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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > August > 29
Friday, August 29, 2008
“Sick Days” campaign goes to church
More than 1,000 churches across Ohio will highlight the paid sick day issue at services over the Labor Day weekend on Sunday, Aug. 31.
Ohioans for Health Families, the coalition backing a paid sick days proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot, announced the development on Friday, Aug. 29.
The proposal would require employers to provide seven paid sick days annually to full-time employees. Both Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican legislative leaders oppose it.
Participating churches include 300 United Church of Christ congregations, 250 Presbyterian congregations, 250 Methodist congregations, 200 Lutheran churches and 200 Unitarian congregations, coalition spokesman Dale Butland said.
Activities will range from full sermons on the paid sick day topic at 300-400 churches to announcements about the issue at 700-800 other churches, said Butland.
“From the very beginning Ohio’s faith community recognized both the human need for paid sick days, as well as the family values aspect of the issue.
Treating workers and families fairly and with at least a minimum standard of decency is important to people of faith. And that is why public opinion polls consistently show that religious and evangelical voters are among the strongest supporters of the Ohio Healthy Families Act. They know that if Ohio is truly committed to family values, we need policies that truly value families,” said Butland.
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Turner’s at McCain event
The first hand that Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin shook hitting the stage at the Nutter Center Friday, Aug. 29, was Jessica Turner, the daughter of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville.
Turner, his wife Lori, and two daughters are at the event. So are former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, who was on the short list for veep contenders and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana.
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McCain on Palin
“She’s not from these parts and she’s not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you’re going to be as impressed as I am. She’s got the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today,” Sen. John McCain, on his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
What do you think of McCain’s pick?
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Eye On Ohio: Obama ‘Don’t Know Much’ ad
By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The ad: “Don’t Know Much,” 30 seconds.
Producer: Obama campaign.
Where to see it: It’s airing in battleground states, including Ohio. View it at DaytonDailyNews.com/eyeonohio.
Script: Obama: “I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message.”
Male vocalist (to the tune of the Sam Cooke song “Wonderful World”): “I’m not up on the economy. Don’t know much about industry. Really can’t explain the price of gas. Or what has happened to the middle-class. But I know that one and one is two, and if I could be just like you, what a wonderful world this would be.”
Male announcer: “Do we really want four more years of the same old tune?”
Video: The centerpiece of the ad is a 2007 quote from John McCain: “Economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” It ends with photos of President George W. Bush and McCain embracing.
Analysis: This attack on McCain’s understanding of economics came the same day that McCain launched an attack on Obama’s foreign-policy experience. Obama’s ad is more lighthearted and — depending on your political point of view — annoyingly flippant or outrageously funny. It also plays into the refrain that McCain is seeking “Bush’s third term.”
The genesis of the ad is that McCain, in trademark candor, said that economic policy is not his strength. There are two accounts of that quote — both from newspaper reporters aboard the McCain bus in New Hampshire on Dec. 18.
Sasha Issenberg, writing in the Boston Globe’s Political Intelligence blog, suggested it was a self-deprecating remark: “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” McCain said. “I’ve got (former Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan’s book.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Jill Zuckman had a slightly different version of the quote: “The issue of economics is something that I’ve really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff. But I would like to have someone I’m close to that really is a good strong economist. As long as Alan Greenspan is around, I would certainly use him for advice and counsel. …
“All of us bring strengths and weaknesses to an office, and you want to complement your weaknesses. That’s not an admission of failure, it’s just the best way to govern,” McCain said.
Gregory Korte is a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer. E-mail: gkorte@enquirer.com.
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Eye On Ohio: McCain ‘Housing Problem’ ad
By Jon Craig
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The ad: “Housing Problem,” 30 seconds.
Producer: McCain campaign.
Where to see it: It was released Thursday, Aug. 21, in battleground states, including Ohio. View it at DaytonDailyNews.com/eyeonohio.
Script: (Announcer) “Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems. One of his “biggest fundraisers” helped him buy his million-dollar mansion. Purchasing part of the property he couldn’t afford. From Obama, Rezko got “political favors,” including “$14 million from taxpayers.”
“Now, he’s a convicted felon, facing jail.
“That’s a housing problem.”
(McCain): “I’m John McCain, and I approved this message.”
Video: The ad starts with a photo of Barack Obama smiling, encircled by a shadowy, telescopic border. Part of the black-and-white Chicago Sun-Times’ article states, “Tony” Rezko was “one of the biggest fundraisers” for Obama. A black-and-white image of Obama’s house makes the “mansion” look sinister.
More negative Sun-Times headlines appear, including, “Obama’s Letters for Rezko: As a state senator, Obama backed Rezko deal” and “Obama Surfaces in Rezko Case.” Then a black-and-white image of a smiling Rezko, followed by a photo of a jail cell door. The ad closes with Obama’s smiling face, but this time next to the words, “That’s a housing problem.”
Analysis: The Tony Rezko corruption case is one of Sen. Barack Obama’s liabilities. Obama has admitted he erred in getting involved in land deals with the major political fundraiser. Obama has made conflicting statements about whether he did any favors for the indicted businessman when he was an Illinois state senator, including helping secure taxpayer money used to build apartments for senior citizens.
But the same news articles questioning his relationship with Rezko include quotes from officials saying that no one specifically asked Obama to support the housing project. And real-estate experts say Obama did nothing illegal or improper.
Whether Obama did anything unethical or illegal has not been established. Several major newspapers, including the Sun-Times and the Washington Post, and independent sources such as PolitiFact and Factcheck.org, say he did not.
This ad aired after the Democratic National Committee released an Internet video criticizing McCain for not knowing how many houses he owns.
Jon Craig is a reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer. E-mail: jcraig@enquirer.com.
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Analysis: What Obama must do to win Ohio
DENVER - Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination for president. Now he must win Ohio.
Ohio delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which concluded Thursday night with Obama’s stirring acceptance speech, have heard all week that the Buckeye State is the key to this election.
Had either of the last two Democrats who ran for president won Ohio, they would have been elected. But they blew it.
In 2000, Al Gore fled the state a few weeks before election day, figuring it was a lost cause as he trailed in the polls by double digits. Yet he ultimately lost by less than 4 percentage points. Had he not retreated, history might have been different.
In 2004, John Kerry campaigned hard in Ohio’s big cities, but, despite advice to the contrary, ignored the hinterlands. While he won the second most votes of any presidential candidate in Ohio history, George W. Bush edged him out with a superior grassroots effort.
But Democrats can win statewide. Witness the successful campaigns of Ted Strickland for governor and Sherrod Brown for the U.S. Senate.
I asked Strickland this week what he thinks Obama needs to do.
“Very soon after Barack Obama secured the nomination,” he said, “I went to Chicago and met with his campaign staff. I told them that there were two ways to run statewide in Ohio: One was the John Kerry way and the other was the Sherrod Brown, Ted Strickland way. And that I would recommend the Sherrod Brown, Ted Strickland way.”
Strickland made the decision to compete “in every county.” Even though he realized he wouldn’t win in every part of the state, he said he understood that “if you don’t compete you can have no real way of reaching the voters who would vote for you if asked.”
Obama’s advisors’ got the message. They’ve hired Aaron Pickrell, one of Strickland’s key aides and the manager of his 2006 campaign, to head up the Ohio presidential effort.
“In my judgment, what is going to provide the winning margin for Barack Obama is not the media and all of those electronic and print efforts to reach the voters, but it’s going to be the ground operation,” Strickland said.
“I think it will be a close election. I think it will be a hard-fought election. I think it will be decided by a fairly narrow margin. But I do believe we have all the elements in place for an Obama win.”
In a separate conversation, Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin echoed Strickland’s advice:
Obama must travel to the rural areas of the state, she said. “We’ve got to get Obama on the Strickland bus. He’s got to go. Half the battle is just showing up. “
The economy is the issue Obama must press, she said.
“Some of those Bush supporters, all they’ve got left is the bumper the sticker used to be on.”
And he will also have to overcome race as an issue among some white voters, she said. “We’ve got to get past that.”
Strickland concurred.
“Is race a factor in this campaign or will it be? I assume it will be because race is a factor in every aspect of American life today. It would be unrealistic to claim otherwise. But I believe the candidate that talks directly and convincingly about the economy, that’s the candidate that will win the presidency and that’s the candidate that will win Ohio. “
