The Ohio Democratic Party officially withdrew its 2006 endorsement of Marc Dann for Attorney General. (The official resolution is reproduced here.) Though largely symbolic, this move strips Dann of the privileges of an elected official within the party, and officially changes his status from that of a Democratic officeholder, to an "Independent elected as a Democrat." The Ohio AFL-CIO, a key Democratic constituency, has also called for Dann to resign.

Meanwhile, new revelations about Dann and his cronies keep coming, and the state legislature is poised to authorize an Inspector General investigation of the AG's office as it prepares for impeachment proceedings.

Dann stubbornly holds onto his position, seeking personal and professional vindication. He claims he can still serve the Ohio people effectively, but there are doubts he was ever particularly good at his job -- either as AG or in private practice.

When Dann was elected as Ohio's top lawyer in 2006, he had practiced at a small Youngstown law office handling divorces, business filings and routine criminal cases. His record included a reprimand from the Ohio Supreme Court for mishandling a divorce case and the lowest rating in a respected law directory.

Dann's "C" rating on the Martindale-Hubbard peer rating system, which only grants ratings of A, B and C, is troubling for a lawyer of Dann's experience, said John T. Brown, a Mansfield lawyer who previously served on the Ohio Supreme Court's commission on grievances and discipline. Dann, 46, was licensed to practice law in 1987.

"All I know is he has a very low rating for being a lawyer in practice that many years," Brown said. Most successful lawyers move up to an "A" or "B" rating after five or 10 years in practice, he said.