Attorney General Marc Dann harkened to cowboy wisdom yesterday to suggest that he will survive the sex scandal that threatens his political career.

"As John Wayne once said, 'Life is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down.' "

Wayne also once said: "Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid."

Republicans and Democrats alike agreed yesterday that hiring unqualified cronies, tolerating an office atmosphere of sexual harassment and intimidation, and sleeping with the help is just plain stupid.

Conceding that his conduct "has been embarrassingly undignified," Dann admitted that those transgressions occurred in his time in office.

"As disappointed as I am with the conduct of others, I am even more disappointed in myself," Dann said in a public apology to Ohioans, his wife and family, and employees.

The story will not end with that. The political ramifications could reverberate through this year's presidential election in must-win Ohio and in the statewide election two years hence. Republicans can find a 30-second attack ad in virtually every page of yesterday's investigative report. For Democrats, there is the arduous decision of whether to stand by Dann or cut him loose.

"Marc now has to deal with it," said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. "His actions are his actions alone. I'm very sad today, very disappointed."

Dann, who was paid $98,466 last year, sought to salvage his job and limit the political fallout by facing reporters and responding to their questions until they had no more.

"There's some real value in candor, in getting it all out and taking responsibility for mistakes," said John Green, a University of Akron political scientist. "But having said that, these are pretty serious admissions and there is a real downside to that."

As Dann embarked on a mea culpa tour to the editorial boards of the state's major newspapers yesterday, three of them -- The Cincinnati Enquirer, Warren Tribune-Chronicle and The Repository of Canton -- published online editorials calling for him to resign. And Gov. Ted Strickland gave his fellow Democrat less than a ringing endorsement, saying he didn't think it was premature for Republicans to call for Dann's resignation.

Asked whether he might soon have to urge Dann to step down, Redfern said, "No comment."

Republicans had no such qualms: "The state's top law-enforcement officer has allowed immoral, unethical and even criminal behavior to thrive under his own supervision and at times with his own participation," said Ohio GOP Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine, calling for Dann to quit. "He turned the attorney general's office into a raunchy frat pad."

Dann's troubles will be a renewable source of political fodder for the GOP and a form of drip-drip-drip water torture for Democrats.

"It just cannot fester," said one Democratic consultant who asked not to be identified because of his working relationship with the party. "Ohio will be ground zero in the presidential race, and you just don't need a huge statewide distraction."

Republicans say Dann is particularly vulnerable because he won office two years ago by railing against the misdeeds of ruling Republicans, contending they had became arrogant with power.

More than anyone, Dann propelled Democratic victories in 2006 by making convicted coin dealer Thomas W. Noe a poster child for GOP corruption. Noe is in prison for stealing $13.7 million from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Republicans signaled that they are prepared to make Dann the Democrats' Noe.

"This (sex scandal) is much more understandable by the public than anything Tom Noe ever did," said GOP campaign consultant Mark R. Weaver, a former deputy attorney general.

GOP strategists said that every Democratic candidate for the Ohio House and Senate will be asked this fall whether Dann should resign. Those who say no will be accused of tolerating the intolerable conduct of Dann's office. Two years from now, when Strickland and three other statewide executive officeholders, including Dann, seek re-election, Democrats fret that the wayward attorney general's problems could be an albatross.

"It's clear that it could have an impact," Redfern said.

Dann dug in his heels, saying he has no intention of resigning because his office is doing good work: "As long as I can continue to add value to the state, I'm going to do it."

And Dann indicated that he plans to run for re-election: "The public will have its say in 2010."

jhallett@dispatch.com