Redstate

Posted at 5:44pm on May 14, 2008 Ohio AG Marc Dann resigns

Pressured out by his own party

By Kevin Holtsberry

It seems that Marc Dann finally realized that the gig was up and he couldn't hang on:

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann resigned this afternoon, just hours after the inspector general’s office launched a raid on his office.

The embattled Democrat made the announcement in a joint appearance with Gov. Ted Strickland in the governor’s cabinet room, next to his Statehouse office. The governor called it a “sad day” for Ohio but said he is “pleased” Dann quit.

It's up to Strickland to appoint a successor until Ohioans vote in November on someone to fill out the final two years of Dann’s term. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has been among those mentioned as a possible successor.

Dann’s decision comes after a week and-a-half of increasing pressure to get Dann out of office, and a little more than five weeks after The Dispatch revealed sexual harassment complaints by two women employees against their supervisor in the attorney general's office, a longtime Dann friend.

Investigators descended on Dann’s offices in the Rhodes Tower shortly after 11 this morning, defying Dann’s legal arguments that they had no right to investigate his office.

The situation is thick with irony. Dann was one of the loudest critics of former Governor Bob Taft and hammered Ohio Republicans on the so called "culture of corruption" theme over and over. Surprised when his tactics worked, he found himself elected to a critical statewide office lacking the competence and leadership skills to do the job.

Now he finds himself forced to resign after articles of impeachment were filled against him by his own party and his office was searched by the inspector general in the aftermath of revelations that his office was rife with sexual harassment and improper relationships; including an affair between Dann and his scheduler. All Taft did was play golf with friends and fill out some paperwork wrong!

That old adage that you need to be loved or feared is applicable here. Dann's bombastic style and lack of judgment alienated even fellow Democrats. Lacking power or friends he soon found himself without a political card to play.

Ohio Democrats appreciate the fact that they have gained the power they have - they control four out of five statewide offices but the GOP controls the General Assembly - thanks to some screw ups by Republicans and an appearance of moderation and stability. There was no way they were going to let someone like Marc Dann put that at risk.

The netroots might take note that angry attack style politics is not how Democrats have found success in critical swing states. And if the party doesn't find you useful they will kick you to the curb without blinking an eye.

Posted in Marc Dann | Ohio | Scandal | State Politics — Comments (11)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:36am on Apr. 23, 2008 PA Dem exit polls: Obama failed

People who cling to religion bite Obama

By Soren Dayton

Barack Obama had 6 weeks to demonstrate that he could improve his connection with the Democratic base over the Ohio results. He outspent Hillary Clinton 3-1.

And he didn't move the dial one inch. Not one inch. In fact, in a number of cases, he actually lost ground.

The data comes from CNN's OH and PA exit polls.

Obama lost ground among Catholics and weekly churchgoers.

The samples are small, but Clinton's support among union members went from 55-43 to 59-41.

And Clinton won Pennsylvania Jews 57-43.

Condescension loses votes, and Obama is losing votes. That's stuff that the Democratic super-delegates need to think about.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Democrats | Hillary Clinton | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Primary — Comments (13)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:25pm on Apr. 15, 2008 The Best Ideas From Both Parties

One Terrific Video After Another

By California Yankee

Senator McCain's campaign has launched his "first general election ads in Ohio and Pennsylvania."

Titled "Ignite," the fast moving 30 second spot appeals to swing voters promising the best from both parties:

Announcer: As President, John McCain will take the best ideas from both parties to spur innovation, invest in people and create jobs.
Taxes — simpler, fairer. Energy — cleaner, cheaper. Health care — portable and affordable. Workers retrained, mortgage debt restructured, education transformed. Initiatives that will unite us and ignite our economy.

Big ideas for serious problems. John McCain.

Another well-done effort from McCain's video folks. The quick images of tax forms, wind turbines, medical professionals and office workers illustrate the script. Homes and children roll across the screen to make McCain's point.

Since McCain won the Republican nomination, his campaign has cranked out one terrific video after another. My favorites are Tolerance And Respect and Courageous Service, but there has been a whole series of great McCain videos.

Posted in 2008 | John McCain | Ohio | Pennsylvania — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:47am on Feb. 16, 2008 For Those Who Believe The Race For The Democratic Nomination Is Over . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Get a load of this:

When Election 2008 began, long before the first votes were cast, Senator Hillary Clinton led in the national polls but trailed Barack Obama in the key state of Iowa. Many remarked upon the difference between those national and state numbers. At Rasmussen Reports, we noted that if Clinton won Iowa, she could wrap up the nomination. On the other hand, if Obama won Iowa, he would have the chance to make his case but there would be no clear frontrunner.

Today, the situation is reversed. Obama leads nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and can wrap up the nomination with victories in the key states of Ohio and Texas. Clinton needs to win those states to keep her campaign alive. Yesterday, Rasmussen Reports released polling data showing Clinton with a double-digit lead in Ohio and the latest Rasmussen Reports polling in Texas also shows the former First Lady on top in the Lone Star State. Clinton attracts 54% of the vote in Texas while Obama earns 38% with nearly three weeks to go until Election Day.

If Clinton is able to win in both Texas and Ohio, the race for delegates will be just about even and there will be new talking points for the Superdelegates to consider before reaching a decision.

Nothing is certain on this issue because there remain a number of undecided voters. But nothing is settled either. We still have ourselves a race on the Democratic side. And before a nominee is determined, that race could turn very bloody indeed.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Ohio | Texas — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:44am on Jan. 18, 2008 To the Professionally Offended, there *is* no Right Answer

The ACLU sues to prevent a change from a voting method they sued to force a change from...or something. Who really knows with these characters, anyway?

By Jeff Emanuel

Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (yes, the same one that sued the state over its "Choose Life" license plates, citing "viewpoint discrimination" against pro-choicers) filed a lawsuit to prevent Cuyahoga County (the state's largest county, and home to Cleveland and its surrounding communities) from switching its voting apparati from touch-screen machines to what the ACLU believes represents "unequal, inaccurate and inadequate voting technology."

The new method of voting, which the ACLU -- one of the most "professionally offended" organizations in the nation -- finds so, well, offensive?

The Paper Ballot.

Cuyahoga County is switching to paper ballots for the state's primary election on March 4. According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, argues the county's new system violates the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it doesn't give voters a chance to fix mistakes on their ballots.

The ACLU said it will seek an injunction next week to block the voting-system switch.

In the laughable quote of the day, ACLU staff attorney Carrie Davis said "We take no position on what kind of voting technology is used so long as voters have the chance to check their ballots for mistakes before casting their vote."

Read on.

Posted in ACLU | contradictions | Elections | Ohio | paper ballots | voting machines — Comments (21)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:16am on Dec. 8, 2007 MI Morning Update: MI GOP Volunteers aide Ohio GOP, Dingell-Anuzis Primary Plan

By saul anuzis

334 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

Staff and volunteers headed down to Ohio yesterday to provide the Ohio GOP with a helping hand for the upcoming special election coming up this next Tuesday. Special thanks to the College Republicans for stepping up with several car loads of “motivated volunteers” who will suffer through Buckeye country for the good of “our” country and party…you want to talk about personal sacrifice!

Posted in Bob Latta | Michigan Republicans | Ohio | Presidential Primary | Republicans | special election — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:52am on Dec. 5, 2007 Bob Latta in OH-05 Needs Our Help

By Erick

Bob Latta needs our help in OH-05. There is a special election there on December 11th. The race is within three points. Latta is running against a huge lefty.

Latta and the Lefty are within 3 points of each other in the polls.

Bush won the district with 61%, but given the GOP brand right now in Ohio, the lefty is coming on strong.

Latta could use some cash and if you are in Ohio, he could use some people power on the ground.

The DCCC is so eager to win this race, they started throwing outright phony ads on television that the networks pulled because the lies were so extensive. But they are keeping at the smears.

Let's put Bob Latta across the finish line.

Posted in Bob Latta | Elections | OH-05 | Ohio — Comments (17)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:09am on Nov. 5, 2007 BREAKING: OH-15, Republicans Finally Found Candidate to Replace Deborah Pryce

By Naugle

Update at 7:56am- I posted this last news item Sunday night in my user blog. I believe that I was the first anywhere to report it. Sources tell me that the big reason why he changed his mind is that current Ohio Speaker of the House Jon Husted will be moving to the Ohio Senate, and there is no way Stivers could compete with Jon in terms of fundraising in a race to become Ohio Senate President.

Posted in columbus | Congress | Congress | NRCC | OH-15 | Ohio | pryce — Comments (31) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:22pm on Jun. 6, 2007 Zach Space on William "In His Refrigerator" Jefferson

By Kevin Holtsberry

The Columbus Dispatch's political blog, The Daily Briefing, had a nice post today on how Congressman Zach Space seems to be toning down the rhetoric he employed as candidate Zach Space:

Want to see a classic example of the difference between an aggressive candidate throwing caution to the wind and a cautious incumbent who weighs every word?

Look no further than the shifting stance and nuanced words of Rep. Zack Space, the Dover Democrat who replaced disgraced GOP Rep. Bob Ney of Heath, over the issue of indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana.

Read on . . .

Posted in OH-18 | Ohio | Targets | Zach Space — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:18am on Apr. 18, 2007 Them Targetted Dems

By Erick

How are the Freshman Democrat Blue Dogs doing? These are the men and women who beat Republicans in Republican leaning seats and promised to be Republicans without the corruption. Well, Robert Novak has a report card.

Thus far, Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Mitchell, Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, Nancy Boyda, Heath Shuler, Charlie Wilson, Chris Carney, Jason Altmire, and Nick Lampson have disappointed. In fact, Lampson failed to vote on either the GOP proposed budget or the Democrat budget. And sadly, Gabrielle Giffords, Nancy Boyda, Chris Carney, and Jason Altmire voted in lock step with the Democrats from embryo killing research to eliminating the secret ballot in the workplace.

Chris Carney, whose district gave Bush 60% of its vote and Nick Lampson whose district gave Bush 64% of its vote have both voted in lock step with Nancy Pelosi on every issue, other than Lampson bailing on budget votes.

As Robert Novak notes

By winning a term in 2006 to represent a Republican district, each of the Democratic moderate freshmen earned two years to convince GOP voters that Democrats can look after their interests just as well as Republicans. But to the extent that each votes and thinks Democratic, each also risks a short career that could be over as soon as 2008.

You can read the whole article here.

Posted in Arizona | Indiana | Kansas | North Carolina | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Targets | Targetted Seats | Texas — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »