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COLUMBUS — Pendulums swing in football and politics.

Right now Ohio State fans and Democrats are happy swingers.

Buckeye boosters probably will keep wallowing in the 42-7 destruction of the hapless University of Michigan Wolverines right up until they bump up against some SEC or Big 12 bully in a bowl game.

For the first time in 105 editions of The Game, Ohio State, under coach Jim Tressel, has won five straight.

It's almost enough to make you forget John Cooper, owner of the infamous 2-10-1 record against Michigan.

How did that guy get in the College Football Hall of Fame?

Meanwhile, Ohio Democrats are doing a little wallowing of their own. They haven't won five straight statewide elections, but they've won two in a row, measured by the candidate at the top of the ticket.

For Democrats, that's something to cheer about.

Back-to-back victories mean winning a governor's race and coming back two years later to carry the state for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Since terms for Ohio governors were extended from two to four years in 1958, that never happened until Barack Obama's win in November followed Ted Strickland's victory in the governor's race in 2006.

Republicans have done better.

Starting in 1998, they won four straight statewide elections, measured by the top of the ticket — Bob Taft for governor in 1998, George W. Bush for president in 2000, Taft again in 2002 and Bush again in 2004.

Greg Haas is a Buckeye fan and a Columbus-based Democratic consultant who's been plotting political strategies for more than 30 years.

Haas, now Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman's political adviser, is more worrier than wallower.

He's already starting to worry about 2010. That's when Strickland's up for re-election.

Historically, it should be a good year for Republicans across the country. The first national election after a president takes office usually favors the other party, especially in Congress.

A three-peat for Ohio Democrats in 2010 is possible, said Haas, but hardly inevitable. Democrats have to guard against behaving as though their hold on the state is for perpetuity.

"I think the ones that do are a cancer within the party," Haas said. Ohio voters detest arrogance, said Haas.

Strickland is not the over-confident type, said Haas.

The governor was the victim of a pendulum swing himself. After winning a U.S. House seat in 1992, Strickland got swept out in 1994 in a backlash against Democratic President Bill Clinton. He won back the seat in 1996 and served in Congress until his election as governor in 2006.

Before next year's game in Ann Arbor, Michigan coach Rick Rodriguez is likely to find a quarterback who can run — as opposed to stumble through — Rodriguez's spread offense. The Buckeyes better be on guard, said Haas.

Ohio Republicans also will have a new coach next year, state Rep. Kevin DeWine of Fairborn, who is expected to take over as state chairman.

DeWine's already plotting to broaden the party's shrinking base by focusing on "kitchen table" issues that appeal to the broad collection of voters that helped the GOP win those four straight statewide races.

Eventually, the pendulum probably will swing back again for both U-M and Ohio Republicans, but Haas is in no hurry.

"I don't feel for Michigan or the Republicans," said Haas. "I have an equal lack of sympathy for both."

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.