Johnson's hometown paper, "The Columbus Dispatch", hailed the choice saying "Taft picked a pro in Bruce E. Johnson" but Cleveland's "The Plain Dealer", Ohio's largest newspaper, editorialized that Johnson was an "uninspired choice" with "no discernible experience in job creation." "The Toledo Blade" also was skeptical, writing in an editorial "he brings gusto to a job that requires verve, imagination, and the ability to turn visions into reality. He has the first. For the rest we must wait and see." "The Blade" also criticized Johnson's efforts to keep state offices in Columbus and opposed his ideas for spending state development funds: "Mr. Johnson's plan to target technology and biotechnology jobs suggests the same old advantage will go to the cities that get them now: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati" at the expense of other neglected areas of the state. "The Columbus Dispatch" wrote Johnson "would seem to have little to commend him for the job, except perhaps for his degree in economics from Bowling Green State University," but he told the paper "I have the confidence of the governor."