Eric Shanteau didn’t know he was about to create a viral pandemic meme when he made a cutout of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine鈥檚 head with two fingers pointing at his eyes, photographed the smiling visage in various strategic, comedic locations around the Toledo suburb of Maumee, and then posted the images online.
He also didn’t know that the Republican governor was that day in mid-November visiting Toledo after announcing new coronavirus restrictions to counter an alarming surge in the state鈥檚 infection rates.
Shanteau, a graphic artist, was hoping to give a few friends a little lift in the face of the worsening health crisis by taking pictures of his 鈥淒eWine Is Watching鈥 prop .
鈥淭he last few weeks, it kind of punched me in the stomach again, just being overwhelmed,鈥 said Shanteau, about the 鈥渟kyrocketing鈥 local case numbers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to laugh or smile lately. It’s kind of a scary thing, and anybody that knows me personally knows that I just want to make people laugh all the time. And that was my intention.鈥
But his bid to lighten things up ended up offering a window into the darkening mood of the state and the pressures mounting on DeWine. On one side are most Ohioans, weary of the pandemic but wanting the governor to maintain his highly praised, aggressive response. On the other 鈥 largely on the right wing of the Republican Party 鈥 there is a growing clamor for DeWine to dial back restrictions as well as accusations that he’s abusing his authority.
Shanteau saw it in the reaction to his image, which a surprising number of people used to craft . It鈥檚 also shown up printed on at least one bakery鈥檚 cookies, casting DeWine as a sort of with the caption 鈥淗e knows when you鈥檙e sleeping.鈥 Then there are harsher uses on Twitter in which the smiling DeWine is deployed to make accusations of and a 鈥渢otalitarian agenda.鈥
DeWine is feeling that pressure, particularly from growing numbers of Republicans who see mask mandates and other restrictions as overly intrusive limitations on their freedom, said Lauren Copeland, a political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.
鈥淗e鈥檚 in a tough spot,鈥 said Copeland. 鈥淗e really has to walk a tightrope between balancing public safety while maintaining a healthy economy, and also making it seem like people鈥檚 liberties aren’t under threat.鈥
DeWine is up for reelection in 2022, and he would have seemed to be in a secure position after his initial COVID response won plaudits across the spectrum, even as the leader of his party, President Donald Trump, sought to play down the threat.
DeWine declared a state of emergency on March 9 on the advice of his then-health director, Dr. Amy Acton, when just three people were known to be infected in Ohio. He closed schools three days later and mandated one of the earliest state lockdowns. He also won praise for his near-daily, level-headed briefings with Acton.
His approval ratings for handling the virus in the Great Lakes Poll conducted by Baldwin Wallace and other universities in late April.
But a backlash was already brewing as Trump called lockdowns and other health-based restrictions worse than the disease itself.
Acton bore the brunt of early dissatisfaction. After being taunted with anti-Semitic slurs and having gun-toting protesters show up at her home in May, state officials gave her a security detail. That month, the Ohio House of Representatives voted to limit her power to issue health orders. She ultimately resigned.
DeWine’s overall approval remained high through the summer, but took a 13-point hit in a late September survey, . Republicans鈥 dissatisfaction with him jumped from 13% in April to 28%.
After Acton left, statehouse Republicans shifted their sights to the governor, recently passing a bill that would subject his health measures to legislative approval. And four Republican state lawmakers against him last week.
DeWine responded to the changing landscape with an approach that critics see as less aggressive. With cases and the fatality count surpassing 7,000 as of Tuesday, he ventured in recent weeks only as far as instituting a curfew while allowing businesses to remain open with stepped-up mask enforcement. This week, he announced that the curfew, which was slated to expire, .
DeWine has framed his latest moves as an attempt to better balance the state’s response based on lessons learned from the shutdown.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to have a total lockdown in Ohio,鈥 DeWine told reporters on the day of his Toledo trip. 鈥淲hy not? Well, there鈥檚 a lot of bad things that happen.鈥
He cited potential mental health and addiction problems among residents, difficulties for kids out of school, child abuse and economic impacts. Just before Thanksgiving, in a news conference with four doctors from around the state warning the health care system was in dire straits, DeWine stuck by his approach, saying it was up to Ohioans to turn the numbers around.
鈥淭he most important thing 鈥 every one of these doctors will tell you 鈥 is what individuals do in their own lives,鈥 DeWine said. 鈥淭his comes down to personal responsibility.鈥
Democratic strategists watching DeWine don鈥檛 see any principle in his latest moves.
鈥淒eWine won praise from a number of folks on the other side of the aisle when the pandemic started, myself included,鈥 said Justin Barasky, who managed Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown鈥檚 2018 reelection victory. 鈥淏ut fairly quickly he cowered in the face of 鈥楾rump World.鈥 It鈥檚 not a secret that there are Republicans looking at 鈥榩rimarying鈥 him in the state. It鈥檚 unfortunate because it鈥檚 going to kill people.鈥
Trump himself has tweeted that DeWine , and there are some high-profile Republican critics such as former Rep. Jim Renacci and current Rep. Jim Jordan who could take a shot.
Republicans who know DeWine are offended both by suggestions of political calculation and the more Trumpian salvos winging in from the right.
鈥淎 Democrat who would suggest that DeWine is caving to political pressure here just doesn鈥檛 know the man,鈥 said Ryan Stubenrauch, a consultant who worked for DeWine when he was attorney general and in his campaign for governor. 鈥淭his is a guy who spent a long time in politics 鈥 30-plus years 鈥 and he has never wilted in the face of public pressure.鈥
That includes pressure from Republicans. 鈥淛ust because a couple of morons in the Ohio General Assembly say stupid things, that is not anything that would certainly factor into the governor鈥檚 process,鈥 Stubenrauch said.
Still, if the governor wants to remain governor, he has to be aware of the threat.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a political risk that鈥檚 very much in play for DeWine,鈥 Copeland said. 鈥淚f he wants to stay in office, he can鈥檛 put measures in place that are too restrictive.鈥
Shanteau, the graphic artist, said he was a little nervous when he made his DeWine cutout because he knows the pandemic stirs up political passions. He took the chance anyway, and he鈥檚 glad he did.
Some people asked to buy the cutouts and that helped him raise enough money to buy 11 family Thanksgiving dinners and grocery store gift cards for another 15 families in need. And although people sometimes had entirely opposite reasons for laughing at the meme, most did laugh. Shanteau found his own glimmer of hope in that bit of unity.
鈥淚 know people who were asking me for the signs that did not agree with the governor one bit,鈥 Shanteau said. 鈥淎nd then there were others 鈥 nurses 鈥 that asked for them that just maybe wanted to brighten someone鈥檚 day for what they’re going through right now. 鈥 It was unbelievable.鈥
