http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ This is the blog of the Dayton Daily News editorial page. Regular contributors include the journalists who work on the two-page section labeled "Opinions" in the paper. But the blog is also a forum for readers. We comment on subjects that are being written about in the newspaper, but other subjects are fair game, too. Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton. Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues. Quick news updates by e-mail Start your workday informed by signing up for our e-mail local news headlines and breaking news alerts. Sign up en-us mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com 2008-07-10T16:24:06-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/07/10/obama_really_shielding_the_kid.html This is offered by Dayton Daily News photographer Chris Stewart, a jack of all trades who’s been doing a two-week stint as an editorial writer: Now you see them. Now you don’t. Barack Obama’s daughters took part in their first... 5172003@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-07-10T16:24:06-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/07/03/whats_best_case_for_dayton.html In his Sunday column, Dayton Daily News editor Kevin Riley asks readers for suggestions for selling people on coming to Dayton. The specific context is the effort of the Dayton Development Coalition and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to land new... 5035403@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Living in Dayton 2008-07-03T14:43:26-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/07/01/terrorist_no_threat_to_obama.html On the Dayton Daily News opinion pages of Wednesday, July 1 (available at http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/oh/story/opinions/editorial/2008/07 /01/ddn070208dyer.html), Gwynne Dyer proclaims that it is perfectly obvious that a terrorist attack during the presidential campaign would help John McCain. He is wrong. A terrorist... 4985603@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-07-01T16:47:28-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/06/29/check_out_checker_finns_rant.html Former Daytonian Chester “Checker” Finn, Jr. wrote a rant for the Wall Street Journal that suggests he doesn’t get back to Ohio much. Sure, the state has a lot of problems. But he struggles to find anything positive going on.... 4933303@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Living in Ohio 2008-06-29T12:12:42-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/05/27/whats_great_in_dayton.html Check out this YouTube video about Dayton, brought to you by Real Living, a real estate company. It’s short, it’s breezy and it captures the eclectic side of Dayton. Now about that business of playing golf year-round: That’s a little... 4149303@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Living in Dayton 2008-05-27T10:37:26-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/04/23/is_the_region_ever_going_to_lo.html Talk about perfect timing. On Monday, April 28, the University of Dayton is sponsoring a River Summit at College Park Center. On April 22, The New York Times did a big take-out on how Oklahoma City has turned the Oklahoma... 3339903@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Riverfront development 2008-04-23T16:04:59-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/04/23/the_april_20th_new_york.html The April 20th New York Times dissected Antioch College’s demise. It’s a succinct, interesting history, but if you’ve followed the controversy, you won’t learn much that you didn’t already know. (It was a bit surprising to find out that the... 3337103@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Higher Ed 2008-04-23T15:41:07-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/04/04/what_would_you_ask_daytons_cre.html I gotta say, I really love this “Creative Class” initiative Dayton has going (or, more accurately, that Dayton’s area colleges have going) with Richard Florida, the guru of that movement. Here’s a column that I wrote and was published April... 2891703@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Dayton Creative Class Initiative 2008-04-04T16:56:03-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/04/04/mike_dewine_has_a_room_at_linc.html Recently my husband, a Lincoln buff, and I visited Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, D.C. I had read that former Sen. Mike DeWine was a big supporter of restoring the site, but I didn’t know he had a room there named... 2890603@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ 2008-04-04T14:03:31-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/28/links_to_bush_mccain_speeches.html Big week for Republican foreign policy speeches. I thought that both President Bush (in his speech in Dayton) and Sen. John McCain, in a speech laying out his basic approach to foreign policy, made points that the Democratic presidential candidates... 2714103@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-03-28T16:33:14-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/26/post.html Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class,” gave an interview recently in which he said great things about Dayton. Florida’s Toronto-based consulting group is working with the region’s creative-class types to imagine, organize and realize initiatives that... 2657603@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Dayton Creative Class Initiative 2008-03-26T12:20:22-05:00 ebelcher@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/21/so_there_hillary_clinton.html Earlier in the primary season Hillary Clinton aired a much talked about ad — known as “red phone” — which features sleeping children in a quiet house and a narrator gravely asking viewers whom they would want to deal with... 2558803@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-03-21T15:50:57-05:00 eroth@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/18/flap_allows_obama_to_show_his.html Barack Obama’s latest speech might be seen as an effort to minimize the damage from one of those over-hyped campaign flaps, wherein a candidate is embarrassed by something a friend has said. But the speech — a compilation of thoughts... 2478203@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-03-18T16:59:29-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/18/this_is_the_new_place_to_post.html (This is a column of mine from paper of Wednesday, 3-19. If you want more on the Editorial Page Book Club, click on the “Book Club” listing under “Categories” at the right of this space.) Thank you to the readers... 2476903@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ Book Club 2008-03-18T16:31:54-05:00 mgottlieb@daytondailynews.com http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/03/12/no_torture_no_exceptions.html This is the title of a collection of essays just published by the Washington Monthly. Sen. George Voinovich and U.S. Reps. John Boehner, Dave Hobson, Jean Schmidt, and Mike Turner all voted against legislation that would require U.S. intelligence agencies... 2319503@http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/ National politics 2008-03-12T11:41:53-05:00 eroth@daytondailynews.com