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August 2010
Portman unveils 4th TV ad in Senate race
Republican Rob Portman on Tuesday, Aug. 31, unveiled a fourth TV ad in his U.S. Senate race against Democrat Lee Fisher, the lieutenant governor.
The 30-second ad features Portman, his wife Jane and their three children.
“We want our kids to be able to have a future here in Ohio and we are falling behind,” Portman says.
He says the state needs to try a “different way” on taxes and business regulation.
Holly Shulman, Fisher’s campaign spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that Portman “must think Ohioans have amnesia.”
Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, also was budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush.“ Shulman blamed Bush’s policies for the current “economic crisis.”
Here’s Portman’s ad:
Resolution to keep OSU-Michigan game tradition heading to legislature
There are a few things certain in life: death, taxes and Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry.
Death and taxes are still a go but whether the Wolverines and Buckeyes cap off the regular season together is in jeopardy now that the Big Ten Conference is adding Nebraska.
State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, said Tuesday, Aug. 31, that he will introduce a resolution in the Ohio Senate to urge the Big Ten Conference to keep the Big Game as regular season final.
“Millions of Ohioans, Ohio State alumni, current and former Buckeye players, and fans around the world look forward to that Saturday afternoon in late November when the Buckeyes and the Wolverines meet on the field,” Coughlin said. “This season finale has become the greatest rivalry in sports history, and I believe it would be unfortunate to dilute one of college football’s most important traditions.”
It has been said that millions of Michiganians as well as University of Michigan alumni, fans and players also look forward to the game, although less so in recent years.
The two teams have played their game as the season finale since 1934.
“There are plenty of important issues for us to deal with in Ohio. But we can take a few minutes and express our concern that the Big Ten Conference is tinkering with something that many fans feel isn’t broken,” Coughlin said.
Animal rights group condemns veal industry
An animal rights group on Tuesday, Aug. 31, called on the newly created Ohio Livestock Standards Board to come up with rules that phase out the practice of chaining male calves in narrow crates so that they someday become tender veal cutlets.
Mercy For Animals Ohio campaign coordinator Corey Roscoe said, “Veal production represents one of the cruelest industries on the face of the planet.”
Roscoe showed undercover video footage shot in mid-April at Buckeye Veal in Apple Creek, Ohio near Wooster. Former ‘Price Is Right’ host Bob Barker narrated the four-minute video. Warning: Video contains graphic content and is not suitable for all ages. > Watch video
That farm used to chain the animals by the neck in narrow wooden crates, which is standard practice in the veal industry, but has since transitioned to group housing for calves.
On June 30, the Humane Society of the United States, Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio Farm Bureau struck a deal to address farm animal treatment and other issues. The agreement calls for phasing out veal crates by 2017.
Roscoe accused the Livestock Standards Board of dragging its feet and failing to implement any parts of the agreement.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks and a standards board member, said livestock standards board is actively working on rules stemming from the agreement. “It’s something Ohioans should be proud of,” she said.
Roscoe urged consumers to switch to a vegan diet — one without meat, eggs or dairy products.
Poll: Ohio Senate race back to “toss-up”
Republican Rob Portman still leads Democrat Lee Fisher in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race in the Rasmussen Reports poll but the poll has moved the race back into the “toss-up” column from “leans Republican.”
The poll, released on Tuesday, Aug. 31, shows Portman leading Fisher, 44-39 percent among likely voters, compared to a 45-37 percent lead for Portman two weeks ago.
When “leaners” are included, Portman still leads, 47-41 percent.
Portman is a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and was budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush. Fisher is lieutenant governor.
The statewide telephone survey, done by automated interviewers, was taken Monday, Aug. 30 with 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Audit identifies potential $2M savings for Ohio Lottery; calls for change to “quasi-public corporation”
State Auditor Mary Taylor has identified potential savings of more than $2 million for the Ohio Lottery Commission in a performance audit released on Tuesday, Aug. 31.
The audit also said that Gov. Ted Strickland and the legislature should consider reorganizing the lottery as a quasi-public corporation to increase effectiveness and maximize profits.
If the lottery doesn’t convert to a quasi-public corporation, the commission should be eliminated, the audit said. Its role is “duplicative” and does not maximize efficiency or the mission of generating money for education.
The audit said that while the commission has responsibility for adopting rules, that the executive director practice “defers to the governor’s judgment for major policy decisions, especially those which could be viewed as expanding the lottery in any way….”
“The Ohio Lottery is a multi-billion dollar enterprise,” Taylor, a Republican running for lieutenant governor on the ticket with John Kasich, said in a press release.
“I am pleased my office was able to work with lottery officials to develop recommendations that will help ensure the Lottery’s continued success and enhance its important support for education in our state.”
Recommendations include:
*Consider reducing the number of regional lottery offices by two and eliminating jobs associated with closed offices for $633,000 in annual savings.
*Consider eliminating other lottery staff positions for annual savings of $1,376,000.
*Consider studying the impact the emergence of casinos will have on lottery sales.
*Implement leading business practices in planning and strategic management.
Click here to see a copy of the full audit on the auditor’s Web site.
The audit also commended the lottery commission for a successful conversion of the lottery’s gaming system to a new vendor and for a “high level of employee engagement.”
In a response letter to Taylor, Kathleen Burke, lottery commission executive director, said the audit report “will be integrated into the strategic planning process.
“We will carefully review your office’s findings and recommendations with a view towards taking appropriate responsive measures.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorses Portman; Fisher campaign blasts “outsourcing” partners
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Aug. 30, endorsed Republican Rob Portman in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race.
The chamber already is running a TV ad backing Portman.
At a press conference at the TriTex Corporation in Columbus, Bill Miller, the chamber’s senior vice president and political director,said the choice was between Portman, a “true champion of the business community and job creators like the good people here are TriTex” and Democrat Lee Fisher, who is supported by labor unions.
Unions, Miller said, “have opposed opening up and increasing the ability of companies like TriTex to expand their workers.”
Tom Pfaffenbach, TriTex founder, said that Portman “is working hard to redirect our country from socialism to free enterprise.” The company focuses of upholstering and refurbushing for the automotive, aircraft and commercial markets.
Portman said that he was “very appreciative” of the endorsement. He declined to answer specifically when asked if the U.S. had gone socialist, but said he opposed programs like the federal stimulus and the national health care plan.
All policies must be looked at “through the prism of jobs,” he said.
Holly Shulman, Fisher’s campaign spokeswoman, in a press release tagged the chamber as Portman’s “outsourcing partner” for pushing policies that ship Ohio and U.S. jobs overseas.
Invacare “disappointed” by Strickland campaign “attack” ad
Invacare, the Elyria-based home medical and long-term care product company, is “very disappointed” with a TV ad from Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign that features the wife of a worker laid off from Invacare.
John Kasich, Strickland’s Republican opponent, sits on Invacare’s board of directors.
In the ad, Nilda Ramos says Kasich “signed off on jobs being outsourced and sent to China and Mexico. I believe they sent those jobs overseas to make profits.”
The company responded:
“On behalf of Invacare Corporation’s 1,300 associates in northeast Ohio and 6,200 associates worldwide, the company is very disappointed that its home-state governor would attack it in a campaign commercial.”
Lis Smith, Strickland campaign spokesman, said in an e-mail that the ad is expected to begin running Monday, Aug. 30. She said it was “not an ad about Invacare. It’s an ad about Kasich’s priorities and judgment. In Congress and on the board of Invacare, he supported outsourcing Ohio jobs.”
However, Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, said in an e-mail that the “thought that Ted Strickland would even consider a strategy of attacking an Ohio-based company - and Lorain County’s largest corporate employer - for his political gain is just more proof that he doesn’t know how to work with businesses to create jobs…”
Here’s the ad:
John Glenn raising money for Strickland
It’s always nice to have a national hero on your side and for years former Ohio Sen. John Glenn has provided that support for fellow Ohio Democrats.
Glenn, the former Marine fighter pilot and space hero, is helping raise money for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign.
In a fund-raising letter released on Monday, Aug. 30, Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, compared the challenges he faced with those faced by Strickland:
“I served my country and my state for a long time.
“But in all my years of service, I never saw economic challenges like those Gov. Ted Strickland is facing today.”
Glenn, a four-term U.S. senator, also compared his upbringing in New Concord with Strickland’s boyhood in Duck Run.
“We’re both lucky enough to be raised in rural Ohio, a part of our state that has seen its share of tough times.”
Then Glenn asked for contributions of $25, $50, $100 or more.
Strickland is running against Republican John Kasich, the former Columbus-area U.S. House member.
Boyce claims credit for 60,000 jobs
In the political season, officeholders often want to claim credit for helping create jobs. State Treasurer Kevin Boyce, a Democrat running for retention, is no different.
His office issued a press release Friday, Aug. 27, saying Boyce is aiding the rebound of Ohio’s economy by helping to create and retain nearly 60,000 jobs throughout the state.
It’s not that Boyce actually hired 60,000 people — his staff is still about 130. The treasurer says his administration, through the issuance of bonds and other treasury programs, helped businesses create and retain the jobs. He is counting both direct and spin-off jobs. “As our economy gradually rebounds job creation and retention is as important as ever,” said Boyce in a press release. ”These jobs put food on the tables of thousands of families; these jobs put clothes on the backs of thousands of children. My administration has lent support to struggling Ohioans at every level of the recession whether we’re providing funding to small businesses or supplying resources for farmers.”
The treasury issued $746.1 million in 21 different bond issues since Boyce was appointed treasurer by Gov. Ted Strickland in January 2009.
Boyce is running against state Rep. Josh Mandel in the treasurers race. Both Mandel and Boyce are running statewide for the first time.
TV ad war escalates in Strickland-Kasich race for governor
The TV ad war is escalating in the hotly contested Ohio governor’s race between Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican challenger John Kasich, the former Columbus-area U.S. House member.
Strickland’s campaign on Friday, Aug. 27, launched one 30-second statewide ad, “Truth”, that blasts Kasich for for his votes on trade issues while Kasich was in the U.S. House.
Strickland’s campaign also previewed a second ad that is to run “in the coming days.” “Nilda” that features a woman whose husband’s job, according to the ad, was “shipped to China.” It charges that Kasich, as a member of a company’s board of directors, played a role in outsourcing jobs.
Meanwhile, the Republican Governors’ Association launched an ad branding Strickland as a “hypocrite” on the trade issue. The ad says Strickland says that he wants to protect Ohioans from unfair trade and outsourcing but has acted otherwise as governor and when he served in Congress.
Click here to see the RGA ad.
Click here to see “Truth.”
Click here to see “Nilda.”
Committee recommends Thomas Edison for new Ohio statue in Washington
By a unanimous 6-0 vote, a special legislative committee on Thursday, Aug. 26, recommended that inventor Thomas Edison represent Ohio on a new statute in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
Rep. Thomas Letson, D-Warren, initially passed but then cast his vote for Edison to make it a unanimous selection. Letson said after the meeting that his first choice was the Wright brothers, the aviation pioneers from Dayton. He said, however, he wanted the committee’s choice to be unanimous.
Letson said he preferred Orville and Wilbur Wright because of his personal feelings about where their research was done” and where they had a continuing presence. The Wrights lived most of their lives in Dayton. Edison was born in Milan in Erie County but left Ohio when he was seven and did most of his inventing in New Jersey.
Edison supporters, however, said he maintained continuing contact with his birthplace.
The recommendation from the National Statuary Collection Study Committee now goes to the House and Senate for their consideration. Lawmakers are expected to return to Columbus after the Nov. 2 election.
A new Ohio statue will replace former Ohio Gov. William Allen, whose pro-slavery and anti-Abraham Lincoln views now are seen as an embarrassment to the state.
Each state is represented by two statutes and Ohio’s other statue - of President James Garfield - will remain in Statuary Hall.
Another factor in the selection process was the question of whether more than one person could be represented on Ohio’s statute.
Stephen T. Ayers, Acting Architect of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., told Committee Chairman Mark Wagoner, R-Ottawa Hills, in a letter of March 22, 2010, that “as specified in the authorizing legislation, only one individual may be honored by a state in the National Statuary Hall Collection.”
Wagoner is a state senator whose district includes Edison’s birthplace.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, in a statement to committee members on Aug. 20 challenged the idea that only one person could be represented.
“While there has been some speculation about the eligibility of the Wrights based on statue replacement guidelines published by the Architect of the Capitol, it is important to note that these are, according to the Architect, ‘provided for reference only; they may be modified in particular cases by the Joint Committee on the Library.’”
He said a statue could be designed with “one of the Wright brothers holding their plane in which the other is piloting.”
The committee recommendation followed voting by the public on a new statute.
In the popular vote, open to all Ohioans, Edison received 14,833 votes, 1,018 more than the 13,815 cast for the Wrights. Jesse Owens, the Olympic gold medal winner, was third with 5,032 votes and former U.S. Rep. William M. McCulloch, a Piqua Republican who championed civil rights, was fourth with 3,851 votes.
Lawmakers seek public’s help to fill state budget hole
State lawmakers are seeking the public’s help in trying to come up with ways to fill a hole in the next state budget that could be as deep as $8 billion.
The bipartisan Ohio Budget Planning and Management Commission on Thursday, Aug. 26, launched a new Web site to collect information and identify potential solutions.
Click here for the Web site.
The Web site requires users to register and long in. It requests ideas that include a strategy for balancing the budget for fiscal years, 2012-2013. Fiscal year 2012 starts July 1, 2011.
Material can be submitted in a variety of formats and all information will be considered a public record, a press release said.
“The public input will be invaluable as we roll up our sleeves and move forward developing solutions,” State Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, a commission member said in the release.
State Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, also a member, agreed.
“Considering the significant challenges we are facing, members have a responsibility to keep an open mind and look at all possible solutions,” Jones said in the release
Strickland snipes at Kasich on tax issue, “Wall Street” connection
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland used a visit to Dayton on Wednesday, Aug. 25, to snipe at Republican John Kasich’s stand on Ohio’s tax system.
“I reject the assessment that has been made by my opponent that Ohio has a non-competitive tax system,” Strickland said at a press conference at the IUE-CWA Service Center where dislocated workers are being trained for advanced manufacturing jobs.
“I believe quite frankly….candidly that he spent so much time on Wall Street that he hasn’t paid attention to what we’ve done in Ohio,” Strickland said.
His comments came just days after Kasich launched a statewide TV ad in which he said Ohio is “one of the highest tax states in the country.”
Strickland said that the 2005 overhaul of the state’s tax system, backed by former Republican Gov. Bob Taft and a Republican-controlled legislature, has given Ohio “a very competitive tax structure for business investment.”
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesman, responded to Strickland in an e-mail:
“He should knock on the door of any small business in Dayton and ask them if they think their taxes are too high—they will agree with the Tax Foundation which found that Ohioans shoulder the 7th highest tax burden in the nation.”
While the Tax Foundation ranks Ohio 7th, the Federation of Tax Administrators puts Ohio in the middle of the pack, 25th in per capita state and local tax collections.
Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, was a managing director for Lehman Brothers after leaving Congress.
AG Cordray urges Craigslist to take down adult services section; cites “prostitution” ads
Attorney General Richard General Cordray on Tuesday, Aug. 24, joined a group of attorneys general is asking the craigslist online classified advertising service to immediately take down the Adult Services portion of the site.
The reason, according to Cordray: continued prostitution advertisements and concern about sex trafficking of children through the Adult Services section of the Web site.
“In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for women and children who may be exploited and victimized by the ads,” Cordray said in a press release.
Susan MacTavish Best, Craigslist’s spokeswoman, released a statement that did not specifically say if the section would be taken down:
“We strongly support the Attorneys General desire to end trafficking in children and women, through the Internet or by any other means.
“We hope to work closely with them, as we are with experts at nonprofits and in law enforcement, to prevent misuse of our site in faciltiation of trafficking, and to combat such crimes wherever they appear, online or offline.”
To read the letter, click here.
Other states represented on the letter were: Arkansas; Connecticut; Idaho; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Maryland; Michigan; Mississippi; Missouri; New Hampshire; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas and Virginia.
Strickland campaign unveils new anti-Kasich TV ad
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign on Tuesday, Aug. 24, unveiled a new 30-second statewide TV ad, “Revolving Door”, highlighting Republican John Kasich’s move from the U.S. House to a job as a managing director of Lehman Brothers.
“It’s clear that before he retired from Congress, Congressman Kasich began positioning himself for a lucrative Wall Street job with Lehman Brothers,” Aaron Pickrell, Strickland’s campaign manager said at a press conference.
At the press conference Pickrell discussed meetings involving Kasich, Lehman CEO Dick Fuld and Wilber James while Kasich, Strickland’s Republican challenger, still was in the U.S. House. James introduced Kasich to Fuld, said Pickrell.
Ohio voters deserve answers to questions such as when was Kasich offered the Lehman Brothers’ job and whether he discussed congressional votes with Fuld, said Pickrell.
Kasich campaign spokesman Rob Nichols reacted to the ad:
“Hasn’t Ohio endured enough of Ted Strickland’s failures and his divisive attacks? In fact, Ted Strickland has failed so badly as governor that he’s afraid to even show his face or say his name on TV.
“While John Kasich is offering positive solutions to revive Ohio’s economy and create jobs, Ted Strickland has nothing to offer but more of his negative smears and attacks because he cannot defend his failed record.”
Here’s the Strickland campaign ad:
VP Joe Biden to be in Dayton for Strickland fundraiser on Sept. 20
Vice President Joe Biden will be in Dayton on Sept. 20 for a fundraiser for Gov. Ted Strickland and Yvette McGee Brown, Strickland’s lieutenant governor running mate, Mark Owens, Montgomery County Democratic chairman, said on Monday, Aug. 23.
The fund raiser will be at the Engineers Club, 110 E. Monument Ave. and tickets will be $125, $500, $1,000 and $5,000, said Owens.
Strickland is running for re-election against Republican John Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member.
Ohio Dems file FEC complain over pro-Portman ad
The Ohio Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against American Crossroads
That’s the conservative independent group that last week launched a statewide TV ad praising Rob Portman, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate.
American Crossroads was founded by Karl Rove, former top political adviser to President George W. Bush, and Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
“Rob Portman is so attached at the hip to these Bush cronies that they can’t even run an independent ad for him without violating the law,” Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said in a press release on Monday, Aug. 23.
The complaint says that the ad violates campaign finance laws governing independent expenditures.
The ad should be classified as a contribution to the Portman campaign because it includes Portman campaign material, specifically footage from Portman for Senate campaign video, an Ohio Democratic Party press release said.
Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher.
Jonathan Collegio, American Crossroads’ spokesman, said in an e-mail that the group is confidence the case will be dismissed.
“Liberal Lee Fisher’s fund raising and poll numbers are in the tank, and in a desperate attempt to resuscitate his campaign, Democratic operatives have launched a frivolous election complaint,” Collegio said.
AG Cordray blasts Kasich plan to privatize economic development
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich’s proposal to create a not-for-profit corporation to run Ohio’s economic development programs got a harsh reception on Monday, Aug. 23, from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, the state’s top lawyer.
Cordray, in a conference call with reporters arranged by the Ohio Democratic Party, said Kasich’s plan would seriously undermine “oversight and transparency for job creation efforts in Ohio.”
Cordray, a Democrat seeking re-election against Republican Mike DeWine, said Kasich’s plan would make it harder for the state to recoup money from economic development award winners if the businesses didn’t live up to award requirements.
Cordray also said it”s “murky or it’s unclear” as to whether Kasich’s plan would run afoul of the Ohio Constitution’s prohibition against the state taking a direct stake in private businesses.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, brushed aside the critique.
“JobsOhio would be constitutional, and legislative and judicial precedent exists for private entities being entrusted by the state to perform a public purpose,” said Nichols.
In unveiling the proposal last week, Kasich called the state Development Department a bureaucratic “black hole” that fails to return phone calls and said the new approach would spur growth.
Kasich launches second statewide TV ad
Republican John Kasich on Sunday, Aug. 22, launched a second statewide TV ad in his campaign for governor against Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland.
In the ad, Kasich and state Auditor Mary Taylor, the GOP lieutenant governor candidate, are sitting in a diner talking to people about state budget problems and what Kasich says is the need to lower taxes and slim down government.
“We’re going to get the job done for the people of the state and we’re not going to let you down,” Kasich says in the ad. He does not mention Strickland.
Lis Smith, Strickland’s campaign spokeswoman, responded:
“Ted’s actions speak louder than Congressman Kasich’s words. Ted has done what Congressman Kasich only talks about- he has balanced two budgets while cutting spending and lowering taxes.”
Here’s the ad:
Poll: Ohio voters want to keep Bush tax cuts
Sixty-two percent of Ohio likely voters want to extend the so-called Bush tax cuts that are set to expire on Dec. 31, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Sunday, Aug. 22.
The level of support in Ohio is 8 points above the finding on the national level, the poll found.
In the Ohio poll, 30 percent of the likely voters believe the tax cuts should expire at the end of 2010.
Also, the Ohio poll found that, given the choice, 52 percent preferred extending the tax cuts for all Americans. Thirty eight percent favored excluding the wealthy in the extension.
The telephone survey, done by automated calling, was conducted on Aug. 16, 2010, with 750 likely voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Strickland rips Kasich for OSU gig
Democrat Ted Strickland ripped into his political opponent, Republican John Kasich, and Ohio State University on Wednesday, Aug. 18, for striking a deal that paid Kasich $50,000 a year and an aide $20,000 a year over seven years to make guest lectures and interact with students.
Strickland called it appalling and selfish, particularly since Kasich has advocated that universities cut costs and expect more out of teachers.
The annual payments worked out to about $4,000 per day spent on campus, according to a schedule provided by OSU.
“It says to me that John Kasich thinks he is a very special person, that the rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to him. He ought to be ashamed of himself,” the governor said.
The Kasich campaign said Ohio State paid Kasich what the university officials thought he was worth and continued to ask him back. OSU officials said they received nothing but positive feedback on Kasich’s guest lectures and campus activities.
Strickland said Ohio State is culpable for the arrangement as well and he questioned why an aide was paid to assist Kasich with his campus duties.
“If he only showed up four days a month, what did the campus aide do? Look for a parking place?” Strickland said.
Kasich resigned as a presidential fellow at OSU in May 2009 when he announced his candidacy for governor.
Ad Watch: ‘Jobs for Ohio’ ad
During the election season, we will take a look at some of the TV ads of the major candiates.
By Jack Torry Washington Bureau
THE AD: “Jobs for Ohio,’’ a 30-second TV commercial.
PRODUCER: American Crossroads, an independent organization whose founders include Karl Rove, onetime political aide to former President George W. Bush, and Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. The organization spent $500,000 to air the commercial across Ohio.
VIDEO: Opens with a graphic of a politician holding a megaphone and then the number of jobs Ohio has lost since 2007. Then we see pleasant photos of a casually dressed Rob Portman chatting with voters and workers, with at least two shots of him holding his blue-covered book of his plan to create jobs. We also see him munching a hamburger at an outdoor barbecue and chatting with young people as he briskly walks down a street in what appears to be a small town.
SCRIPT: A female and male announcer alternating: “Politicians talk and talk, while Ohio loses 400,000 jobs. But Rob Portman’s finding solutions in Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, ideas in all 88 counties, all part of Portman’s plan to create jobs. The talkers gave us stimulus and debt. But Portman hears Ohio families; strengthens job creation. Rob Portman, listening, then leading. Vote Rob Portman. Now that’s change.’’
ANALYSIS: It would be difficult to find another commercial that has the appearance of being so carefully tested by polls and focus groups. It hits virtually every important theme - a politician listening to voters, an outsider not part of the Washington establishment, and a candidate talking about jobs.
Yet the commercial, while avoiding any direct attacks on Senate Democratic candidate Lee Fisher, is extremely misleading by omission. A person watching would assume that: (A) Portman has never held political office, (B) Does not wear a business suit and tie, and (C) Is just some guy who hangs out at barbecues.
In fact, Portman spent more than a decade as a Republican congressman from Cincinnati, and served for one year each as U.S. trade representative and budget director under former President George W. Bush. As a member of Congress, he voted for the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. He supported the 2001 tax cuts that many economists believe were a factor in transforming a $128 billion federal budget surplus in 2001 into a decade of major deficits.
As for the 400,000 jobs lost? Ohio lost 379,900 non-farm payrolls jobs from December 2006 - just before Fisher became lieutenant governor — until June of this year. But the state has been steadily losing jobs since 2000, under both Republican and Democratic governors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio has had a net loss of 568,300 jobs from January of 2000 until June of this year.
Ohio in “Dirty Dozen” because of lax anti-human trafficking effort
Ohio is one of the “Dirty Dozen” states because of failure to enact basic provisions to combat human trafficking and failure to address the issue - the sex and slave labor trade - as a specific crime.
The report from the Polaris Project was released on Wednesday, Aug. 18. Other “Dirty Dozen” states include: Hawaii; Massachusetts; South Dakota; West Virginia; Wyoming; Alaska; Arkansas; Colorado; South Carolina: Oregon and Virginia.
The report didn’t surprise state Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, a leader of Ohio efforts to crack down on human trafficking. Fedor said she hopes the Senate, when it returns later this year, will pass the Senate Bill 235, sponsored jointly by her and Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, which would make human trafficking a second degree felony.
“We are going to pass legislation out of the Senate that will address human trafficking as a stand-alone felony,” Fedor said.
In June the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission released a report that put a $4 million price tag on one need to address the problem - hiring 52 specially trained case managers.
The report estimated that at least 6,136 individuals are at risk of human trafficking in Ohio 1,861 of them “are believed to be trafficked into the sex or slave labor trade.”
Fedor’s office said that while Ohio does not have a specific anti-trafficking law, has a human trafficking “specification”, defined to cover only sex trafficking cases, not labor trafficking.
If a person is charged with two sex trafficking related felonies - such as abduction or compelling prostitution - this sentencing enhancement may be attached, which will mandate prison time of at least 12 months. It is complicated to use, her office said.
Portman invokes Obama campaign skills to raise money
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman is using Democratic President Barack Obama’s campaign visit to Ohio on Wednesday, Aug. 18, to raise money.
“There is no better campaigner - or motivator for national Democrats - than President Obama,” Portman said in an e-mail to supporters. “Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has personally requested that the president help him raise money…”
National Democrats will be opening up their checkbooks for Fisher, Portman’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, Portman wrote.
Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush, asks his supporters “to match the National Democrats dollar for dollar by making a special online contribution of at least $25 as we head into the last eleven weeks of this critical campaign.”
Obama is in Ohio to raise money for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Democrats.
Portman already has a big cash advantage over Fisher. The latest campaign finance reports show Portman with nearly $8.9 million on hand, compared to nearly $1.3 million for Fisher.
Biden coming to Toledo to raise money for Strickland
If there’s any doubt that the White House places a high priority on Gov. Ted Strickland’s re-election, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are removing it.
Obama is in Columbus today, Aug. 18, to raise money for Strickland, locked in a tough re-election fight with Republican challenger John Kasich, and Biden is set to be in Toledo on Monday, Aug. 23, to raise more money for Strickland, Strickland’s campaign confirmed.
The Associated Press reported that on his Monday visit, Biden also is expected to visit a complex that includes a Chrysler Jeep Wrangler assembly plant and suppliers that manufacturer major components for the vehicle.
New poll: Ohio “leans” GOP in governor’s race
With President Barack Obama in town to raise money for Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Democrats, the results from a new poll on Wednesday, Aug. 18, weren’t good for Strickland in his re-election campaign against Republican John Kasich.
The Rasmussen Reports poll showed Kasich leading, 48-40 percent among likely voters.
The results shifted the race from “Toss-Up” status to “leans Republican.”
In a poll taken on Aug. 2, Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, narrowly led, 45-42 percent. The new poll was conducted on Monday, Aug. 16.
When “leaners” were included in the new poll, Kasich’s lead increased to 10 points, 52-42 percent. This is the first poll to include “leaners.”
“Leaners” are respondents who initially voice no choice for either candidate but when answering a followup question say they are “leaning” toward a candidate.
The new poll was taken with 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Montgomery County Republicans seek records
The Montgomery County Republican Party has filed an extensive public records request with Montgomery County related to the county’s failure to properly monitor social services funding.
The party is seeking records pertaining to the county’s funding of Southern Christian Leadership Conference Dayton Chapter and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, both of which lost all funding in the wake of a Dayton Daily News investigation that raised questions about the group’s handling of the money
The county is responding to the request.
Party chairman Greg Gantt could not be reached for comment.
Conservative political group launches TV ad praising Portman; Fisher strikes back
American Crossroads, a conservative 527 independent political group, on Tuesday, Aug. 17, launched a TV ad praising Republican Rob Portman, who’s running against Democrat Lee Fisher in the Ohio U.S. Senate race.
The group - founded by Karl Rove, political adviser to former President George W. Bush, and Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee - is spending $500,000 for a one-week buy to air the ad on Dayton, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati TV stations, a press release said.
The ad hails job creation ideas from Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and budget director and U.S. trade representative for former President George W. Bush. It says Portman is “finding solutions in Columbus, Cleveland,Toledo, Dayton.”
A Fisher campaign press release says the ad “completely ignores the facts about Congressman Rob Portman’s two decades as Bush’s economic architect, writing and supporting policies that sent thousands of Ohio jobs overseas.”
Here’s the ad:
Rasmussen Reports: Portman expands lead over Fisher in U.S. Senate race
Republican Rob Portman leads Democrat Lee Fisher, 45-37 percent, among likely voters in the Ohio U.S. Senate race in a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
With this survey, Rasmussen Reports shifted the Ohio Senate race from “Toss-Up” to “Leans Republican.”
In all surveys conducted this year, Portman’s support has stayed in the range of 42 to 45 percent. Fisher’s 37 percent showing is his lowest level of support since regular tracking of the race started in February.
In a poll conducted Aug. 2, Portman led 44-40 percent.
Portman is a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member who served as budget director and U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush. Fisher is the Ohio lieutenant governor.
The new poll was conducted Monday, Aug. 16, with 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Actors hunt for Boehner at golf course, tanning salon
Actors dressed as Founding Fathers Ben Franklin and George Washington went hunting for U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester, in his congressional district to ask him to support the Fair Elections Now Act.
In the tradition of the Founding Fathers, they wore wigs, long-tailed coats and stockings. In the tradition of YouTube, they made a 3-minute video out of the expedition.
They looked for Boehner at his office, strip malls, a cornfield, a putt putt course, a golf course and of course, a tanning salon. And they needled him for raising money from special interest groups to support his bid to be the next House speaker while being a hold-out on the Fair Elections Now legislation.
The Fair Elections Now Act would allow Congressional candidates to raise a minimum of $50,000 from contributions of less than $100 and then qualify for federal public financing.
You can see the video by clicking here.
Ohio ranks 2nd nationally in state Supreme Court campaign spending
Ohio is at the “forefront” of states with “runaway judicial election spending,” according to a report released on Monday, Aug. 16.
Overall spending in Ohio state Supreme Court races between 2000 and 2009 totaled more than $29.8 million, ranking the state second in the nation, according to the report from the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
According to the report, spending on state Supreme Court elections nationally has more than doubled in the past decade, from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009.
In a foreword to the report, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor warned that recent trends could erode public confidence in elected state courts:
“This crisis of confidence in the judiciary is real and growing.
“Left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that the courts are supposed to uphold.”
Ohio’s top spenders on court races during the past decade, according to the report, were:
U.S. Chamber of Commerce/Ohio affiliates, $7.6 million; Citizens for an Independent Court, $1.5 million and the Ohio Democratic Party, almost $1.3 million.
PAC formed to bash O’Shaughnessy in secretary of state race
Critics of Democrat Maryellen O’Shaughnessy on Monday, Aug. 16, launched a political action committee that criticizes O’Shaughnessy as unqualified to become secretary of state.
The “Truth About Maryellen PAC” (TAME PAC) is not connected to the campaigns of O’Shaughnessy’s opponents in the secretary of state race, including state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, the Republican candidate, said Jeanette Moll, TAME PAC chair.
Moll, a Zanesville Republican who lost a U.S. House primary, said that O’Shaughnessy, currently the Franklin County clerk of courts, has no election law experience, is beholden to unions and has shown her lack of respect for the U.S. Constitution by supporting gun control legislation and opposing the state’s concealed carry law.
Ohio “can’t afford on-the-job training” for secretary of state, the state’s chief elections officer, Moll said at a Columbus press conference.
O’Shaughnessy campaign manager Kyle McDermott said in a press release that “such attempts to misconstrue Maryellen’s strong record of service are laughable.”
“She is the best candidate to bring businesses and good paying jobs to Ohio, and she is the only candidate with the local government, administrative and small business experience to be Ohio’s next secretary of state.,” McDermott said.
$500 to $2,000 for lunch with Obama
Want to have lunch with President Obama in Columbus? It’ll cost you a $500 donation to Gov. Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign. If you want “priority seating,” tickets are $2,000.
Obama is expected to appear at the luncheon fund-raiser Wednesday, Aug. 18, and give a speech in Columbus as well. Details on the speech have yet to be released.
The luncheon will be at the Columbus Athenaeum, the same hall where Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrated her Ohio primary victory over Obama in 2008.
Strickland, who has more than $9 million in his campaign war chest, is running against former Congressman John Kasich.
Judges rated on web site
The independent, non-partisan Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition gave Democrat Mary Jane Trapp, who is running for Ohio Supreme Court, a perfect score and excellent rating.
The coalition includes four cooperating bar associations that interview judicial candidates, look at their writings and review responses to questionnaires.
The group gave Trapp’s opponent, Justice Judith Lanzinger, a Toledo area Republican, a score of 2.6. In the race for chief justice, it gave current Chief Justice Eric Brown, a Columbus area Democrat, a 3.6 score and his opponent, Justice Maureen O’Connor, an Akron area Republican, a 2.0.
Brown, O’Connor and Lanzinger are currently on the Ohio Supreme Court. Trapp serves on the 11th District Court of Appeals.
The ratings can be found here.
Ohio Supreme Court: Judicial candidates can disclose their parties
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday, Aug. 11, removed a ban on judicial candidates identifying themselves in advertising as members of a political party after primary elections.
The court also established two exceptions to a rule barring judicial candidates from personally soliciting or receiving campaign contributions.
The court acted in response to a decision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last month that struck down similar rules in Kentucky on judges identifying themselves by party and soliciting campaign contributions, a court press release said.
The Ohio Democratic Party, a major public employees’ union and three Democratic candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot last month filed a lawsuit challenging the Ohio bans.
Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said the changes don’t make sense and the lawsuit won’t be withdrawn. In the comment section on the rule changes, the court said judicial candidates should minimize references to party affiliation in campaign materials.
“What do they expect, that candidates whisper their parties to would-be voters?” asked Redfern.
In Ohio, judicial candidates are nominated in partisan primaries but run in general elections without party identification.
Reuters’ poll: Kasich, Portman ahead
Republican challenger John Kasich leads incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, 48-39 percent, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters released on Tuesday, Aug. 10.
Kasich is a former Columbus-area U.S. House member.
The poll also shows Republican Rob Portman leading Democrat Lee Fisher in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, 43-36, percent among likely voters. Portman is a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member who served as budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush.
Fisher is the lieutenant governor.
The poll was taken from Friday, Aug. 6 to Sunday Aug. 8 with 600 registered voters and the margin of error for likely voters was plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.
Kasich to launch first statewide TV ad on Monday: “New Day”
Republican challenger John Kasich is set to launch the first statewide TV ad of his campaign on Monday, Aug. 9, Kasich told supporters in an e-mail on Sunday.
The ad, “New Day”, is set at the DHL facility in Wilmington in Clinton County, site of a major loss of Ohio jobs. Kasich, running against Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, tells a small group of listeners that he grew up in a blue-collar town and that his father carried mail. The campaign, he tells them, is about jobs.
The ad does not mention Strickland by name but says that the state has lost 400,000 jobs.
“My message to the people here is the sun is going to come up again. Together we push and pull. We get it done,” Kasich says in the 30-second ad.
Heres’ the ad:
Strickland campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in an e-mail that “only one candidate in this race can be trusted to create jobs here in Ohio and it’s not the Congressman from Wall St.”
Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, also worked as a managing director for Lehman Brothers.
Sen. Brown applauds Kagan’s confirmation
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, praised the Senate’s confirmation of Elena Kagan as the newest U.S. Supreme Court justice.
“During her confirmation process, Solicitor General Kagan demonstrated a deep respect for the law and a thorough understanding of the critical issues of the day,” Brown said in a press release on Thursday, Aug. 5.
“She will have the opportunity to consider a number of issues in the coming years as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. I hope she will resist the drift toward judicial activism that produced the Citizens United decision, overturning a century of jurisprudence to give large corporations too big a voice in our elections.”
Brown voted to confirm Kagan while Sen. George Voinovich, R-0hio, voted against her confirmation.
Rasmussen Reports’ poll: Kasich lead shrinks in guv race
Republican challenger John Kasich’s lead over incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has fallen to its lowest level to date among likely voters in a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Thursday, Aug. 5.
The poll shows Kasich, a former Columbus-area U.S. House member, leading, 45-42 percent, down from a 48-43 percent lead two weeks ago. Surveys from other polling organizations also have shown a tight race, with Strickland leading in some of them.
In the Rasmussen Reports’ polls, Kasich’s support since December has remained in the narrow range of 45 to 49 percent, while Strickland’s in the same period has ranged from 38 to 45 percent.
The new poll also finds that 43 percent approve of the job Strickland is doing as governor, while 54 percent disapprove, findings that have not changed during the past three months.
The poll was taken with 750 likely voters on Monday, Aug. 2, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Rasmussen Reports: Ohio U.S. Senate race “toss-up”
Rasmussen Reports has shifted Ohio’s U.S. Senate race from “lean Republican” to “toss-up”, the polling company announced on Wednesday, Aug. 4.
The shift came after a new Rasmussen Reports poll showed Republican Rob Portman leading Democrat Lee Fisher 44-40 percent among likely voters.
Last month Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush, led Fisher, the lieutenant governor, 45-39 percent.
Generally, Rasmussen Reports rates a race a toss-up if the spread is within 5 points during the summer.
The new poll was taken on Monday, Aug. 2, with 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Portman continues to have lots more campaign cash on hand than Fisher - about $8.8 million to $1.3 million -, according to campaign finance reports.
“Heartache” video bemoans death of redistricting reform
The clock runs out today, Aug. 4, on efforts to put a legislative redistricting reform on the Nov. 2 ballot and Ohio Citizen Action, one of the groups backing reform, already is in mourning.
The group released a video, “It’s a Heartache”, with soundtrack from Bonnie Tyler, to moan about the empty Statehouse and the legislature’s unwillingness to give voters the chance on the Nov. 2 ballot to undue decades of gerrymandering. Here’s the video:
Don’t give up, Catherine Turcer, director of Ohio Citizen Action’s Money in Politics Project, said in an e-mail:
“Despite this significant loss, Ohioans can take a role by participating in public hearings and following the line-drawing process during 2011.”
Meeting on new Ohio statute set for Aug. 26
Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers or somebody else?
That’s the question a legislative committee will grapple with when it meets Aug. 26 at the Statehouse to recommend who should represent Ohio in a new statue in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
Announcement of the committee meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3, follows release of the final results of the popular vote for the new statue. Edison finished first with 14,833 votes, 1,018 more than the 13,815 cast for Orville and Wilbur Wright, who finished second.
Former U.S. Rep. William M. McCulloch, a Piqua Republican who championed civil rights, finished fourth with 3,851 votes. In third place was Jesse Owens, the Olympic gold medal winner, who had 5,032 votes.
State Sen. Mark Wagoner, R-Ottawa Hills, the committee chairman, has said the committee will give the public vote great weight when making its recommendation.
The new statute will replace former Gov. William Allen, whose pro-slavery and anti-Abraham Lincoln views now are seen as an embarrassment to the state.
Ohio’s other statue - of President James Garfield - will remain in Statuary Hall.
Roger’s RV hits the road
The governor’s brother, Roger Strickland, is hitting the campaign trail in the Sportsmen for Strickland RV on Wednesday, Aug. 4, with stops in Springfield, Eaton and Hamilton.
The RV is scheduled to be at the Clark County Democratic Party Headquarters at noon, at the Preble County Fairgrounds at 3 p.m., and the Butler County Democratic Headquarters at 5 p.m.
Roger, who campaigned for Strickland in 2006, is one of Gov. Ted Strickland’s eight siblings.
Dems file complaint against Husted; GOP calls it “publicity stunt”
Ohio Democrats have followed through on a threat to file a complaint against state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, with the Ohio Elections Commission.
The complaint, filed on Wednesday, Aug. 3, said that Husted carried over more money than state law permits to his current campaign for secretary of state.
“This is nothing but a publicity stunt and a willful abuse of tax dollars,” Jason Mauk, Ohio Republican Party executive director, said in an e-mail.
Last week, two county Republican parties filed a complaint against Democratic incumbent Attorney General Richard Cordray, charging that Cordray shuffled hundreds of thousands of dollars in his campaign account in an attempt to hold on to $765,000.
Ohio law prohibits candidates from carrying over more than $200,000 from a previous election cycle and requires the candidate to donate excess money to charity, give it to the state or refund the donations, according to the GOP complaint.
After the complaint against Cordray was filed, Democrats promised to file their own complaint against Husted.
That complaint against Husted said that on Nov. 5, 2008 he made a contribution of $384,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
The state GOP reported receiving the contribution 75 days later on Jan. 19, 2009. On a later campaign finance report, Husted reported as “other income” a refund from the Ohio Republican Party on March 19, 2009, in the amount of $384,000, the same amount Husted had contributed to the state GOP, according to the complaint.
“According to our calculations, as of Feb. 18, 2010, the filing deadline, Husted had approximately $206,594.58 in funds that exceeded the amount he was allowed to carry-in to his campaign for secretary of state,” the Democrats said in a press release.
Redistricting reform won’t be on Nov. 2 ballot
There won’t be a proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot to change how Ohio draws state legislative districts.
“The corpse is definitely in the coffin,” Richard Gunther, Ohio State University professor of political science, said on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The issue is dead, at least for this year, Gunther added.
Gunther, House Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, and state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, were among those seeking to reach a compromise. The deadline for getting a proposed amendment to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is Wednesday, Aug. 4,
Because there is no agreement, neither Budish nor Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, plans to call lawmakers back to Columbus in time to meet the deadline.
The House and Senate previously had passed different versions of a proposed amendment to change the current system, criticized as a winner-take-all process that produces uncompetitive districts.
The current system will stay in place with the five-member Apportionment Board drawing new districts next year based on the 2010 census. The board includes: the governor, secretary of state, auditor and a member of the legislature from each party. The party that controls two of the three statewide offices controls the board.
The Senate proposal also would have changed how U.S. House districts are drawn. Now the legislature and governor draw those districts based on the new census and that’s the system that will stay in place.
Dayton birthday bash set Wednesday for Obama, Strickland; one of more than 70 statewide
Ohio Democrats on Wednesday, Aug. 4, will celebrate the birthdays of Gov. Ted Strickland and President Barack Obama with political bashes around the state, including in Dayton.
Strickland, up for re-election this year against Republican John Kasich, turns 69; Obama turns 49.
Ohio volunteers from Organizing for America, the Democrats’ grassroots organization, are planning party-theme phone banks and canvasses to get ready for the November elections. More than 70 events are planned around the state, a press release said.
Similar events are scheduled around the country, although other states don’t have governors who share birthdays with the president.
The Dayton event is from 5 - 7 p.m. at Montgomery County Democratic Headquarters, 131 S. Wilkinson St. For details, click here.
Fisher in Dayton Monday for Senate campaign
Democrat Lee Fisher will bring his U.S. Senate campaign to Dayton on Monday, Aug. 2, for an “Ohio Jobs First Community Discussion,” the Montgomery County Democratic Party announced.
The event, open to the public, will be at 7:30 p.m. at Montgomery County Democratic Headquarters, 131 S. Wilkinson St., in Dayton.
Fisher, the lieutenant governor, is running against Republican Rob Portman, a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member and U.S. trade representative and budget director under President George W. Bush.
