Hypothetically Speaking

Playing favorites, BWC style

2006-12-08T12:03:00.000-05:00

Why is it that those who scream the loudest about the invisible hand of the marketplace are so often wanting to cheat as often as they can get away with it?

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation also provided The Dispatch with information showing that the employers for whom legislators or the governor’s office lobbied the bureau had their rates reduced by as much as 93 percent in a given year.

That includes an 88 percent reduction in the base rate paid in 2005 by Armbruster Energy, a business owned by outgoing state Sen. Jeffry Armbruster, R-North Ridgeville. The bureau does not release dollar amounts of the savings.

Although Armbruster says he did nothing improper, an internal e-mail written by a bureau official earlier this year appeared to question the reduction and noted "this is not the first time we helped him/his business out."

The details are part of an ongoing investigation into whether political influence or anything improper was involved when the bureau performed "manual overrides" of its computer system to lower premium rates for certain employers.

. . .

Bureau auditors flagged 27 of 36 overrides that they examined from January 2003 to September 2005 for not following agency rules or not having enough documentation to determine whether the reductions were justified.

E-mails involving those 27 overrides showed that at least six legislators and the governor’s office had asked for consideration on behalf of the businesses involved.

GOP money faucet opened for Pryce as it closed for DeWine

2006-12-07T22:46:00.000-05:00

David Hammer at the AP details the final fundraising fury in Ohio:

Filings by federal election campaigns showed how crucial the final days of October and first week of November were in Ohio contests, such as DeWine's against Democrat Sherrod Brown, that helped decide the balance of power in Washington.

. . .

DeWine spent $3.6 million in the final weeks, but lost to Brown, who continued to get plenty of national help and spent $1.5 million of his campaign money to win handily, 56 percent to 44 percent.

. . .

When the RNC took advertising dollars from DeWine, it threw much of it to help Rep. Deborah Pryce's re-election bid in the Columbus-area. At one point in mid-October, Pryce's campaign also was raising $30,000 a day, spokesman George Rasley said. Pryce needed almost all of it to survive.

Pryce kept her Columbus-area seat against Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by a mere 1,055 votes, and a recount in the race continued Thursday. FEC filings Thursday show Pryce spent nearly $1.2 million and Kilroy spent slightly more than $1 million between Oct. 19 and Nov. 27.

From Oct. 23 to Nov. 3 alone, Pryce paid Strategic Media Services of Washington, D.C., $671,316 for television advertising, a number that shocked Kilroy campaign manager Scott Kozar.

"Two-point-six million dollars was my budget for the whole cycle and she spent a fifth of that in one week?" Kozar said. "She had a significant fundraising advantage."

In addition, national Republicans spent $1.8 million on the Pryce-Kilroy race and national Democrats spent $1.6 million.

Bob Bennett's world

2006-12-07T21:28:00.000-05:00

Bizness as usual from your citizen-loving GOP:

1) GOP tries to sabotage Minimum Wage vote with Sub. HB 690 (from the AFL-CIO):

This bill attempts to rewrite the Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Amendment and deny groups—such as home healthcare workers—their newly entitled minimum wage. HB 690 also strips out some of the worker protections in the voter-approved amendment. We cannot let this happen!

The new wage rate will begin on January 1, 2007, even if HB 690 doesn’t pass. We cannot allow those who have vehemently opposed raising the minimum wage to undercut our success on November 7 and deny low-wage workers their rights!

Call your state representative today and tell him or her to respect the will of the people. Tell him or her to Vote NO on HB 690!

• OCSEA says that GOPers tried (but apparently has now abandoned) to use HB 187 to gut civil service protections in public employee hiring and promotions:

• OCSEA also reports that in the state's capital budget bill draft, GOPers have inserted a clause guaranteeing that Ohio will operate two privately-owned prisons, regardless of cost or security provided.

According to the new language, the deal would cement in law the contracts of no less than two private prisons, regardless of how well the contractor performs and regardless of the need for the facilities. The language would also exempt the private prisons from ever being considered for closure.

• Then there is HB 695 that (well chronicled by Russell at the BuckeyeStateBlog and, btw, when is someone gonna give him one of those primo blog jockey jobs???) preemptively lays down a rule-making minefield for the incoming Stricklanders.

• Oh, and besides crippling the new administration, screwing the state's work force and rewarding corporate chums, the GOP can't resist throwing throw some red meat to the christocrats (from Ohio2006, also via the good folks at BSB:

Once again signaling their determination to push divisive partisan legislation during the lameduck session, Republican legislators revived an extreme anti-abortion law and voted it out of committee today. The bill, HB 239, has been essentially dormant since it was introduced by Rep. Michelle Schneider (R) in May.

Lest we forget, behold the words of (still) Chairman Bob, post elections:

In a very real sense, in some ways we needed this. We need the reminder that our service to the people is at their discretion, and if we let them down it can easily be taken away.

Except, that is, when a pond of lame duck loons wants to deliver a big fat f-you to the electorate and strut their egomaniacal stuff a few last times.

And maybe someone in the steno pool might want to ask Bennett to clarify if these final few weeks are the new GOP or the old GOP or the slightly-used GOP or what?

Questions raised about the scope of the OH-15 recount

2006-12-05T20:51:00.000-05:00

The sampling of the ballots got underway this morning. But the scope of the recount is being questioned by some elections experts. If the recount shows a pattern of differences with the offficial numbers, the BOE could order a recount of all ballots.

Although county officials assert they could only do the sample recount of 3% of the vote, a Dispatch story today reported that the Franklin County BOE was going to go above and beyond the call of duty by agreeing to an initially review 10% of the ballots, not just 3%. Indeed, it seemed like the Bill Anthony and the FCBOE is willing to bo the extra mile.

But long comes Ned Foley, Election Law Director at OSU's Moritz College of Law, who makes a convincing argument that because the recount involves a federal office the 3% minimum not only does not apply, but that the applicable federal law suggests that ALL ballots must be recounted:

As my colleagues and I have discussed previously, it is not at all clear to us that it is permissible under state law for local officials to review only 3% [or 10%] of VVPATs rather than all of them, despite the obvious administrative desirability for this more limited review. The part of the elections code governing recounts provides that any candidate may apply “for a recount of the votes cast at such election in any precinct” (§3515.01) and that the Secretary of State must order a recount “in a district election” when the margin of victory is less than one-half of one percent (§3515.011). These two provisions regarding requested and automatic recounts clearly contemplate the recounting of all ballots rather than just a fraction of them.

More to the point, another section of the code specifies the procedures for conducting both permissive and mandatory recounts (§3515.04), and states that “the board of elections, in the presence of all observers who may be in attendance, shall open the sealed containers containing the ballots to be recounted, and shall recount them,” not a portion of them. Likewise, still another section provides: “Upon completion of the recount of the ballots of all precincts listed in an application for a recount . . . or in the case of a [mandatory] recount as provided in § 3515.011,” the board shall file an amended return indicating any change in the results.

The upshot of all these provisions would seem to mandate the recounting of all ballots in a congressional race where either a candidate puts up the money for a recount of all precincts or an automatic recount of the race at the government’s expense is required because of the narrow margin of victory. Because a separate section of state law makes the VVPAT the “official ballot to be recounted” (§3506.18), a recount of all ballots in a race would appear to mean a recount of all VVPATs.

But after making a cogent case for a 100% recount, Foley raises some serious doubts about whether the FCBOE is capable of doing a broader review 220,000+ ballots cast in the OH-15 before the "safe harbor date" of Dec. 12 (or Dec. 15, if a permissable 3-day extension is granted):

Were they to review manually each one of these ballots in a single week, they would need to count 31,593 of them per day, or 1,316 per hour working round the clock—without even allocating any time for double-checking or resolving discrepancies between this manual count and the initial machine count.

. . .

Simply put, there is no point in requiring voting machines to produce spools of paper if there is not enough time for election officials to unravel these spools and examine them.

Foley also suggest that this raises ominous signs for 2008 when a statewide recount of votes cast in a presidential contest could be required.

Regardless, it makes sense to us that Kilroy's campaign should NOT be agreeing that 3% or 10% fulfill statutory requirements of the recount.

Sugarcoated failures

2006-12-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

Apparently the some in the steno pool are going to let Bruce Johnson depart in honor, despite the near-consensus that Ohio economy is virtually directionless.

Johnson counts to his credit the attraction of more than 823 successful economic development projects that have generated nearly $10.6 billion in new investment in the state, retained 159,315 positions and created 64,235 jobs.

Taft also sings the high hosannas for Johnson's efforts:

"Lieutenant Governor Johnson played a pivotal role in transforming Ohio's economic development strategy and has effectively positioned the state to attract business investment in the future."

In fact, during his tenure, Ohio has sustained a net job lost of over 150,000 jobs including over 193,000 in manufacturing, has seen demands for food assitance rise by over 50%, and has earned itself and "F" for high education affordability (just to name a few metrics).

At least Johnson admits to what tune he was fiddling instead of doing his job:

"I'm proud of the many accomplishments we've made to improve Ohio's economy, including lawsuit and tax reform, which are making a tremendous positive impact on the state's business climate."

So, there you have it. Johnson's accomplishments for the last 5 years: less consumer protection and phoney tax reform. If we had another five years of this "positive impact" and some guy named Borat might be making a movie about us.

Good riddance, Bruce.

More on Strickland/Fisher and economic development

2006-11-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

It's obviously early in the process, so we are still looking for hopeful signs. We found some in a recent Ohio Public Radio interview in which the duo seem to hit issues of high interest to us:

Link to education? Check.

Link to health care? Check.

Pursue a unique strategy? Check.

Establish public accountablity method? Check.

And, here are a few particular tea leaves that Fisher left in his cup for observeers to pick through. Sure, some of its rhetoric, but actually some of phrasing he uses are more or less code words that are meant to signal to experts where they intend to go:

Every state has its own unique, natural strengths. We will inventory those strengths and invest in those strengths. And make Ohio first in areas where we can attract the best and brightest talent and the best and brightest companies and workers from around the world and the country.

. . .

You cannot separate out primary and second and higher education from economic development and growth. So obviously we have a strong interest in making sure that every child in Ohio graduates not just with a certificate of graduation but with a certificate of skills that helps them succeed in the global market place, and helps them get the best possible job, preferably in Ohio, where they can raise a family and live here for the rest of their lives.

. . .

Gov. Strickland and I talked about creating an economic growth scorecard by which we can measure our progress and you can measure our progress.

Again, we think there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful.

Kilroy to play hardball with recount

2006-11-28T20:10:00.000-05:00

Good for Mary Jo and her staff! Sounds like we'll have a lively fight to the end in OH-15, with the nation watching. From the Hannah Report (sub. req'd):

Facing a recount and 2,600 disputed provisional ballots, the campaign for Mary Jo Kilroy said Monday she was "ruling nothing out" in her ongoing battle for the 15th Congressional District.

That could include a possible court challenge, Campaign Manager Scott Kozar told Hannah News after the Franklin County Board of Elections named incumbent Republican Deborah Pryce the victor Monday morning.

. . .

Democrats said the electoral review was only just beginning. "It's basically election night at 2 a.m. - three weeks later. There's a lot to be resolved," said Kozar, pointing to thousands of ballots rejected in Democratic-leaning Franklin County. He said it was unclear how many registered voters were in the wrong precinct or otherwise disenfranchised. "That's all going to come in the coming days. There are probably a couple of categories, but we won't know until the recount is completed."

. . .

A number of questions around provisional voting have lain unresolved at the federal level since 2005, when Democrat John Kerry gave up on an election challenge in Ohio. Some states have elected to accept provisional ballots in the right county but the wrong precinct, while others have not. Ohio falls in the latter.

At the state level, the General Assembly has passed election reforms since the presidential election, though without Democratic support.

"It's the first time for a recount under HB3 (DeWine)," noted Kozar. "This is uncharted territory."

Fisher to oversee Ohio economic efforts

2006-11-28T15:32:00.000-05:00

We think this is a good move on Strickland's part, and although it appears at first to just be a repeat of Taft's appointment of Bruce Johnson to head the DOD, it's not.

Johnson, for starters, never showed any particular finesse for economic development. Johnson' background was that he was a political insider who had worked as a corporate hired gun in one of the uber insider law firms, Chester Wilcox Saxbe. Johnson also worked as COS for former Columbus mayor Greg Lashutka (keep in mind that the high point of economic development under Lashustka was the opening of the now-deserted City Center Mall). Johnson, also served as a state senator on the Ways and Means committee.

But being a corporate lawyer, or a political staffer or a committee member tinkering with state taxes doesn't really help one understand anything about real economic development. As a matter of fact, we believe Johnson's background actually hurt him, and gave him a very narrow view of "what's wrong in Ohio."

Ideologically, Johnson was shackled with a trickle-down view of economics and a blind faith in the marketplace.

Worse, Johnson has absolutely no sense of economic strategy and in his world, unfortunately, that's great, because the marketplace will take care of that. All government has to do is prime the pump and urge the pigs to come drink at the trough.

Likewise, Johnson saw little value in developing broad relationships with stakeholders and partners. Little was done to bring together both business and labor groups. There was no outreach to the broad spectrum of economic think tanks around Ohio and the nation. And far too little was done to bring together and unleash the wealth of knowledge in Ohio's universities and academic institutions.

Thus, Johnson did little more than be the cheerleader for inane, silly initiatives like the Third Frontier, corporate tax overhauls, venture capital confabs and expensive "market Ohio" efforts.

And what did that get Ohio? Bupkus in regard to jobs. Unfortunately, Johnson's doofus approach also drove a lot of wedges between stakeholders.

As we have written in the past, Ohio's economic problems can't be solved with "better marketing" or "better access to investment capital" or "fewer taxes." Only simpletons, reporters and Republican ideologues buy into this crap.

Lee Fisher, on the other hand, is no slam dunk for success, but he gives us reason for optimism. Although a lot of people associate Fisher with being a legislator and attorney general, he has some decent management cred. Under his guidance, the Center for Families and Children had developed a reputation for results and well-run operations. Fisher also spent time on the Board of Directors of two publicly-traded companies, REX stores and OfficeMax.

Of course, running the AG's office is no easy task either. Skeptics may try to blow this off, but Fisher took the job seriously enough that he enrolled and partcipated in several senior management programs offered to executives at Harvard and the Weatherhead SoB at Case Western.

Fisher also seems to pride himself in being able to reach across broad spectrums of constiuencies to achieve specific goals.

Taxpayers clearly are demanding that something be done about Ohio's economic direction. This will be a tough job for even the best candidate, and we don't envy Fisher in this regard. The good news is that he can't really do any worse than his predecessors from the prior 16 years. But there are plenty of people in Ohio with some very, very good strategic concepts about economic development that can be tapped - if the political will is really there.

Oh yeah?

2006-11-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

Perhaps "can't" was the best word for Deb's peeps to use in this situation, especially since the Dispatch - despite it's own silly reporting on the vote count - never was stupid enough to say it can't happen.

Now let's recall that the Dispatch's pseudo-analysis in fact did everything but guarantee that its endorsed candidate would be the winner:

If yet-to-be-counted votes follow patterns of those already tallied in the 15 th Congressional District, Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy would gain almost 1,800 votes districtwide on incumbent Deborah Pryce but still fall short.

. . .

There’s no reason to think that uncounted absentee ballots would favor either candidate in numbers greater than those already included in unofficial totals.

Scott Kozar, Kilroy’s campaign manager, said yesterday that provisional ballots will provide the Democrat’s hoped-for victory.

"When all those votes are counted, we’re going to swing it to victory," Kozar said.

DeStefano dismissed that as wishful thinking.

"Kilroy continues to play fast and loose with the facts, still claiming there is this gold mine of provisional (ballots) on campus when in fact there is not," he said.

In fact, as insiders can attest, the phrase, "There’s no reason to think that uncounted absentee ballots would favor either candidate in numbers greater than those already included in unofficial totals," was being thrown about verbatim by the Pryce camp before the Dispatch story was printed, and Nash, Haddix and Vitale should be embarassed for having been rope-a-doped on this matter.

Now, a Kilroy victory is clearly still a long shot. We think there is a lot of potential for a few more twists and turns in the vote count. Hope springs eternal, and all that . . .

But it's nice to know that several dozen sphincters at Pryce's HQ did the ole' squeesh-squish big time this morning.

Tom told to give it up

2006-11-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

From the AP:

A judge today ordered a former GOP fundraiser convicted of embezzling from a state investment in rare coins to repay the state $13.7 million.

. . .

Also on Monday, Noe's former right-hand man pleaded guilty to tampering with records. Prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity against Timothy LaPointe, who was once Noe's close friend.

More on the OH-15 recount

2006-11-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

From the AP:

The official numbers are due at the secretary of state's office Tuesday, spokesman James Lee said. Once the state office verifies a recount is required, it would notify county election officials that they have 10 days to complete the recount. Lee said that notice could be sent Tuesday, which would mean the recount would have to be done by Dec. 8.

Recount triggered in Kilroy-Pryce race.

2006-11-27T09:50:00.000-05:00

Fantastic, and, ahhhh, now things get interesting!

The AP reports that Pryce's lead has dropped to the level needed for an automatic recount:

The four-member Franklin County Board of Elections certified final vote totals that gave Pryce the victory in the 15th Congressional District over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 1,054 votes, a net loss of 2,482 from Pryce's unofficial election-night count. The tighter margin is within the half-percent required to trigger an automatic recount, director Matthew Damschroder said.

Keep the faith!

The Bob and Tom show, continued

2006-11-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

As we noted in our previous post about Bob Bennett's phony bluster about Tom Noe's sentencing, there are still an enormous number of questions that have got to be making the entire GOP establishment squirm. Especially with Marc Dann as AG.

The Blade's reporters get it. In spades.

Others suggest that they will answer the remaining big question: Did the Republican leaders of the state open the treasury to Noe because of his GOP cache?

State Sen. Marc Dann, the Youngstown-area Democrat who will take office in January as attorney general largely based on his vocal criticism of the state's rare-coin investment, said he plans to examine the origin of the coin deal, including "how it came about, how it was proposed, who made the decisions about the transfer of the money, and what pressure, if any, came from the governor's office."

. . .

Investigators said the final verdict in the "Coingate" scandal, as the Noe affair has been dubbed, has not been reached. They say others are being investigated and that state and federal charges likely will be filed against additional people.

Tom Wersell, head of the bureau's investigations' unit, said the task force first assembled to look into Noe is studying state laws to see what crimes may have been committed beyond those already identified.

And then there's the whole MCO political-corruption-cum-organized crime stew that's bubbling so hot that even the Taft's Inspector Clouseau, Tom Charles, has his bones rattled:

Mr. Charles said he has not been able to release a report on the Noe investigation because the federal-state probe into the bureau's investment practices is ongoing - and the investigation has expanded into whether politics played a role in bureau decisions in setting premium rates for certain employers.

So, until Bob Bennett starts supplying names and dates, its there any reason why this guy deserves any respect or credibility?

BTW - despite the disaster the Ohio GOP has turned into, we hear Bennett wants to stay and is telling everyone that the national GOP wants him to stay, too. Now that his mystique has been shattered, we say 'keep him on' - he'll make a great punching bag for the next two years.

Seeing trees, not the forest

2006-11-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

Bennett (via Gongwer):

“Tom Noe is a liar and a thief, and his crimes have damaged the public trust. His name is forever associated with corruption. The only thing good that can now come of Tom Noe’s legacy is a renewed commitment to ensuring that his crimes never happen again.”

Bob's comments are all well and good and full of the pompous outrage one might expect. But, again, he is allowed to evade two questions:

How did this interlocked scheme among Republican donors, state officials, GOP operatives and cynical corporate types evolve under his nose over the last two decades?
What, specifically, is Bennett's proposal(s) to ensure that Noe-like corruption "never happens again"?

Is the steno corps still too ball-less to ask the important questions?

Rotten eggs

2006-11-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

We are hoping that maybe a Strickland-led Dept. of Agriculture can put an end to this egg farm farce once and for all.

Ohio’s largest egg producer lost a big battle in its fight to stay open when a state hearing officer said the agriculture department should revoke its permits.

The ruling against Ohio Fresh Eggs, which has farms in Licking, Wyandot and Hardin counties, could mean that the company would have to sell its chickens and close the farm.

It is the latest action in a long fight between the egg farm, its neighbors and state officials who had previously shut down Buckeye Egg Farm, the company’s previous owner.

Coincidentally, last week scientists again issued grave warnings about factory farm operations:

Six reports, written by three dozen scientists mostly from the American Midwest and Scandinavia, were published last week in the online version of the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Among their recommendations are limits on the density of animals and mandatory extensive environmental reviews for new feedlots. They also called for a ban on the use of antibiotics to promote animal growth, and that the drugs be available to factory farms only through prescriptions. The scientists also said they are worried about the danger of a flu pandemic spread by feedlots with both hogs and poultry, and urged new rules that set minimum distances separating them.

And, with the mounting concern about pandemic flu - linked to unsanitary poultry practices in several countries - it's past time for getting this situation under control.*

(* We fully understand that many models suggest a pandemic is more likely to spread via human movements around the world rather than via migratory birds, however there is some evidence from the 1918 pandemic that the deadly flu strains brewed in unsanitary agricultural settings for several years before the right combination of forces unleashed the "Spanish Flu" on the world. Also, we doubt whether the state of Ohio will ever have the ability to adequately regulate and inspect a facility of this size, and the price of failing to do so is enormously large on the rest of the environment, including helping spread Avian flu among other bird species.)

Noe looking at 20+ years and perhaps $15 million

2006-11-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

Okay, taxpayers will see little if any of the money (unless Fox and Judith Regan sign him to some media deal), but Noe is good for at least From the Blade:

Tom Noe, convicted last week on 29 charges for stealing from Ohio's $50 million rare-coin fund, was sentenced to 18 years in state prison and ordered to pay fines and restitution, by Judge Thomas Osowik this morning in Lucas County Courthouse.

The sentence is in addition to a 27-month federal sentence that was imposed in September for illegal laundering money to President Bush.

Noe was fined $213,000 by Judge Osowik and ordered to pay the cost of the prosecution, estimated at $2.5 million and ordered to pay restitution to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, estimated at $13.7 million.

"You cooked the books ... it was an elaborate scheme," Judge Osowik said
before sentencing Noe.

Mr. Osowik said Noe's crimes were premeditated and he "continued to manipulate" the bureau until May 2005 - even after an internal auditor raised concerns about the coin funds.

The judge said Noe acted as if he had a "bottomless cup" of wealth, which was really backed by state money.

While, Eder and Wilkinson seem to make it pretty clear that Osowik was disgusted by Noe's schemes, the Dispatch's reporter assigned to the courtroom filed this different observation:

Although Osowik said the case was a “run-of-the mill embezzlement,” he ruled that Noe was in a position of public trust and stole form the state investment at “shockingly alarming rate.”

Were these guys at the same sentencing hearing? We weren't there, but it's hard to imagine that Osowik both said it was a run of the mill embezzlement and and elaborate scheme. Given that the Dispatch's post was written by Ohio's worst reporter, we've got a feeling that Eder and Wilkinson got the tone in the courtroom right.

Soy subsidies?

2006-11-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

This isn't that biggest issue facing the Strickland administration, but this is the kind of crap that makes the Dept. of Development such an important target for an entire rebuild. From Gongwers (sub. req'd):

The state will open an international trade office in Shanghai that will focus on increasing Ohio companies’ exports to China and identify potential reverse investments for Ohio, Governor Bob Taft announced Monday.

The office is being opened as a cooperative venture between the Department of Development’s International Trade Division and the Ohio Soybean Council, which will supply half of the office’s budget.

. . .

The soybean organization supported the creation of the office given that China is the largest export market for American soybeans.

The office will be managed by Emerge Logistics, which was selected for the job through a competitive RFP process. Jeffrey Bernstein, the company’s founder and managing director, will lead the operations.

Taft also issued a press release about this here.

Now, you might assume Emerge Logistics is a top-shelf consultant on emerging market trade strategy.

You'd be wrong. Emerge Logistics is, essentially, a warehousing operation in Shanghai. Although it promotes itself as a supply-chain expert, its expertise if very limited. Granted, they have some efficiencies in getting goods through the paperwork bureacracy in China, and to that extent, that may be good for Ohio's soybean growers.

But these are not the credentials you'd want for running a balls-out trade office for Ohio in Shanghai. And, of course, that is not really what this deal is about. It's really about a backdoor subsidy (in this case, a cost-sharing) disguised as a broader trade effert. It ain't.

And, if you have a desire to waste an hour or six, just try to find the ODOD RFP that Emerge is said to have won "competitively," a nonsense word in the world of RFPs if there ever was one.

Could be an interesting post mortem

2006-11-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Success Group has already held its invitation-only rehash of the elections (last week), but this public event in Columbus Thursday could be interesting. It also wouldn't be surprising if Bennett announces his retirement soon. (Via Gongwers - sub req'd):

Columbus Metropolitan Club post-election forum with state party chairs Chris Redfern & Bob Bennett, Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E. Broad St., Columbus, Thursday, November 16 at 12 p.m.

A little more information is available here.

Cost is usually $30 (includes lunch) but you can get a $5 discount via the Dispatch's Reader Rewards.

Also, the Ohio Channel usually has taped rebroadcasts of CMC forums.

Make every vote count rally at OSU

2006-11-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

Good crowd at the rally at OSU this afternoon. The Kilroy campaign and the Dems are asking that any OSU students who cast a provisional ballot contact their headquarters.

Kilroy hangs tough . . .

2006-11-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

. . . so you can do your part by going to the rally today (Thursday).

RALLY FOR VOTER RIGHTS
4:00 pm - Thursday, November 9th
Stecker Lounge - Ohio Union, 3rd Floor
Ohio State University Campus
1739 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio

Post traumatic bliss - sweepsville!

2006-11-09T12:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, we've finally gotten rid of our hangover, and, okay there is a certain irony to using the above "sweep" picture as long as the Kilroy campaign has yet to be decided, but we join the chorus about all the great wins Tuesday.

We'll have more to say about some of the races, but until we get real food and more sleep, readers will have to settle for a few pixs from Tuesday.

Despite the picture below, Redfern was beaming the entire night.

Voting roundup

2006-11-07T14:40:00.000-05:00

We've been out working the neighborhoods since 4:30 am so there is a little catching up to do while we grab a bite to eat.

In the meantime, here some of what's going on:

In OH-2, from Justin Rood at TPM Cafe:

[Election Protection] volunteers and the EP hotline received widespread [reports] of voting machine problems leading to delays, as well as problems with confusion implementing the state’s photo ID requirement. Additionally, one polling place opened late because of an overnight break in. A local TV station aired footage of Congresswoman Jean Schmidt’s battle with an optical scan voting machine, which repeatedly rejected her ballot.

The Dispatch has a thread running with comments about peoples voting experiences - positive and negative. Share yours!

Also the Dispatch reports:

Franklin County's phone system was returned to service about 90 minutes after it collapsed today under a crush of calls from voters and poll workers.

. . .

Damschroder said the system could not handle the quantity of calls from voters needing help to figure out where to vote and from poll workers needing help figuring out how to set up new electronic machines.

The PD's Openers says 1 out of 14 polling stations are facing problems in Cuyahoga County:

More than 40 polling places in Cuyahoga County reported problems with some or all of their electronic voting machines this morning and had to revert to paper ballots to allow residents to vote, according to a spokesman from the county's Board of Elections.

Otherwise, there were no major problems at the 573 polling sites as they opened at 6:30 a.m., Alan Melamed said.

The Enquirer's Political Extra crew reports that Butler County officials are a little edgy:

A Butler County sheriff's deputy talks with Enquirer reporter Janice Morse outside the West Chester 41st precinct after she and photographer Tony Jones were asked to leave the polling place and not to take any photographs. Poll workers called the police and wanted the journalists arrested. Morse and Jones were later allowed in.

Here is the context to this problem:

Enquirer reporter Janice Morse and photographer Tony Jones were threatened with arrest this morning at a Butler County polling place, while attempting to photograph and interview Congressman John Boehner as he voted.

Boehner had told the media he would available for interviews this morning, but Jones and Morse were told by poll workers that they could not come in.

Also in southern Ohio, number of voters appears to be high:

Numbers are up and voting is steady, officials at the Bond Hill Recreation Center say. Michael Nichols, election official for precinct 7-H, said 91 voters had come through by 11:30 a.m., double what he would have expected. His theory on the increase? "I think they're just tired of the way things are, and they're trying to make a change."

And this is clearly incorrect:

Pat Esswein says she was astonished to learn that her military I.D. was not sufficient identification to vote. Luckily, she had another I.D. when she went to her polling place in Union Twp. "It's a real shame that poll workers will not accept a military I.D., which is a very secure form of identification, but they will take a phone bill!"

Get out of the game

2006-11-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

From the Enquirer's blog:

Then there was the one house on the block where the woman who answered the door told Schmidt to leave. And as Schmidt was crosing the street on her way to the next house, a man yelled from the porch: "Hey Jean! Don't come back over here."

And if that wasn't bad enough, the family then decided to get out a banner and some markers and spray paint and make a sign to make sure everyone in the neighborhood now knows exactly what they think of their congresswoman.

"If she can walk door to door in my neighborhood, then I can put up a sign," Jim Pierce said. "I would never have put her in Congress. She needs to get out of the game."

Words to wake up by

2006-11-06T21:49:00.000-05:00

Hopefully many of you are going to bed early tonight to prepare for one final GOTV push.

When the alarm goes off and that exhausted part of your brain tries to talk the other part into staying in bed, remember that this is the crap we are fighting to put an end to, courtesy of Deb Pryce (note: we ran Pryce quotes on Iraq last week):

Health care
“Good things are happening to improve access to health care in Ohio and across the country.” 4/29/05

"As we celebrate Medicare’s 40th birthday next week, the drug benefit represents a monumental step in an historic year.” 7/22/05

“For a decade now, scores of candidates and politicians have promised help to seniors with the high costs of prescription drugs; this Congress delivered on that promise.” 10/28/05

“Clearly, America’s seniors get it – they are enjoying significant savings on their much-needed prescription medications and are signing up for the program in droves.” 3/24/06

“[T]he new Medicare prescription drug benefit is a tremendous success.” 6/30/06

Economy
“And as evidenced by this week’s exciting economic news, the tax cuts that Congress passed this year translate real, solid economic relief.” 11/26/2003

“The final piece of our economic recovery is starting to fall into place. . . further proof that the economy and the American workforce are growing stronger every day. While today’s announcement is tremendous news for thousands of families, Republicans will not stop until every American looking for work finds it.” 11/7/03

“Our economy is as strong as it’s been since 2000, before the terror attacks that crippled it.” 1/30/04

“Ohio’s economy continues to rebound.” 3/25/04

“This recovery is well underway.” 5/7/04

"Once again, Congress and President Bush have enacted common sense legislation that will improve our economy."
4/29/05

"There's a lot of good to say about Ohio's economy." 5/20/05

“America’s economy is strong and getting stronger. In contrast to the doom-and-gloomers, House Republicans have had faith in the American people’s ability to grow our economy and are looking to the future with confidence.” 7/13/2005

“By any objective measure, our nation’s economy is strong and growing stronger. . . Naturally, I understand that the rising economic tide has not lifted all boats, and that some families are still concerned for their economic security.” 12/2/05

“This holiday season, I encourage everyone to do their part to drive our economy by shopping.” 12/2/05

“The evidence is in,” Pryce said. “Republican economic policies are working, and so are the American people.” 3/10/06

“April showers don’t just bring May flowers; they bring jobs,” Pryce said. “This is tremendous news for Ohio, and further evidence that Republican economic policies are working.” 5/19/06

Katrina
“In perhaps the largest coordination of federal response efforts in our nation’s history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is attempting to choreograph a comprehensive effort involving nearly every federal agency to assist the victims, clean up and rebuild the area, and help people get back on their feet.” 9/2/05

"America’s unwavering sense of humanity will pull us through this crisis, and we will become stronger and more unified in the end.” 9/2/05

On 9/2/05, Pryce suggested that people who wanted to donated assistance to Katrina victims make their donations through Pat Robertson’s Operation Blessing.

National Security
“In an urgent call to action following the unprecedented attack of 9/11, President Bush asked Congress to work together and take the necessary steps to protect and defend America. Two years later, our report card of results is clear: success across the board." 9/10/03

"Every day, we get hundreds and hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, letters objecting to [Dubai Ports World deal]," House Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce (Ohio) said yesterday on CNBC. "And you just can't buck that when there's that much public [sentiment] and objection to it. Whether it's right or wrong, this is sort of a lose-lose now." 3/9/06

“Ohio doesn’t have any ports.” “3/1/06

“House Republicans have built a record of action on national security issues, supporting our military, providing for a strong national defense, and aggressively prosecuting the war on terror,” 3/16/06

Corruption:
“It was the newly elected Republican leadership that made Congress more accountable, more effective, and restored public faith in an institution replete with scandal and corruption.” 3/16/06

Sobering

2006-11-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

From Friday's Gongwer (sub. req'd)

Speaker Jon Husted (R-Kettering) didn’t express much confidence at maintaining Republicans’ 60-39 majority heading into election season. In a recent interview, he offered an even more sobering assessment.

“At this point in time we are more subject to the overall environment than I had hoped we would be,” he said.

. . .

A net gain of 11 seats would give Democrats the majority in the House, an outcome considered highly unlikely this year despite what is seen as the most incumbent-unfriendly political atmosphere in years.

Most statewide Republican candidates are having trouble and it appears to be trickling down the ticket to GOP candidates for the Ohio House, particularly in borderline districts, Speaker Husted said. “In situations where our governor’s candidate trails by very large margins, its very difficult for our candidates to be successful.”

There are a relatively large number of close House races this year, he said. “If the overall environment improves by a couple of points, then I expect those races will break our way. And if the overall environment worsens then that’ll make it harder for us.” He declined to elaborate on additional factors are contributing to the tough “environment” for the GOP.

Final Ohio Poll

2006-11-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

From University of Cincinnati, taken 11/1/-11/5:

The final Ohio Poll for the 2006 election season projects victories for Democratic
candidates in races for Ohio governor and United States Senate.

After allocation of undecided voters to the candidates they are most likely to support, the Ohio gubernatorial race stands at Democrat Ted Strickland 59.1 percent, Republican Ken Blackwell 36.8 percent and 4.1 percent for other candidates on the ballot.

After allocation of undecided voters to the candidates they are most likely to support, the U.S. Senate race stands at Democrat Sherrod Brown 55.7 percent and Republican Mike DeWine 44.3 percent.

Tastes sweet, too

2006-11-06T07:44:00.000-05:00

Damaged goods?

2006-11-06T07:37:00.000-05:00

Not the sign of a campaign (on the final Sunday before the election) that thinks it can win:

Pryce, a seven-term congresswoman from Upper Arlington, kept a low profile yesterday, holing up in her campaign office with advisers to prepare for the final push.

Manpower (Inc.)

2006-11-06T06:11:00.000-05:00

From today's WaPo:

Of course, reaching voters is not the same as mobilizing them, and Republicans are clearly nervous that the current political climate will keep their base home.

. . .

In Ohio, they recruited door-knockers from a temp agency for $12 an hour.

In SW Ohio, momentum shifts to Dems

2006-11-05T20:37:00.000-05:00

Today, from CQPolitics.com:

As Election Day nears, CQPolitics.com is providing roundups of the key races in individual states, highlighting major developments in the contests. The following is an update of two House general election contests inOhio.

The roundup includes ratings changes in both races, in Ohio’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts, both of which have been moved toNo Clear Favorite from Leans Republican.

HS Predictions

2006-11-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so BSB has thrown down the gauntlet. What the hell does Russell know? Whatta amateur.

Here's the correct picks:

Governor.
Strickland 59%
Blackwell 38%
Other 3%

Senate
Brown 55%
DeWine 45%

SoS
Brunner 54%
Whats-his-name 46%

Auditor
Sykes 51%
Taylor 49%

Treasurer
Cordray 55%
Sandy 45%

AG
Dann 51%
Montgomery 49%

Bonus picks:

OH -1
Cranley 52%
Chabot 48%

OH-2
Wulsin 51%
Schmidt 49%

OH -12
Shamansky 51%
Tiberi 49%

OH -15
Kilroy 54%
Pryce 46%

A case of Columbus Pale Ale says we can pick 'em better than 'staff' can.

No crying for Bennett

2006-11-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

The Dispatch's Joe Hallett can at times be a terrific writer and at times trip his way into hackerdom. Today, in his column about Bob Bennett, Joe has unfortunately again fallen into the latter way of working.

You’ve got to respect a pro like Bob Bennett. He gets it off his chest and moves on, no hard feelings. And when he thinks you’ve done something right, he says so.

I could have parried Bennett’s complaints about the media, but when the most successful state party chairman in Ohio history wants to rant, he deserves his day. Besides, it is easy to understand why Bennett’s blood is boiling. If the polls are correct, his party is going down in a big way Tuesday and good public servants including Sen. Mike DeWine and U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce could be swept away in the onslaught.

Bennett, who became state chairman in 1988, considered retiring in 2004, but White House political director Karl Rove and others talked him into staying through President Bush’s re-election. Now, Bennett probably is feeling that he stayed two years too long.

It is always puzzling to us that the press corps feels some obligation stage the kabuki theatre of patting the losers on the back and recapping campaigns with a sophistication usually reserved for ESPN Game Day.

To imply that one has to give Bennett respect for being "a pro" in the political game is a tasteless show of disrespect of Ohioans and the enormous problems the state now faces. Bennett is not simply a college football coach who has lost his touch and hung on for one season too long.

He is more like the coach whose incompetence and tolerance for misdeeds threatens to destroy an entire university.

Joe - shouldn't we find the real measure of Bob Bennett legacy by asking and answering these three questions?

Are Ohioans on average better off or worse off now than when Bennett took the helm of the Ohio GOP?
Do corporations and wealthy special interest have much more influence over government decisions now than when Bennett took the helm of the Ohio GOP?
Do Ohioans have a better opinion of the political process now than when Bennett took the helm of the Ohio GOP?

Bennett and his party had nearly every bit of political power in their hands for over a decade and they blew it. They could have reined in the corruption and conservative drift, but they decided it was easier to play that game.

More importantly, Bennett & Co. have presided over the decline of Ohio's economy, schools, and government services. These are not clocks and scores that get reset on Monday mornings.

Joe - you may be willing to let Bennett respectfullly drift quietly into your memories, but we aren't. If Bennett shouldn't be held accountable in the books of Ohio's history for much of the mess we now have to clean up, who should?

Dispatch poll

2006-11-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

BSB has the details, and we don't quibble with the point about the projections being on the high side.

Having said that, the impression one gets from going door-to-door now versus 2004 is markedly different. Strident GOPers are few and far between. It's going to be difficult for even the committed Rs to be hitting the streets in central Ohio when they wake up to see that Ohio's Greatest Hometown Newspaper says the election results are starting to look "staggering."

Also, support for Issue 2 is strong. Very strong. Also, we have not encountered as much "they're all a bunch of bums" cynicism as the news stories have tried to weave in.

We stand by our prediction: Sweepsville.

Sweepsville! Rasmussen on Brown-DeWine

2006-11-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

Rasmussen has just pulled the fork out and says Mikey is done.:

The distance between the candidates vying to represent Ohio in the United States Senate is widening. The most recent Rasmussen Reports election survey shows Democrat Sherrod Brown taking firmer control of the race with a 53% to 41% lead over incumbent U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine.

When leaners are taken into account, Brown leads 54% to 43%.

The momentum at this crucial late stage of the race clearly belongs to Brown. His numbers have taken a seven-point jump since the last poll conducted in mid-October while DeWine’s remain unchanged.

Rasmussen Reports is shifting this race from “Leans Democrat” to “Democrat” in our Senate Balance of Power summary

Uh-oh

2006-11-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

Beyond incompetent.

But Cuyahoga officials discovered late in the week that their Diebold Election Systems scanners do not accurately read test ballots. The malfunction is similar to what happened in May, when the inability of scanners to read 17,000 misprinted absentee ballots forced a hand count that delayed election results for a week.

. . .

Cuyahoga could end up without any scanning, though, unless they get their scanners running right. They will try again today to figure out what's wrong.

The scanners performed adequately in tests when blank, unfolded ballots were scanned, but the machines produced inaccurate counts during tests with ballots that had been folded.

Nearly every absentee ballot submitted by voters arrives in the mail, folded.

Diebold Election Systems, which makes the optical scan machines, flew in at least one specialist from Texas to diagnose the problem. Other Diebold technicians are working on it, too.

Is there any defensible reason why elections officials waited this long to give a hard test to the scanning system given past history?

That last paragraph also gives us pause. At first glance, it might not seem unreasonable to reach out to Diebold. But given the number of scanners and problems inherent with relying on a one-source manufacturer, why didn't the Cuyahoga County BOE develop the internal technical capacity to trouble-shoot these scanners?

Giving Diebold access to voting equipment just days before the election, ya' know, isn't really the smart thing to do to inspire a lot of confidence in voters.

Girl talk: Lamest congressional ad ever

2006-11-03T17:21:00.000-05:00

Debster's minions are now apparently hiring high school artists and writers (actual 1/2 page ad currently running in Columbus-area "This Week" newspapers). Sad, yet hilarious.

Last thrashings

2006-11-03T17:09:00.000-05:00

Deb melts down on Iraq.

Ohio's almost textbook, storybook economy

2006-11-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

From the USDOL:

In the week ending Oct. 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 327,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 309,000.

. . .

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 21 were in Illinois (+3,753), Ohio (+2,863), Pennsylvania (+2,821), Indiana (+2,068), and New York (+1,962), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-5,020), South Carolina (-1,649), California (-712), Alaska (-213), and Texas (-186).

Iraq: Pryce's greatest hits Vol. I

2006-11-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

"Deborah Pryce stands with our troops.

No doubt, in her heart she and Laura believe that, but when Deb decided to run for Congress and become the #4 person, she also - like it or not - assumed responsibility and accountability for her actions. She was supposed to be a leader, not a rubberstamp. She was to be discerning and critical, not a zombie.

We ask readers to examine Pryce's own words, in historical order, and then decide if she "stands with the troops" in Iraq:

“Iraq continues to pose a serious and imminent threat from its development of weapons of mass destruction and the obvious potential for Iraq to transfer these weapons to terrorist groups . . [like] the Afghani people liberated from al Qaeda, the Iraqi people will rejoice if liberated from Saddam Hussein and his regime of terror.” 10/8/02

“The time for diplomacy has ended. The last sands have flowed through the hourglass of patience.” 3/17/03

“[R]espect the dignity and humanity of those soldiers who have been captured . . . Any individual who mistreats a prisoner of war will not be overlooked. They will be found. They will be prosecuted. Justice will be served.” 3/26/2003
“Failure is not an option.” 9/18/03

“One day in the near future, students will read this story in their history books – the story of liberation from an evil oppressor and the rise of a free and democratic nation.” 10/31/03

“Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan serves any longer as a home base for international terrorism, and this has made America safer.” 10/9/04

“What began with the will of a people and the fall of a statue has become a wave of change and the birth of democracy.” 1/30/05

“The terrorists are losing the war.” 5/5/05

“[A]rmchair quarterbacks in Washington are calling for us to cut-and-run from Iraq, just two years into the transformation of that country.” 6/24/05

"The War on Terror has led to additional, collateral developments in the region, adding to the safety and security of both the area and the United States.” 8/11/05

"[E]ach day, steady and tangible progress is being made on the political, security, and economic fronts, and each day the citizens of Iraq are one day closer to enjoying the protections inherent in a pluralistic, representative government . . . To all our collective relief, as Iraqi soldiers continue to assume more and more responsibility for the security efforts, American soldiers are kept out of harm’s way. . . As Iraqi citizens begin to experience the benefits and securities of a growing, stable economy, insurgents will find it continuingly more difficult to recruit additional rejectionists in their efforts to create fear and chaos in Iraq. . . We will accomplish our mission there, and history will look kindly on the liberties and freedoms we secured for our fellow man.”12/12/05

“[C]onsider the remarkable progress we have made in bringing democracy and hope to a nation that for its entire existence, has known nothing but oppression and aggression.” 10/7/06

QED.

Getting serious in the home stretch

2006-11-01T18:15:00.000-05:00

'Bout time:

With Ohio Democrats feeling sassy about the solid leads held by gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, the state party's focus is moving downticket in the waning days.

Sources say the Ohio Democratic Party is taking out loans to buy last-minute TV airtime on behalf of Secretary of State candidate Jennifer Brunner, Attorney General candidate Marc Dann and Supreme Court candidate Ben Espy.

Not biting the hand that feeds her?

2006-11-01T18:06:00.000-05:00

The reader tips just keep rolling in:

A Franklin County judge has thrown out a lawsuit the Ohio Democratic Party filed against Secretary of State Ken Blackwell on Sept. 6, denying the party's request that the court order Blackwell to issue directives on how to alleviate congestion at polling places and assure the security of voting machines.

Judge Angela P. White denied the Democrats' request for a writ of mandamus today, saying she believes Blackwell has issued directives "which seemingly address (the party's) concerns."

With regard to anticipated congestion at the polls on Nov. 7, White wrote that Blackwell has issued a directive advising county boards of elections to be flexible about the so-called "five-minute rule," which informally allows a person five minutes to vote.

Was justice blind in this case, or just turning a blind eye to the history of voting in Ohio? Maybe this gives us a hint (please note this gig was held last week):

We weren't invited

2006-11-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

Maybe that's why we missed the party back in June that Pryce bubbles about:

"We had quite a conference, a day of celebration. We had a lot to celebrate.

We celebrated the political career of Tom Delay. He's been a leader for us for over a decade now, and [we] said goodbye to Tom . . .

That time - landmark will [go] down in the history books. The accomplishments have het to be defined. But history will define them well, I'm sure of that."

Pryce's online rigor mortis - Pt. II

2006-11-01T16:46:00.000-05:00

We have been alerted by a reader that Debster's other venture into the blogosphere haven't gone so well elsewhere, either:

Another picture Deb doesn't want you to see

2006-11-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

Those were the days, weren't they Deb?

"Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, met today with President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other House and Senate Republican leaders to discuss the foreign policy and domestic accomplishments [sic] of the 108th Congress."

Noe: 'They've all been very impressed'

2006-11-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

The Blade:

Jurors finally heard from Tom Noe yesterday — bragging about his luxury home and visits from Gov. Bob Taft and other high ranking politicians.

The indicted coin dealer and convicted GOP fund-raiser wasn’t on the stand, but in a video testimonial for Nicholas Custom Homes that was shown in court.

He said he had thrown parties for “the governor of Ohio” and a “U.S. Senator of Ohio” at the home, for which he had chosen the “most expensive” options.

“And they’ve all been very impressed by it,” he said.

Voter ID: Round #3

2006-11-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

Back in court today:

U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley will consider whether the new ID rules can be applied to absentee voters as well as to those who cast ballots at the polls on Nov. 7.

Scary stuff

2006-10-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

And, we couldn't let Halloween pass without this:

Bob Bennett - you still looking for us?

Boo, you old windbag!

Race vs. Platform

2006-10-31T20:21:00.000-05:00

This has gotten buried in all of today's polling data, we offer this just in case it wasn't pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain:

And while the Republican Party has strongly pushed the candidacies of black Republicans in the coming elections, the survey offers little hope that black GOP candidates hold special appeal for minority voters. More than eight in 10 black likely voters say the race of the candidate makes no difference to them.

“It just depends on their platform,” said Kassandra Williamson-Moore, a black Democrat from Indianapolis. “You can’t just vote strictly by race.”

Prominent black candidates this year include Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio and Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, GOP Senate candidate Michael Steele in Maryland, and Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., in Tennessee. Republicans Steele, Blackwell and Swann are behind in the polls; Democrat Ford is running about even with his opponent.

Blacks are disproportionately unhappy with Bush; 89 percent of likely voters disapprove, compared with 61 percent of all likely voters.

But blacks’ approval ratings for Congress — disapproval ratings, actually — are roughly similar to those for all likely voters. Some 83 percent of likely black voters disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, compared with 75 percent of all likely voters.

. . .

David Bositis, of the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said there’s little variation in congressional approval numbers by race because Congress is so widely viewed as being “in the trash.”

Overall, Bositis said, the Republican courtship of black voters sometimes looks like a case of “one step forward, two steps back.”

“They’re never going to succeed in attracting more African-American support until the party has some level of catastrophic failure and then decides to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

Curtis Gans, director of American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate, said voter turnout among blacks tends to be lower than among adults in general, but in 2004 they, like Americans overall, turned out in higher numbers.

He said voter discontent could boost turnout similarly this time, adding that: “The group that is the most uniformly anti-Republican at this time is African-Americans.”

Two-thirds of black registered voters say they are following news about the campaign, compared with 71 percent of all registered voters doing likewise.

8 in 10 want Dems

2006-10-31T20:18:00.000-05:00

WSJ:

A 54% majority of the electorate now says removing Saddam Hussein from power wasn't worth the human and financial costs -- the highest percentage in the Journal/NBC poll since the war began in March 2003. Among those voters, fully eight in 10 want Democrats to control Congress after the elections.

But among the 37% who say the war has been worthwhile, seven in 10 want Republicans in charge on Capitol Hill. Among all voters, 61% say they feel "less confident" the war will end successfully, while just 27% feel "more confident" about the outcome.

P&G exec's ties to Blackwell, shady CommonSense group surfacing

2006-10-31T18:09:00.000-05:00

Nathan Estruth, this is your day!

Let's start at the Nashville Post story that nails the Proctor and Gamble guy to the latest round of push-polls:

Going to the website mentioned in the ad turns up little information about the sponsors, who identify their cause as "Common Sense Ohio" at the end of the ad.

"Common Sense Ohio" is headed by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble executive Nathan Estruth. Estruth recently came under fire when he told a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter that he was an independent but Republican-leaning voter who went to see Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ted Strickland speak, but was "put off by his partisan rhetoric." In actuality, Estruth is a longtime supporter and financial backer of GOP gubernatorial nominee Ken Blackwell.

But don't stop there. The E Pluribus Media folks have really started to yank on this piece of yarn and the story is unraveling:

[W]e found Common Sense to be the common element among websites targeting push polling inn several states.

In fact, the Maryland and Ohio Common Sense domains and the site of Common Sense 2006 all have the same IP address as does Commonsensetennessee.com, 68.178.194.35. Since he's featured prominently on commonsense2006.org, it's of little surprise to see the personal website of Nathan Estruth among the 29 websites, including that of GOPforce, assigned to the same IP address.

Hammer and the rabid hampster

2006-10-31T16:01:00.000-05:00

Why does her staff keep leaving these pictures around?

They are just soooo helpful to remind us.

Enquirer: Brunner 'essential'

2006-10-31T14:30:00.000-05:00

Given the political bent of the Enquirer and that Hartmann is from Cincinnati, this is an enormous boost for Brunner:

"The secretary of state should only take credit for running a clean election," Brunner told The Enquirer Editorial Board.

Brunner has also clearly articulated a plan to better recruit and train poll workers, expand the pool of registered voters and equally distribute and regulate the use of voting machines.

Ohio has already seen lawsuits challenging its changes to the elections process and should expect more. Brunner's experience as a special prosecutor on election fraud and her years as special counsel to the secretary of state will make her especially effective in dealing with these challenges. She helped communicate state regulations to the state's 88 county boards of elections and knows firsthand the need for improved communication and consistency among those boards.

Brunner also says she'll protect Ohioans' private information and help identity-theft victims recover more quickly from the crime.

Brunner sees the connection between efficiency and integrity in such areas and a state's ability to support economic development. She says sharpening up the secretary of state's Web site - expanding the number of forms that can be filed online, for example, or compacting registration requirements - will also make the state more business-friendly.

It's part of the mature, comprehensive perspective Brunner brings to the office, developed over years of solid service and rare expertise in election issues.

A Halloween quiz

2006-10-31T12:49:00.000-05:00

Just in time, from the Policy Matters Ohio group:

1. About what do more than 650 economists agree? Click here to find out.
2. How many Ohio workers are certified as having lost their jobs due to our monstrous trade deficit? Check PMO's next e-news to find out.....
3. How could Ohio gain jobs, reduce foreign oil use, and clean up our environment? Click here.

Sweepsville

2006-10-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

New from CNN:

It portends well that the LVs give Strickland and Brown a significantly bigger bump.

Volunteers and donors: If you want to be relevent, please look downticket.

Political schism runs deeper and deeper

2006-10-30T14:48:00.000-05:00

From the PD's Openers:

A federal judge appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton said today he would have kept intact a temporary restraining order that suspended Ohio's new voter identification requirements for absentee ballots.

U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow of Detroit filed his dissent this morning in the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where he serves on a three-judge panel overseeing who will get to cast ballots in early voting under way across Ohio. Tarnow said he agreed with U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Columbus, who found last week that rules governining how the new voter ID law was applied across the state might not be the same in every county. Marbley is a Clinton appointee like Tarnow.

Stewart: Huge balls?

2006-10-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

We're refering to State Rep. Dan Stewart, not Jon, and we'd even go so far as to describing his jewels as enormous if the rumors are true that he agreed to (and already taped) an interview with the intrepid Samantha Bee for airing this week as part of the Midtacular.

Dan's truly a good guy. But, uh, playing Beat the Press with Bee usually adds new meaning to the phrase "Rope-A-Dope." Good luck, pal.

Dann, Montgomery watching new BWC problems

2006-10-30T11:34:00.000-05:00

Uh-oh: From Gongwers:

Sen. Dann said he has been told that the BWC, which is withholding an audit of workers’ compensation rate-setting procedures pending its completion, had actually finished the review but reopened it upon receiving his public records request in order to keep it under wraps.

BWC spokeswoman Nancy Smeltzer said that isn’t the case. “The audit is not done,” she said. “As soon as it is done, it will be released.”

Sen. Dann (D-Liberty Twp) said he asked for the documents after receiving a tip from a BWC staff member who claimed that lawmakers and others had sought special treatment in the rate-setting process for their constituents. He could not, however, identify the lawmakers or the tipster, saying only that the informant claimed to be a BWC employee.

The bureau sets rates for individual private and public employers that pay into the system based on the fre-quency of injuries in the workplace and other factors.

Mr. Mabe said in his letter to Mr. Dann that he requested the rate audit be expedited. He also told the law-maker that additional information he had requested would not be released because it’s considered “confidential law enforcement” documentation that’s part of a broader ongoing investigation of BWC’s investments and operations.

State Auditor Betty Montgomery, Mr. Dann’s opponent in the Nov. 7 election for attorney general, is equally concerned about the “troubling information” coming out of the BWC, spokesman Mark Weaver said.

Deb Pryce's soulmate

2006-10-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

Gazelles in the Ohio House 58th district? Almost as good as "Ohio's textbook economy."

From Gongwers (sub. req'd):

Rep. [Dan] White (R-Norwalk) says voters are less concerned about the economy now that companies in the district have added 9,300 new jobs between January and June.

“I think the economy’s doing reasonably well,” he said. “You get a lot of bad news out of Ford and Delphi, and people from my district work there. But it means that the small and medium-sized businesses underneath the bad news are running like gazelles.”

Root Boy vs. Bush

2006-10-29T12:52:00.000-05:00

We have received some inquiries concerning our stinger of Root Boy Slim lyrics to the left. There is both a political and Halloween subtext.

Root Boy Slim (born Foster MacKenzie III) and his Sex Change Band was a fixture of the DC-Baltimore music scene in the '70s and '80s who we remember for particularly raucous satirical Halloween shows that had even the John Waters crowd of mischief makers laughing for weeks.

What is little-known about the Root Boy is that he was one of the first victims of a young, spoiled, little prick named George W. Bush:

[MacKenzie] went on to Yale where he majored in Black studies and graduated in 1967. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and his fraternity brothers included George W. Bush. MacKenzie was a year old than Bush.

While at Yale he formed a band with classmate and fraternity brother Greenlee, who also was quarterback of Yale's football team. The band was named Prince La La and the Midnight Creepers. Band members wore ermine capes, silver lame hot pants and boasted that they were never invited for return engagements.

The year after MacKenzie and Greenlee graduated, they returned to the DKE house during Yale's homecoming. Bush, who since their departure had become president of DKE, threw them out and banned them from the house.

Root Boy died in 1993, but his records and memory live on.

Pryce's online rigor mortis

2006-10-29T12:36:00.000-05:00

Days since the last post on Debster's "blog": 46

Blackwell: Small type operator on exit surveys

2006-10-28T09:52:00.000-04:00

Kenny just can't resist playing his games:

ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox News, NBC and The Associated Press sued Monday, arguing that Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell’s latest directive, which stated that loitering and delaying voters were prohibited, was confusing. Later, and in smaller type, Mr. Blackwell’s order noted that the polling practice was legal.

The judge, Michael H. Watson of Federal District Court, ordered the new rules last month when he struck down Mr. Blackwell’s 2004 order against polling voters within 100 feet of a voting place.

The news outlets had asked Judge Watson to spell out the rules for county election boards and to force Mr. Blackwell to post them so members of the news media could interview voters leaving polling places on Nov. 7.

In his decision Friday, Judge Watson needled Mr. Blackwell’s office for noting the judge’s earlier decree in smaller type but said the posting was still legal.

Here's what they were complaining about:

Jobs picture a la Policy Matters Ohio

2006-10-27T16:32:00.000-04:00

From the good folks at PMO, a group that does a great job of staying on top of this stuff:

Employment in Ohio continues to trend slightly downward, according to seasonally adjusted payroll numbers for nonfarm wage and salary jobs released Oct. 24 by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS). The number of jobs in Ohio has declined by 10,000 since its recent peak in May.

Since June of 2005, when an overhaul of state taxes was signed into law with the intent of creating jobs, employment in Ohio has grown by 28,600 jobs, or a rate of 0.5 percent. During the same period, the nation added 2.2 million jobs, for a growth rate of 1.7 percent.

. . .

Ohio employment remains 137,000 jobs, or 2.5 percent, below the job base of March 2001, when the last recession officially started. Ohio is one of just eight states that have lost jobs since the recession began.

More polling good news

2006-10-27T11:13:00.000-04:00

We are told the new Rasmussen poll shows Brown with a double-digit lead and, more importantly, has solidly crossed the 50% line. Rasmussen also reportedly continues to show Strickland with a big double digit lead, too.

Judge hints at final ruling in ID case

2006-10-27T08:17:00.000-04:00

From Gongwers (sub req'd):

Judge Marbley rejected an argument from Assistant Attorney General Richard Coglianese that enjoining the statute, and returning to previous rules, would create confusion and spark additional litigation over ballots already cast under the new regulations.

“If this statute is declared unconstitutional, we go back to the system we had before. It was not constitutionally infirm, and had not caused problems,” the judge said. “I’m not gong to be burdened by whether … (this) will be burdensome for some bureaucracy.”

Credit goes to attorneys Subodh Chandra and Caroline Gentry who presented the arguments before Marbley:

“Does the address need to be current on the water bill? What is a government document? Well, this is another issue where you have different interpretations occurring across the state,” Mr. Chandra said. “Different counties have different interpretations.”

He said at least one absentee ballot applicant – an attorney – entered the wrong set of numbers from his driver’s license.

“This is not the best thought out statutory scheme in the world,” said Mr. Chandra.

Rot gets worse in Ohio air pollution rules

2006-10-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

Your Republican Ohio EPA. From Gongwers (sub. req'd):

“When you got a rotten law, it takes a bit of effort to come up with a set of regulations that are even worse, but they did,” attorney David Altman said in an interview Thursday, referring to draft rules the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency proposed in response to a major revision of the state’s air pollution law (SB 265 ).

Mr. Altman submitted written comment on the rules earlier this week on behalf of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, Sierra Club, Buckeye Environmental Network, Environmental Community Organization, and Ohio Citizen Action.

The agency will consider public comments, and may further revise the rules, before submitting them to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR), OEPA spokeswoman Linda Fee Oros said. The agency hopes to finalize the rules by the end of the year. Thereafter, the rules may be appealed in the Environ-mental Review Appeals Commission, she added.

Any business emitting an air contaminant previously had to obtain a permit but, among other changes, the new regulations require permits only for companies releasing a chemical named on a list of toxic compounds.

“So now the question is, isn’t the OEPA director going to make this all better by putting thousands of chemi-cals on the list?” Mr. Altman said about the new law requiring the agency to list regulated chemicals. The director failed to include many chemicals “well-known to be capable of causing adverse health effects.”

He went on to criticize the rationale the agency offered for narrowing the originally proposed list from 639 to 303 compounds. Among other reasons, the agency dropped chemicals that were no longer being produced in Ohio.

“What logic is there in taking the 300 some chemicals off the list because they’re not currently being used in Ohio?” he asked. Looking at the situation from the perspective of a polluter, he added, “I would move those chemicals into Ohio the minute those regs went into effect.”

Ssssssssspt . . . and the balloon finally collapse

2006-10-26T20:35:00.000-04:00

From Stephen Koff at the PD's Openers:

Aaron McLear, RNC spokesman, says the party will continue its on-the-ground efforts and staff support for Ohio Republicans, and says he understands DeWine has about $2.8 million available for his own commercials.

But no more money for RNC ads as of Tuesday. The party canceled its air time reservations.

Okay, it's officially time to focus on the SoS and Auditor races.

Desperation leads to . . . deperate arguments

2006-10-26T17:13:00.000-04:00

A bad day for the GOP media guys in southwest Ohio. From the TPM headquarters:

OH-1

OH-2

Sweepsville!

2006-10-26T16:35:00.000-04:00

It's important not to get too giddy over this stuff, but it's hard not to when Survey USA says its game, set and match for the governor and senate races, and minimum wage (poll conducted 10-23-10/25):

Democrat Take-Away in Ohio Governor: In an election for Governor of Ohio today, 10/26/06, Democrat Ted Strickland wins decisively over Republican Ken Blackwell, according to an exclusive SurveyUSA poll of 563 likely Ohio voters conducted for WKYC-TV Cleveland, WCPO-TV Cincinnati and WYTV-TV Youngstown. Strickland led by 28 in an identical SurveyUSA tracking poll 10/12/06. Today leads by 30.

Democrat Take-Away Now Certain in Ohio U.S. Senate: In an election for United States Senator from Ohio today, 10/26/06, Democrat challenger Sherrod Brown unseats incumbent Republican Mike DeWine, 57% to 37%, according to an exclusive SurveyUSA poll conducted for WKYC-TV Cleveland, WCPO-TV Cincinnati and WYTV-TV Youngstown. Brown led by 14 in an identical SurveyUSA tracking poll on 10/12/06. Today, Brown leads by 20. Brown's lead among males is up from 1 point on 10/12/06 to 13 points today; up from 12 points among white voters to 18 points today. In Western Ohio, DeWine led by 18 2 weeks ago, trails by 10 today, a 28-point swing to the Democrat.

Issue 2 Passes: Issue 2 passes in a referendum today, 49% Yes to 16% No. Though 35% of voters are not yet Certain how they will vote on 2, late deciders are splitting evenly. Issue 2 had led by 32 points on 10/12/06, today leads by 33 points. The measure is supported 3:1 by whites and 6:1 by blacks.

And remember, as we always like to say, follow the trend, not the numbers.

Bob Bennett's Halloween hauntings

2006-10-26T15:35:00.000-04:00

From a reader in Grandview:

Kilroy, Shamansky get SNP endorsement

2006-10-26T14:41:00.000-04:00

The mini-empire of Max Brown's Suburban News Publications (e.g., The Booster, The Other Paper, Columbus Monthly, Columbus CEO) is not big enough to think of itself as a king-maker the way the Wolfe family does. Still, the SNP's total circulation is enormous and these publications probably reach more households in central Ohio than the Dispatch. Moreover, the SNP's community newspapers have found a successful formula of local schools, sports and community activities that put it in touch with middle class sensibilities, and The Other Paper has (so far) outlasted its competition to serve the enormous 16-30 year old culture/entertainment/politics/gossip market.

With this in mind, it is significant but not entirely surprising (the SNP endorsed Kerry in 2004) that the SNP has stiffed Tiberi and Pryce and thrown its support behind Mary Jo Kilroy and Bob Shamansky:

[T]his election should not be about which candidates can scavenge the most pork for Central Ohio. It should be about the role of Congress in setting the national agenda and providing checks and balances on the White House. If you believe the nation will be best served by returning to Congress a majority of Republicans who will compliantly do the bidding of the Bush administration, then it makes sense to re-elect Pryce and Tiberi. Both have obediently supported Bush at every turn. And the President values such loyal service -- witness his recent, big-bucks campaign fundraising trip to New Albany on behalf of Pryce.

If you think the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld administration has our nation on the right track in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Iran, in North Korea, in Darfur and the world's other trouble spots, then by all means vote to send Pryce and Tiberi back to Washington. If you think Bush's trillion-dollar deficits and gargantuan appropriations bills are making our economy stronger, vote for Pryce and Tiberi. You'll get two more years of the same.

If, on the other hand, you believe that it's time for a change -- time for a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives to rein in the Bush administration's excesses and check its wrong-headed policies -- then you should join Suburban News Publications in supporting challengers Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th District and Bob Shamansky in the 12th District.

. . .

Because of the crucial issues facing this country today, at home and around the world, the choices in these two races couldn't be more clear:

A vote for Pryce or Tiberi is a vote for George W. Bush and the status quo.

A vote for Kilroy or Shamansky is a vote for change.

The editors also took a swing at folks on Third Street:

What was glaringly absent from the Dispatch endorsement was discussion of the critical national and international issues facing the nation, and the roles Pryce and Tiberi have played in confronting - or, more accurately, not confronting - those issues and the policies of President George W. Bush. Incredibly, the lengthy editorial never even mentioned the President's name. Boiled down to basics, the Dispatch seemed to be saying: "To hell with the country; bring us more pork!"

Bennett facilitates coming train wreck

2006-10-26T11:37:00.000-04:00

How convenient. Despite the assurances from the Cuyahoga County prosecutor that ballot scanning could begin early, the GOP is determined to keep that from happening:

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason is ready to tell elections officials they can defy Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and scan thousands of absentee ballots days before Election Day, ensuring that results are ready on Election Night.

If only elections officials would ask.

But the county elections board does not plan to ask for the opinion. Officials had planned to seek it but changed their minds Wednesday. They will try to scan more than 100,000 ballots in 20 hours on Election Day, relying on their scanners to work faster than they have in the past.

"We have to lock down the election," board Chairman Bob Bennett said in an interview. "We can't be involved in a legal fight. The secretary of state says it's illegal. . . . I don't want to take the risk."

Right. That would be the same Bob Bennett who is also chair of the Ohio GOP who is using Kenny Blackwell as his source for guidance on this matter.

Mason said scanning ballots into a computer does not equate to counting them. He said the counting would occur Election Day, when election workers hit a tabulation button to spit out the results.

"It seems that there's a common-sense approach to this," said Mason. "I would say they should start early, but don't total them until the polls close.

N-bombs

2006-10-26T11:08:00.000-04:00

Jeez. We realize an apologize has been made, but why does this guy still have his job after giving this bumbling explanation?

He said after Sunday's game, he complained to John Elffers, president of the Hudson Hawks Youth Football Association, who sent him a letter apologizing for the fans' actions.

Elffers, however, said the first complaint he heard came Monday when Saffold called him and said parents of Shaker players were offended. Elffers said he doubted supporters meant to be offensive.

"Their actions, albeit unwise, foolish and insensitive, were meant to be totally supportive and not intended to insult or offend anyone in any way," Elffers wrote in his letter to Saffold.

"Supporters" - presumably adults since this is a football league of ten-year olds - of the HHYFA wore Afro wigs, painted their faces, and yelled "nigger" throughout the game.

But, hey, apparently those ultra-sensitive types in Shaker Heights just don't get this part of a proud pee-wee football tradition:

Elffers said the Hudson teams have played in the league for 15 years and have not received previous complaints about the costumes, even against other teams with black players.

Voter ID hearing today

2006-10-26T10:55:00.000-04:00

If this isn't on your "to watch" list for today, it should be. From the good folks at BSB.

And note, the snippets of court documents that BSB provide show that this is as much about having a consistent set of rules, training and enforcement since it seems like we are stuck with the concept of having to show some ID, despite the total lack of problems with voter fraud.

In other words, these cases are a byproduct of negligence on the part of Ohio's chief elections officer.

PD: Insiders looted workers, BWC system

2006-10-26T08:13:00.000-04:00

Again, the details of the MCO scandal is just starting to surface and Bob Paynter's powerful story in the Plain Dealer is going to make a lot of people squirm.

It's a tawdry tale of revolving doors, lobbyists, and corporate manipulations. It should be noted that the whole MCO thing was a privatization scheme introduced under the guise of "improving" BWC. Case management had been done internally by BWC staff, but Voinovich & Co. couldn't resist doling out rewards, at the expense of injured workers. It just sort of sums up everything that's wrong in Ohio:

The Dublin-based company now known as VocWorks didn't even exist in July 1998, 16 months after Republicans used their lock on power in Columbus to privatize the management of medical claims for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

But just three years later, state records show, the firm had grown into the third-biggest provider of medical services to Ohio's injured workers under the managed-care initiative. Bigger than University Hospitals. Bigger than the MetroHealth System. Bigger than the Cleveland Clinic.

VocWorks owed virtually all of that explosive growth to referrals from its sister company, CareWorks of Ohio - the largest and the most politically connected of the private managed-care organizations (MCOs) that are paid millions of dollars in public money each year to oversee medical care for injured workers.

VocWorks has received more than $55 million in payments under Ohio's managed-care program, bureau records show.

At least 97 percent of that money came through CareWorks.

. . .

Managed care was initially billed as a way to cut workers' comp costs by placing oversight of injured worker claims in the hands of private enterprise. But the program has had the opposite effect, bureau records show.

Operating costs -- the bureau's budget, plus the money paid to the MCOs -- have risen at twice the pace of inflation since 1997, The Plain Dealer reported last month, even while the number of claims to be managed has plummeted. Medical costs per claim -- after inflation -- have more than doubled as well.

As a result, the bureau has spent roughly $1.6 billion more under managed care than it would have if costs per claim had been held to only inflationary increases, according to the newspaper's analysis.

. . .

The MCOs get bonus money from the state based on how quickly they close injured worker cases, Anderson said, not necessarily on whether the workers get services they need most.

. . .

CareWorks -- headed by the longtime aide to a legendary Ohio politician and launched with the help of well-connected campaign contributors to both political parties -- had gotten $369 million. That's twice as much as its nearest competitor.

William Pfeiffer, the chairman and chief executive of CareWorks Holding -- the MCO's parent, held several top spots at the bureau while the managed-care initiative was being designed. Previously he was a top aide to former House Speaker Vern Riffe.

Court records show that Pfieffer had help in starting CareWorks from:

Paul Tipps, a former head of the Ohio Democratic Party, whose close ties to Riffe helped make him one of the premier lobbyists in Columbus.

Umberto Fedeli, an insurance broker, generous Republican contributor and former member -- appointed by then-Gov. George Voinovich -- of the Ohio Turnpike Commission.

Ken Seminatore and Jack Burry, the former outside lawyer and CEO respectively of Blue Cross & Blue Shield (now Medical Mutual) of Ohio -- a giant Cleveland-based health insurer.

. . .

Last month, the Toledo Blade identified more than $610,000 in campaign contributions to statewide political candidates by executives and associates of the 26 MCOs still doing business in Ohio. More than $208,000 -- or roughly a third -- came from various CareWorks officials, the Blade reported.

Boehner's ambitions

2006-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

This announcement yesterday is coming a bit late in the election cycle, but we think this is more about Big John's desire to replace Hastert than providing "help" in the last 12 days.

But is the message, "Hey, voters, why don't you appreciate all the great things the GOP has done for you?" the best Boehner can come up with?:

Republicans have secured key legislative victories on the economy, taxes, border security, and the war against terrorism this year, and the Majority Project’s goal is to make sure the American people understand what we’ve accomplished on their behalf.

Train wreck starts early

2006-10-26T07:41:00.000-04:00

With absent voting surging far ahead of predictions (one union project recently reported that they assisted in 230,000 applications alone), what else would anyone expect from Kenny the Klown?

Phony group, phony advertising

2006-10-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

As we've noted before, the Senior Coalition is a phony, astroturf organization created to facilitate pay-to-play in Washington. And, as we predicted, this pharma-funded group has indeed weighed in to provide political cover for the Deb Pryce.

The Senior Coalition did the deed for Deb by sending a mailer blaring:

What was the important information? As the complete mailer, below, shows, it is basically everyone should personally call up Pryce and thank her for Medicare Part D.

Thanks Senior Coalition! Mom has been asking who she can cuss out about Part D.

Post endorses Strickland, Wulsin

2006-10-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

The Post has never been as partisan as the Enquirer, so the nod to Ted ("The better choice") and Victoria ("Time For Change") is not entirely surprising.

The Post editors, didn't really think it was time for a change everywhere. They also endorse DeWine and Chabot. P&G, Cinergy/Duke Power, Cincy Bell, Cintas, Convergys, etc., try to keep the media on a pretty short leash in that town.

But the Post's editorial makes a point of rubbing Kenny's nose in his own shitpile:

This is gutter politics, and Blackwell should know better than to traffic in such stuff. What goes around comes around, however: The Columbus Dispatch reported this week that Blackwell knowingly employed a convicted felon who, shortly after leaving the state payroll, was sent to prison for sexually abusing a girl over a seven-year period starting when she was just 7 years old.

General Pryce

2006-10-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Rolling Stone:

With Tom DeLay in political exile, the race against Pryce – the GOP’s deputy whip and fourth-ranking member – represents the Democrats’ best chance to make Republicans pay for the party’s rampant corruption and unquestioning support of the president’s far-right agenda.

Pryce not only spearheaded Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security, she also benefited from at least ten fund-raisers hosted by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“More than any other seat in the nation, this race offers an opportunity to send George W. Bush a message,” says Kilroy, who has a track record of winning in the district. “Deborah Pryce is not just a foot soldier – she’s a general who has rubberstamped every bad idea to come out of the administration for the last six years.”

Mason-Dixon: Strickland and Brown with large leads

2006-10-24T21:13:00.000-04:00

Polling done on behalf of McClatchy-MSNBC shows strong upward trend for both:

Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown led incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine by 48-40 percent. Three weeks ago, Brown led by 45-43 percent.

Ohio is the one state in which Iraq isn't the top issue. Voters there rank the economy and jobs as their top concern, reflecting the retrenchment of the U.S. auto industry and its impact on Ohio assembly plants and parts suppliers. It also reflects years of losing manufacturing jobs.

Voters who say the economy is their top issue support Brown by 53-35 percent. Iraq is a close second, and Iraq voters support Brown by better than 3-1.

Breakout: Brown owes his lead in part to the fact that he's holding his base - drawing 84 percent of Democrats - while tapping into DeWine's by winning 18 percent of Republicans. He also benefits from a gender gap: He leads among women 53-36, while he and DeWine split the male vote.

The poll showed Strickland +20. Ffantastig!

Yes, he is Ohio's worst reporter

2006-10-24T19:00:00.000-04:00

Another Niquettetine fit.

No magic left for GOP?

2006-10-24T10:48:00.000-04:00

Gallup:

There continues to be very little difference in the vote estimate derived from all registered voters and the estimate among likely voters only. This suggests that at this point in the election cycle the Republicans do not have the distinct turnout advantage that they have enjoyed in the last three midterm elections.

. . .

The current 15-point Democratic lead among registered voters remains among the largest Democrat leads on any Gallup poll conducted since the Republicans won majority power in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.

. . .

But at this time, there does not appear to be a significant turnout advantage for the GOP. Gallup estimates that if the election were held today there would be little difference in the results among those who actually turned out to vote compared to the larger pool of all registered voters. (Of course, if all of the GOP's turnout effort is concentrated in the last 72 hours of the campaign, then its impact might not yet be visible in current polling.)

The margin among likely voters is only two points different than the margin among all registered voters. This is similar to the pattern found in the early October USA Today/Gallup poll, in which there was

Why won't that "textbook economy" cooperate?

2006-10-24T10:27:00.000-04:00

Eh, Deb?

Latest state jobs report from ODJFS:

Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased 2,500 over the month, from 5,457,000 in August, to 5,454,500 in September.

In fairness, ODJFS also reportered that the unemployment rate dropped from 5.7% in August to 5.3% in September, however even this is not evidence of an upswing:

"The decline in unemployment was due primarily to individuals leaving the labor force and returning to school in September," said ODJFS Director Barbara Riley.

Here are the jobs numbers by sector:

Service-providing industries, at 4,403,100, were down 4,800 from August. The largest decline occurred in government (-3,800). Decreases also occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities ( 3,400), other services (-1,700), educational and health services (-700), and financial activities ( 300). Leisure and hospitality advanced 2,700 over the month. Professional and business services rose 1,800, while information added 600 jobs. Goods-producing industries rose 2,300 to 1,051,400. Gains occurred in manufacturing (+1,600), construction (+600), and natural resources and mining (+100).

The goods-production sector is still down 3,600 for the last 12 months including a net drop of 6,100 manufacturing jobs. More to the point, compared to the start of the recession in Ohio (2001), a net of 192,700 manufacturing jobs have been lost or 19.3%.

Spineless liars

2006-10-24T07:42:00.000-04:00

Larkin nails the GOP and its apologists:

On Sunday, an editorial in Blackwell's hometown newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, said of Blackwell, "He has attempted to falsely smear Strickland as a supporter of child sex. He has used surrogates to suggest that Strickland, married for 18 years, is gay. Such tactics are blots on Blackwell's character, and he owes the state of Ohio an apology. Strickland is an honorable man who has served the state with integrity."

In the very next paragraph, the Enquirer endorsed Blackwell for governor, becoming the first big-city daily newspaper not to endorse Strickland. Blackwell's race to the bottom has vindicated those many thoughtful Republicans who have avoided any association with his campaign. Republicans with common sense - and there are a lot of them - have known for years that Blackwell cares about only one person. And now they know that Blackwell couldn't care less if his sleazy campaign brings down the entire Republican ticket. [emphasis added]

Larkin goes on to compare this year's governors race to the 1986 desperate effort by Jim Rhodes to rescue his campaign that was losing badly to Dick Celeste, and reflect on the GOP's character then and now.

But unlike 1986, not a single prominent Republican has had the courage to speak out against Blackwell's desperate attempts to suggest that Strickland condones child molestation, or his subtle questioning of Strickland's sexual preferences.

Blackwell's tactics might well push the entire Republican ticket over the edge. And if that happens because others whose names appear on that GOP sample ballot cower in silence, they'll all deserve what they get.

Blackwell kept of felon/addict on payroll

2006-10-24T06:48:00.000-04:00

As we have noted for several days, Kenny knew he had a staffing problem of his own at the time he and his handlers launched their attack against Strickland. A much worse staffing problem.

From Joe Hallett at the Dispatch:

As state treasurer, Blackwell hired a felon and kept him on the payroll after his office discovered the man had a long record of arrests. Under Blackwell, who was treasurer from March 1994 to January 1999, Michael A. Toomer received two pay increases, and left the treasurer's office in 2002, landing in prison for the next four years.

. . .

But when the treasurer's office sought clearance for Toomer to have access to the state of Ohio Computer Center, a second check turned up numerous arrests. On Jan. 26, 1998, the Ohio Department of Public Safety denied access to Toomer, alias Glenn K. Williams.

. . .

On Feb. 3, 1998, a week after learning about Toomer's criminal record, Beth Gilger, then the treasurer's director of human services, wrote on her office stationary that "we have enough to terminate" Toomer. At the time, and for the following six weeks, Toomer could have been fired without cause, because he wasn't yet a member of the state employees union.

Blackwell said he opted not to fire Toomer on the recommendation of Gilger and the treasurer's office legal counsel. Blackwell said Toomer was an admitted drug-addict who, after completing a Florida treatment program and passing treasurer's office drug tests, showed no signs of drug usage.

"He had met the drug screening, he was willing to undergo a pattern of drug screening tests and he had a local church community that vouched for his turning his life around," Blackwell said.

Although the second background check turned up numerous arrests, Blackwell said he saw no documentation showing that Toomer actually had been convicted.

In a check of Toomer's file at the treasurer's office, The Dispatch found two records indicating that Toomer's probation had been extended following his Jan. 14, 1993 arrest for possessing cocaine.

Here's the final kicker to the story that we could see coming from a mile away (and explains a lot about Kenny's recent attacks:

In May 2002, about three months after leaving the treasurer's office, Toomer was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a girl, beginning in September 1994 when she was 7 and continuing until 2001.

Blackwell said he did not know Toomer was a child molester until yesterday. If he had had any indication that Toomer was abusing a child while an employee of the treasurer's office, Blackwell said, "He would have been history."

Hopefully, by now, everyone should see the pattern. When the right launches an apeshit attack, it is usually to cover their own "indiscretions." The lesson? Have a good oppo-research operation, but stay on message.

BWC pantomimes DeWine, Voinovich probe

2006-10-23T17:24:00.000-04:00

As we've noted before, keep your eye on the latest scandal at BWC. From the Drew Crew:

When the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation received an allegation in June that staff for two Republican officeholders tried to aid a politically connected firm that manages the care of injured workers, the bureau didn't investigative for three months.

On Sept. 12, a bureau fraud investigator made one phone call, and then closed the case, satisfied that the accusation was "unfounded." The bureau never contacted the elected officials or their staff, subpoenaed phone records, or requested any documents.

. . .

The claim, which focused on the offices of U.S. Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine, was examined by the bureau's fraud task force because, if substantiated, it could have amounted to a violation of the bureau's regulations that govern its managed-care organizations.

. . .

An investigator, Kris Sharp, made one phone call on the case - on Sept. 12, four days after a Blade investigation showed the bureau's managed care program had been a source of campaign contributions for top state Republicans, and some Democrats.
Agent Sharp spoke with Steve Millard, COSE's executive director, who confirmed that a COSE employee "received an inquiry phone call from someone who stated they were affiliated with the senator's office regarding CareWorks."

Mr. Millard told the investigator he didn't know who took the call at COSE.

Contacted by The Blade, Mr. Millard said he did know which employee took the call but would not identify that person.

Maybe if we had left a message saying we were shopping for an MCO, we bet we could have gotten someone from Mikey's office to return our call back during the Social Security attempted robbery.

DSCC got serious

2006-10-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

Good to know. Hope they keep it up.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee put $4.4 million into Ohio in September, using contributions, party transfers, independent expenditures and coordinated expenditures, according to PoliticalMoneyLine's number crunchers using Federal Election Commission filings.

Musical chairs: Place your bets

2006-10-23T16:24:00.000-04:00

Grab some popcorn. This is fun fun fun spectator sports:

Should the GOP lose control of the statewide offices this fall, will that mean the end of Bob Bennett as state party chairman? How many statewide seats must the GOP retain for him to keep his job? Is there anyone in line to replace him?
- John, Columbus

Darrel Rowland: John, you must've been listening in to some of our office conversation. Robert T. Bennett is arguably the most effective Republican state chairman in Ohio history, and one of the top ones in the annals of American politics.

A lot of us thought he would step down after 2000 when he filled the only missing hole on his resume, carrying his state for the GOP presidential candidate. Then we thought so again two years ago after the 2002 GOP "three-peat sweep" of statewide offices and Bush's 2004 re-election, plus some health concerns. But he has a lot of powerful national Republicans who have wanted him to stay at the helm of a critically important state.

I doubt if the history books will treat him unkindly even if Dems win big this year. The next question: Will he stay on for 2008, when America will have a presidential race without an incumbent president or a vice president on the ballot for the first time since the 1950s? I know of no successor in sight, although surely many would want the job if Chairman Bob decides he's finally had enough.

Hurricane and the hamster

2006-10-20T18:01:00.000-04:00

"Katy - are you sure these aren't your freakin' poll results?"

CQ: OH-2, OH-12 in play

2006-10-20T16:19:00.000-04:00

Maybe this has been blogged to death already and we just missed it, but Congressional Quarterly haved moved up the chances for the Dems in the 2nd and 15th CDs (via Greg Sargent at the TPMCafe):

CQPolitics.com has moved the contest in the Cincinnati area’s 2nd Congressional District — which pits first-term Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt against Democrat Victoria Wulsin, an epidemiologist — into the highly competitive Leans Republican category from the Republican Favored category.

This has emerged as one of the sleeper races in this year’s national contest for control of the House.

. . .

The willingness of the 79-year-old Shamansky — who won a House election in 1980 but was unseated two years later — to invest a sizable sum of his own money in his challenge to three-term Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi has spurred CQPolitics.com to change its rating on the race to Republican Favored from Safe Republican.

Tiberi remains a heavy favorite to win re-election. Though he faced a competitive open-seat election when he first ran for the House in 2000, he has twice coasted to re-election over meager competition.

But the 12th, overall, would not be mistaken for a Republican stronghold: Bush only edged Democratic challenger John Kerry here by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Enter Shamansky, who is waging a well-funded effort, mainly because of the personal wealth he can bring to bear on the campaign.

Ting!

2006-10-20T15:52:00.000-04:00

That's the sound of Kenny's glass house starting to crack.

This may take a day or two to emerge, but early warning sirens have been going off at KB's headquarters and the GOP.

Voters' gestalt vs. polling

2006-10-20T15:02:00.000-04:00

A few comments about the Univ. of Cincinnati's new survey. First, here is how the researchers summed up the results:

The latest Ohio Poll finds that no single issue dominates the electoral environment in Ohio this year. Many voters continue to say candidate characteristics (such as experience, political party or character) will have the biggest impact on how they cast votes for Ohio governor and U.S. Senate.

This shouldn't be surprising and we think it's somewhat of a fool's errand to try to find those one or two dominating "issues" or "characteristics."

If anything, the results confirm George Lakoff's theories about people taking action based on perceived moral systems rather than any single issues(s)/characteristic(s), regardless of what kind of self-interests people might have in that issue(s)/characteristic(s).

Voters build multi-dimensional frameworks for making their decisions. Issues may be one dimension of this framework. Characteristics another. Language, empathy, family, religion and personal experiences also come into play.

Citizens maintain a somewhat moveable center of gravity within this moral matrix that brings them closer to one candidate and away from another. Ultimately, as Lakoff notes, voters make their decision based on a perceived, whole identity, not a single issue or two.

Democrats have, for lack of a better word, stumbled into a fairly successful framing of the elections based on the "Had Enough?" theme. They are somewhat lucky that, at least in Ohio, there is a perfect convergence of corruption, incompetence, arrogance and anger, and we are confident that the "Had Enough?" frame will be successful through election day.

But Democrats will quickly have to quickly move beyond the limits of this time-specific frame and develop a more permanent identity and implied moral system focused - both overtly and with subtlety - on things like opportunity, freedom, respect, honesty and patriotism.

The price of ignoring this and going off the offensive will be enormous. The GOP is already crafting it's 2008 and '10 strategies. 2006 will have knocked them back on their heels, but long-term planning has been their strength. Can the Dems make it their strength, too?

Nobody likes Kenny anymore

2006-10-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

It's pathetic that when you're in your final weeks, when you're in your "strongest" area, and when you've called in your biggest blowhards, only a handful come out:

At a rain-soaked rally, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell told about 200 supporters Thursday that he does not question Democrat Ted Strickland's sexuality but does fault him for not "standing up" as a congressman for sexually abused children.
"I don't care what his sexual preference is," Blackwell said at Blue Ash's Veterans Memorial Park, where about 50 protesters ringed the pro-Blackwell crowd, booing and shouting throughout his speech.

Compare this to Strickland's recent rally with 1,500 in Columbus that didn't rely on paid commentators:

Ted even had a "choir" that brought a special air of jubilation to the throng:

By the way, we heard Kilroy rocked Wednesday night, too:

Kenny living in a glass house?

2006-10-20T08:15:00.000-04:00

One of the rules in the W-era is that you take your own vulnerabilities, and accuse your opponent of them first. That way, at worst, when your problems are revealed it just looks like revenge from the other side.

Well, rumors now circulate that Kenny Blackwell may have all along had a staffer problem.

Desparate, pathetic . . . and lost!

2006-10-20T07:21:00.000-04:00

The Kamikaze Krew has a new member, and you just can't make this stuff up. From the Dispatch, Pryce acts like a 7-year-old instead of a 7-termer:

Under gray skies, a flatbed truck decorated with Pryce posters pulled up to the corner of Fourth and Long streets, blasting a song by 1970s and '80s rock warhorses Van Halen. Tailing the truck in an SUV, Pryce waved to supporters before stepping onto the back of the truck to challenge Kilroy to a "sidewalk debate" on the merits of Medicare Part D.

. . .

"Is Mary Jo Kilroy in the crowd? Is Mary Jo Kilroy in the crowd?" Pryce called oout. "Well maybe she'll show up another time."

. . .

"What kind of 14-year incumbent challenges her opponent to take it outside?" Kozar asked. "It's a desparate stunt by a desparate candidate who knows she's going to lose."

And, uh, Debster, Kilroy's campaign office moved two months ago. It's now about 5 miles north in the middle of Clintonville.

Better off?

2006-10-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

Brown v. Dewine - short version:

Question: "Is Ohio better off than it was 6 years ago?

DeWine: "Did I ever tell you my story about Sherrod's unemployment taxes? Huh?"

DeWine death rattle

2006-10-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

Oh snap, a few more cigars just blew up in Mike's face:

At least one Ohio television station has stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years.

WKRC-TV in Cincinnati said it dropped the ad, which aired Wednesday, after being advised by its lawyers that the ad was inaccurate. The Brown campaign said its lawyers were assured that television stations WSTR in Cincinnati and WSYX and WTTE in Columbus, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, pulled the ad on Thursday. Barry Faber, Sinclair vice president and general counsel, declined to comment.

Let's get ready to rumbbbbble!

2006-10-19T12:49:00.000-04:00

Damn, we love the smell of desparation in the morning.

Mikey continues to play Kamikaze without a joystick, and his campaign is slow to catch on to what a tactical blunder it is. From Stephen Koff at the PD's Openers:

Sen. Mike DeWine's reelection campaign this morning was still showing its commercial with a woman accusing Sherrod Brown of not paying an unemployment tax bill for 12 years. The claim is false; a paperwork mixup is to blame and the state of Ohio confirms that Brown paid his tax bill long ago.

DeWine campaign spokesman Brian Seitchik reiterated this morning, "The ad will be changed as soon as possible." That is at least more than the Republican National Committee is doing. The RNC wants to keep its similar ad up, although Brown attorneys have warned television stations that the ad is "false and libelous."

Koff also punches a few new holes in DeWine's evaporating credibility by getting the background on the woman Mikey uses in his ad to falsely raises the "12-year lien":

Broyles, of Xenia, is a family friend of DeWine and, she says, "I watched him grow up."

So the claim?

"I just listened to Mike and what he had to say and what he has learned." She would not comment further.

And Koff predicts that there will be some serious blow-back and slapddown tonight from Sherrod:

Remember the House banking scandal, when House members were writing overdrafts with impunity? Try that with your bank sometime. Actually, don't.

Anyway, DeWine was in the House then. If you can count to 31, you can count his number of overdrafts, on checks totaling more than $13,000, according to press accounts at the time.

Flim-flam Padgett?

2006-10-19T08:14:00.000-04:00

Joy and Don are accused of playing 3-card Monte with their failed business:

A northern Ohio office supply company says in bankruptcy filings that a firm owned by a Republican congressional candidate sold it property without disclosing it was collateral for an unpaid loan.

The office supply company, Graphic Enterprises Inc. of North Canton, will seek $129,250 from Don Padgett, the husband of congressional candidate Joy Padgett, if it is saddled with the lien.

Joy Padgett, a state senator in a close race with Democrat Zack Space for the House seat held by scandal-scarred Republican Bob Ney, has been beset by personal money woes. She and her husband owned their own office supply company in Coshocton that went bankrupt, and they have since filed for personal bankruptcy protection.