15th Congressional race highly rated (again)

So says The Fix

This will be a tough race for us to win, but Steve is likable and Mary Jo is not. Her personality is one of the main reasons she lost last time.

Bill Cunningham is kind of a tool….

……But his intro wasn’t that bad.

However, I’m noticing a very annoying trend among some Republicans. The notion that mentioning Obama’s middle name (which in case you haven’t heard - it’s Hussein) will feed the idea that he’s a Muslim. He’s not, and many Republicans like Cunningham need to recognize that.

We can beat Obama on the issues. When it comes to experience and trust, we beat Obama.

If we continue to make this race about the “Muslim” Barack Hussein Obama and not about the Barack Obama that supports abortion, will surrender in Iraq, and raise taxes, then McCain will lose and Republicans will lose.

Did 2006 teach us anything. Remember the Dan Dodd ad? Or the Montgomery ad where she criticized Marc Dann for defending a child molester? Or the Mike DeWine ad against Sherrod Brown?

I’m not against negative ads and I have no issue with my candidate(s) using them, but ads like those really don’t highlight policy differences - all they do is just smear. And in this race it will not work. We need to tell the honest to God truth about Barack Obama and why he’s unfit to be president; false statements about his religious beliefs should not be a part of the plan.

RNC Chairman Michael Duncan’s response to the Tennessee GOP makes my point.

Things just get better for Ohio Senate Republicans

Ray Miller, glorious leader of the Ohio Senate Democrats, has raised $0 for their Senate campaigns. This after he deposed fmr. Leader Teresa Fedor for failed leadership.

That fundraising figure is according to Buckeye State Blog.

Thanks Democrats!!!!

What an excellent leader you have chosen!!!!

Keno is close to being a reality in Ohio

So says the Dispatch. Jesus, just do what you really want and bring casinos to Ohio. Then I would be excited.

What is Keno? Read here.

Conceal carry in Ohio: The first four years

An article in the Sunday (2/17) Metro/State section in the Dispatch notes that renewals for the first conceal carry permits in Ohio are up soon. With that piece came the usual from anti-gun crusaders like Toby Hoover of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence:

“We’re not furthering our culture by arming everybody…..when you leave your house, go out in public and have to arm yourself, what message is that giving our kids?”

And what would a topic about gun rights be without OSU rag The Lantern getting involved using fear-mongering to make their point:

Here is a campus activity, complete with all the alcohol, adrenaline and testosterone that can be expected during a pre-Michigan November dive into sub-freezing waters, in which, should an altercation break out, bullets might replace fists. This would certainly be a worst-case scenario to allowing those with concealed-carry permits to arm themselves on campus.

What is humorous about the Lantern article is that they even admitted that there is a chance that allowing students to carry guns could protect them. Franklin County Sheriff Steve Martin practically answers their fears by saying there were no incidents involving those with conceal carry permits.

The reality is, the majority of gun owners treat their constitutional right with respect and learn how to handle their guns. It’s the troublemakers that make life difficult. To answer Ms. Hoover, being armed means that you decrease your chance to become a victim. If you are a responsible gun owner with kids, you will teach them to respect that weapon and how to use it properly.

I believe that these ‘gun-free’ zones leave students to be sitting ducks. In the V-Tech and NIU tragedies, armed students could have stopped them before it happened. The tide of support is slowly growing to reverse it, but the misguided and naive views of people like Hoover and The Lantern will lead the fight against it.

Regardless, I’m glad to see that Ohioans are still exercising their constitutional right with obtaining permits.

Since Democrats love to say “100 years!”

McCain explains (again) his ‘100 years in Iraq’ comment to Dispatch reporters.

Read it very carefully, Democrats.

John McCain? GOP frontrunner?

John McCain celebrates his victories with supporters

Contrary to what Mike Huckabee thinks, John McCain is the GOP nominee. Even as a supporter, I am surprised he lasted this long but in the end, he is the candidate with the best chance to beat Hillary and Obama. In most polls he is within the margin of error nationally and even makes states like New York competitive.

However, many conservatives have an issue with a McCain nomination and still seem bent on trying to embarrass him. Ann Coulter has found her inner liberal and endorsed Hillary, saying that “she’s more conservative that McCain”, Rush is passive aggressive towards McCain, and Sean Hannity is Hannity.

Many of his detractors point to his views on immigration, campaign finance reform, and taxes. I agree that his immigration bill was bad, but Senator McCain realized his mistake and understands that we need to close the border before we do anything else.  Campaign finance reform hasn’t worked as well as hoped, but I don’t hold that against him. There is too much money in politics today, and McCain/Feingold was a start in the right direction. Senator McCain opposed President Bush’s tax cuts originally because of the lack of spending restraint to come with them. Since the recession and the looming expiration of said cuts, he supports him as being necessary.

John McCain is not a perfect candidate, but he is the candidate that has the long and respectable record on cutting taxes, cutting pork-barrel and wasteful spending, and protecting Americans and their interests. With his type of record and views, does Coulter, Rush, or Hannity truly believe that a President McCain will do the bidding of Pelosi or Reid?

My prayers have been answered

It took a while but Steve Stivers is running for Congress.

And thank God for that. The 15th deserves to have a real race with debate on the issues. I’m sure when Kilroy heard the news, that smug look she usually has on her face was not there.

Tribe vs. Red Sox in ALCS

Paul Byrd pitched well enough to lead the Tribe to the ALCS.

We’re back!

The Cleveland Indians ended the season for the New York Yankees and possibly the career of Joe Torre as manager.

Timely hitting, great pitching and a (mostly) non-existant offense from New York sealed it. Now it’s on to Boston, where David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez will give us their toughest challenge yet.  The Red Sox are much more even with us than New York, so continuing to take advantage of runners in scoring position (CLE was 12-27, .444 BA) and clutch pitching. It’ll be a fight, but I’m calling the Indians winning in seven. I’ll take our top-3 pitchers against theirs, and our bullpen will continue its dominance.

Regardless, GO TRIBE!

“Scary Mary Jo”? Excuse me while I gag…

I saw the headline in last Thursday’s The Other Paper and laughed out loud. “Scary Mary Jo”, by Dan Williamson, details how the top contenders are supposedly scared of running against Kilroy because she’s a “tough campaigner”. What makes her tough, according to Williamson? The fact that she’s a mean person and a dirty campaigner says he. Those characteristics don’t make her someone to be afraid of; it just makes her a mean person and a dirty campaigner.

I don’t ignore the fact that even if the GOP got the candidates that they wanted, the 15th District would still be tough race since the county is trending Democrat and Kilroy will have a lot of money. But when looking at her qualities, there are a couple of things that Dan forgot:

- Her “prickly” personality is still a negative.

I have involved in a few elections, and I have seen her in action. I believed her to be arrogant and condescending to her opponents and voters and if you want proof just look at her debate last year with Rep. Pryce. That could also be a reason why she lost; she may have polled well in Franklin County, but she could not connect with those in Union or Madison Counties.

-Ran in ‘06 and lost. What’s different now? 

She’s running the same campaign that she ran last year, and the climate’s not as bad for the GOP this year like it was last year. Not great, but not horrific. But this candidate that the GOP gets to run will not have any taint on them and she will have to run on her true left-wing views.

Since Stivers, Jim Hughes, and Petro have declined to run, names that I’ve heard recently  have been fmr. Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka (since declined), fmr. Franklin Co. Commissioner Dewey Stokes (also declined), and Judge Julie Lynch.

Now its a game of wait-and-see.