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Buckeye Senate Blog Announcement

Dear readers. It is with some sadness I am announcing the death of the Buckeye Senate Blog. We've been on quite a journey together in the few short months we have been around, but alas we have to put it to rest.

We have simply out grown ourselves. So it is with great pleasure I announce our new home...

The Buckeye State Blog

The Buckeye State blog is a community blog, so not only will you be able to comment, but also create your own content on all things Buckeye, and hopefully not an inconsequential amount of politics.

We're heading into critical elections that will shape our state and our country and we need to harness the energy, ideas and excitement of as many people as possible throughout our state. Whether it's talking about the Governors race or some zoning issue in your local town, The Buckeye State Blog will hopefully be the new home for new activism.

Things Get Better

I have to admit I laughed a little reading Jill's comments regarding iPods. It feels like decades ago when mp3's first appeared on the "music scene" and I began wondering how long it would take someone to make an mp3 player so i didn't have to lug around my skipping, bulky, battery eating Sony walkman.

You can imagine my excitement when Diamond Rio released one. It wasn't cheap, about the cost of an iPod Nano today and it had a whopping 32MB of memory - enough for about 8 songs ! Needless to say I bought one.

Yeah it was only 8 songs, not much less than a CD though, and the battery lasted quite a long time. I mention this because as I was cleaning out some drawers a couple of days ago I stumbled across it again and had to laugh when it was placed alongside my Nano which holds about 200 times more songs, has a long battery life, color screen and is a tenth the size.

I can't help but wonder what will be sitting next to my iPod in another 10 years that will make me chuckle, and I can't help but wonder what Jill will think of it all :)

Warming To Ted

I think we might have some fun this year in the Governors race if Blackwell is the nominee. From today's Blade, discussing Blackwell going all ballistic on Petro

Democratic leaders questioned whether Mr. Blackwell could claim GOP "outsider" status credibly.

The party's endorsed candidate for governor, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, called Mr. Blackwell "transparent in his attempts to absolve himself of any responsibility for what has happened in the state of Ohio" in an interview this week.

"His behavior reminds me of the sinner who is facing death and trying to absolve himself of a life of sin," Mr. Strickland said. "It's akin to a deathbed conversion.… I don't think it will work."

Won't work if Ted keeps this up.

Stephen Brooks, the associate director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said it was unclear how much reform-minded voters would distinguish between Republicans in November. He also said Mr. Blackwell's attacks could add volume to Democrats' criticism of Republican ethics.

"There is that tenet in advertising that if you want someone to understand the message, you have to repeat it 15 times," Mr. Brooks said. "And if Blackwell repeats it 15 times before the primary and the Democrats repeat it 30 times before the general, then he's helped" advance the message.

Bllackwell in his own desperation and TV ads might very well be sinking the entire ticket into the corruption swamp Republicans have been trying to wade out of for over a year now.

Heck I might even donate a few bucks to Blackwell so he can keep it up !

That Hackerriffic Plain Dealer's Jane Eauster

Jane Eauster reguritates the same crappy article she wrote for buddy Connie a few days ago. And she bases this article entirely on what ?

And from the accounts of people who worked on his campaign, it appears clear that Hackett never fully grasped just how big a challenge he took on when he decided to run for Senate in a state as high-profile as Ohio.

Mysterious, unnamed "people who worked on the campaign".

I have talked to Hackett's senior staff including Dale Butland and David Woodroof and not a single one holds the opinion or recounts the tall tale Eauster tries to tell here.

In her first hackerriffic article she even dropped an out of context quote from Suzi Hackett into the piece, from an interview done before Hackett withdrew and was still on the campaign trail. I talked to Suzi too and she told me she talked to Eauster for almost 2 hours and the quote bore no resemblance to the conversation she had with her.

It seems like operation "Blame Hackett" is still trying to get off the launching pad.

Again, if Hackett had such a hard time fundraising, how come Brown barely did any better ? If Hackett didn't trust his staff, how come it was Brown who fired his political and field directors, not Hackett ?

The truth of this story is a very simple one, and obviously needs repeating for the likes of people like Eauster. Sherrod Brown went out of his way to ask his congressional buddies to knee cap Hackett's fundraising. He admits this fact himself. Sherrod Browns campaign manager was spreading "war crime" rumors about Hackett's service. Brown himself admits it was Lucas who told him, as too do county chairs. Lucas is no longer campaign manager.

Really Jane, you have to do better than "people in the campaign" and spouting talking points writen by your Plain Dealer buddy and Brown strategist Connie Shultz. you're picking at the scab before the scab has even had time to form.

Must be time for another fence mending tour.

Democrats Look for Historic Shift in Governors' Races

Math plays an important part in Politics. Republicans have to defend a lot more seats as a consequence of holding more, and particularly governorships. The WaPo has a good run down of the challenges facing Republicans, and the likely pickups Democrats can look forward to if they challenge strongly. Ohio of course gets a mention

Even before the main events of November, both parties face difficult and potentially nasty primaries. Ohio Republicans got a taste last week, when Blackwell launched radio and TV ads accusing his opponent, state Attorney General Jim Petro, of having ethics worse than the incumbent governor, Republican Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor ethics violation last year and whose approval ratings have plunged toward single digits. Blackwell's ads drew a reprimand from Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett.

I'm yet to be convinced Taft is going to be a drag, there hasn't been much sign of it so far, and Blackwell smartly is running against Taft and corruption and positioning himself as the guy who will clean up. Strickland needs to neutralize this and be the real reformer.

Ohio, which frustrated Democratic hopes of taking back the White House in 2004, is another state poised to shift parties. The corruption scandals surrounding the Taft administration are dragging down all Republicans this year, and Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland (Ohio) can spend his time raising money and getting organized while Blackwell and Petro go after one another.

I'm am sure this is what Ted is planning, but I think he needs to pile on while these two guys go at it.

Boycott South Dakota

Seems like a good idea to me. If you care about a woman's right to privacy and don't like the idea of South Dakotan women having to give birth to rapists babies you might want to give them a call

Phone: 605-773-3301
Fax: 605-773-3256

All Is Not Right In Wingnut Land

It is kind of funny that many saw the Democratic Senate primary as ugly and bitter even before the swift boating and strong arming emerged, because the Ohio GOP's gubernatorial primary is down right toxic.

Secret straw polls in committee's, leaked emails and viscous attack ads - and it is still only February !

-- The Ohio Republican Party's regional director in Northeast Ohio has resigned, contending that party officials have secretly promoted the gubernatorial candidacy of Attorney General Jim Petro while publicly expressing neutrality.

Karl Raszewski, who headed the 19-county region until Feb. 11, quit after accusing party Executive Director Chris McNulty of squelching the results of a Jan. 28 Republican State Central Committee straw poll that showed overwhelming support for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

"If Chris had . . . let everyone see the results, Petro would have likely left the race within 48 hours," Raszewski predicted in one of two e-mails he wrote to party officials. Copies of the e-mails were sent anonymously to The Plain Dealer.

Committee members were asked to submit secret ballots choosing between a Blackwell/Petro ticket or a Petro/Blackwell ticket. Two sources said the results, which GOP Chairman Bob Bennett discussed with party leaders but did not release publicly, showed 40 votes for a Blackwell/Petro ticket and 14 votes for a Petro/Blackwell ticket.

To make matters worse the IRS is wading into GOP Politics too, as UAPA reports

The IRS Friday sent a warning to Ohio pastors who are crossing the line from preaching to politics.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson came to Cleveland to deliver the warning about the crackdown, reported investigator Ron Regan.

This announcement came just a week after a 5 On Your Investigation into two Ohio groups accused of mixing politics and preaching.

Strong language from the IRS too, if you follow the link.

With open primary warfare between Petro and Blackwell (Really, do yourself a favor and get out Blackwell's blog - he attacks Petro far worse than BSB criticizes Brown), and one of their primary get out the message and get out the vote campaign machines, churches, being warned, it's no wonder Bob Bennett is feeling apocalyptic.

I think it is incumbent upon us to pile on.

Labels

I saw this yesterday at Political Wire and never got around to mentioning it, but the Blade ran the story today.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine was one of the Senate's most moderate members last year, and his likely November opponent was one of the House's most liberal, an annual nonpartisan rating system concluded yesterday.

I notice how they mention DeWine's name, but not Brown's.

You can get the links to these reports here. Interesting stuff.

In a busy world labels make it easy for voters to decide based on little or no information. Our job, and the hope for the blogs is that we ensure that enough people do get the right information before deciding.

It's also why we have to contest every race, everywhere so that messages beyond the labels can seep out. When we find the time to take a little time with individual voters it's how we turn the tide. The Disptach had a good article about Delaware Dems doing just that

Republicans dominate every countywide elected seat in Delaware County and, historically, haven’t faced much competition.

But Democrats think this might be their year.

"Right now, I think we’re viewed as the underdog, but I think we’re also viewed as something to be reckoned with," said Sam Murphy, a Democratic Party vice chairman. "You can’t exactly take us for granted . . . We’re expanding and we’re not quitting."

This is how we win. The more people who show up and do something to educate voters on issues that are important, the more we can break through the simple labels of demagoguery, and the sooner we start the better.

Reforms You Won't Get Anytime Soon

There are some reforms you won't get anytime soon. Vital reforms such as an end to gerrymandering and publicly financed campaigning. Both I believe are critical to a healthy democracy.

The system right now is designed as an huge incumbent protection plan. Strong candidates can't compete because the deck is stacked against them, and when they do they are drowned in a flood of cash converted into ads by the incumbent. So you don't get strong candidates running, who then lose by even more, creating an even bigger hurdle to climb to challenge incumbents.

Reform Ohio now sought to significantly deal with the gerrymandering issue, it failed but at least now people recognize there is a problem. In Ohio I suspect little will be done before the elections as both sides wait and see who controls the apportionment board afterwards.

If Democrats do finally take control you are sure to hear the Republicans howl about the need for reform, and the Democrats are sure to want to redistrict in a way that best suits them.

Publicly financed campaigns are also essential. Let's face it, our candidates have to act like used car salesmen for the bulk of the campaign. Begging donors to buy and and give them money. Incumbents with a long history also have long lists of donors, challengers have to eek out the best they can.

Worst of all, as we see over and over again, too many of our representatives are bought off with this process and exchange legislation for cash.

Blue 88 has been discussing these reforms, and in fact had literature at the statewide candidates forum about it, and today I note they picked up on a Hill article where Voinovich of all people is warming to the idea.

It's not going to go anywhere, yet, but if you want to improve our Democracy and government pushing these two reforms should be everyone's goal, left or right.

Mike DeWine, Huh ?

Ok, so i got another email from DeWine. Again no editorial content just a couple of articles about Bush's fundraising visit, but this is befuddling, at the very end was this passage they included

BARBS FROM DEMOCRAT

Sherrod Brown, the Democratic congressman from Lorain who will be DeWine's likely opponent this fall, weighed in on the Bush fundraiser Wednesday hours before it happened.

"I'm sure President Bush appreciates Mike DeWine's help with job-killing trade agreements like CAFTA, but the people of Ohio don't feel the same way," Brown said in a statement issued by his campaign. "Maybe that's why DeWine doesn't want to be seen with President Bush in public."

No rebuttal, nothing. I guess DeWine must agree. I know I do.

Still Trucking !

Phew. Actual bandwidth usage this month: 102.45%, and the lights are still on.