What's with Ohio?

[DFW]

The State has been plagued with blatant and rampant corruption and strong evidence of electoral
fraud on the part of the ruling Republicans, with downright disgusting behavior on the part of
Governor Taft and Secretary of State (and governor wannabe Ken Blackwell), and yet a big article
comes out this morning in the New York Times about what an uphill struggle the Democrats will have
in capturing the governor's seat, DeWine's Senate seat, and picking up a few House seats.

WHAT THE................????

Now, I'll grant that the article tried to see both sides of this question, but after all that has
gone on in that state, I have to ask myself why are there even two sides to this question?

After all that has come to light--and after all, Ohio is not South Waziristan--the people of that State
are really out in force falling for Blackwell's religious mumbo jumbo, and the Diebold corruption, not
to mention all the graft going on in around the governor's mansion?

OK, I'll buy that plenty of people there want abortion and same-sex unions outlawed, never mind that I
cannot fathom what threats to their own well-being they see in either. But, OK even aside from that: I'm
from the South, I have to deal with the head-in-the-sand and/or up-one's-ass right wing mentality all the time,
but even those people are starting to see through the façade and realize that they have been used and played
for fools.

My State (Texas) has consistently elected bad news bears for a long time now. With a cast of characters such
as Phil Gramm, Kay Hutchison, John Cornyn, and the thief executive himself, I know the power of ignorance
combined with slick advertising, and religious exploitation. Nonetheless, is Ohio such a backwater place that
after such an onslaught of evidence that a thorough house-cleaning is necessary, that Blackwell & Co. have
a better-than-even chance of winning in November? I mean, with rigged electronic voting machines, their chances
of losing are right around zero, but I'm hoping that these devices will be so discredited nationally that Ohio
won't dare use them. Maybe I'm dreaming. I remember the last line of "The Stepford Wives," where the Katherine
Ross character--the last to be killed in favor of a more cooperative android-- asks, just before she is killed
by her replacement, "why?" Her husband replies, "because we could." That's good enough for a horror film. It's
good enough reason to discard democracy. Well, maybe now, it is.

What scares me is that chance that the people of Ohio might elect the likes of Blackwell legitimately. That's
not Stepford, that a mass Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[cassiepriam]

1. Ohio has rigged elections. nt

[DFW]

15. Tom Noe

This is so weird for me, since I actually knew the guy pretty well int he 70s and 80s
(coin enthusiast). He was always craving recognition, but never came across to me as a
type who would steal. I can see him circumventing the campaign contribution limit, and
not realizing it was a crime to give someone money and tell them to contribute. It was
dumb not to consult with legal counsel before doing it, but I can at least grasp how it
happened. A for outright theft, I just don't that as being his style. However, when I read
about some of the characters he lent Ohio's money to, I cringed. He may not have known it
at the time (I didn't either back then), but some of them would steal the last dime from
a little old lady who only had nine cents to her name to begin with. One of them made a day
trip from the USA to Australia (!!) and then promptly announced upon his return the disappearance
of a six-figure coin from Noe's inventory. Noe didn't want to admit something was wrong, and
figured it would work itself out. Guess again. He just dug himself deeper and deeper, and when
Ohio realized the hen house had been raided, Noe was left holding the bag as head fox.

As for Blackwell, I would LOVE to believe the polls saying he loses. This guy is as evil as
a Katherine Harris with street smarts and has less scruples (can one have negative scruples?)
who just happened to win a Clarence Thomas wannabe contest. I am no fan of conspiracy theories,
but my brother works in high-tech computer projects for DARPA, and I believe him when he says
it is child's play for a computer programmer to insert an instruction into an electronic voting
machine, an instruction that will then erase itself at the end of the voting. He said it could
be detected by a good computer forensics expert, but only if such an expert is allowed to perform
the examination. As Diebold and the rest have gotten a legal decision saying they don't have to
submit their machines to such scrutiny, they can program them however they want, and NO ONE WILL
EVER KNOW IF THERE HAS BEEN TAMPERING OR NOT!

The outcome of the Ohio referenda last fall was telling enough. It wasn't enough that the one and
only Ohio voting machine to be examined thoroughly after the 2004 election gave Bush 3000+ more votes
than the precinct had registered voters (the 3000 votes were deducted from Bush's margin of victory,
how magnanimous of them). But last fall was so blatant as to make me think they were just doing a
Guernica-style run for 2006 and 2008. The conservative Columbus dispatch did some polling on the
questions to be put before the Ohio voters. On one Republican-friendly question that was favored to
pass 56%-44% this is exactly what happened. On a Democrat-favored question expected to pass by 60-40,
it then LOST by MORE than 60-40. Sorry, I just don't buy it. This is why I fear that, no matter WHAT
the polls say, that if there is unchecked tallying by Diebold and ESS, that Blackwell will pull out
another "surprise Republican upset victory," and then thank the voters of Ohio for their confidence,
crow that libbruls are not in tune with Ohio, etc etc. If the voters of Ohio are really willing to
swallow a Blackwell as governor, then so be it. But if Blackwell is installed by fraud, courtesy
of his corporate sponsors, plus Rove & Co., Inc., then something is rotten in the State of Blackwell.
Well, for that matter, it probably is already.

[cassiepriam]

18. Very interesting... I wonder if some day we will ever find out the whole

truth behind all of this, the story behind the corruption,
behind the Dems silence, the elections etc etc...

Oh yes. A repug victory in Ohio will not surprise me at all....
And it is already rotten. Those exit polls in Ohio did not match up with the actual vote in the Kerry-Bush election.

[dsc]

2. Ohio's Democratic party is a total and complete mess

While I actually think we have a good shot at both races the fact is the Democratic party in Ohio is a joke. We routinely get outspent by millions of dollars and thus get blitzed in the ad wars. We have no grassroots game to fall back on save unions in Cleveland and the rest of Cuyahoga county. I hope whoever Dean has assigned to Ohio can help us out there.

[OzarkDem]

7. Union leaders are part of the problem

Their money and influence doesn't come with experience in winning elections or even loyalty to Dem candidates. Part of the problem Dems have had in Ohio comes from letting a few union leaders run the show - often choosing bad candidates, running poor campaigns (they insisted on running the Gore and Kerry campaigns in Ohio) and alienating women voters.

They're also notorious for being bought off by the GOP, supporting its candidates and disrupting Dem campaigns.

No more evidence is needed than the abysmal performance of union members of the state Dem executive committee during the recent vote for a new Dem chair. They commandeered the meeting, intimidated other voters and called Mayor Rhine McClin (who was in charge of the meeting) and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones vulgar and insulting names, telling them to "shut up and sit down".

Ohio Dems don't need these thugs. They've created a huge gap in the party here. The sooner they're replaced, the more likely the party is to begin winning.

[ClevelandSportsCurse]

19. Exactly

I am all for unions and their causes because I am all for worker's rights (hell, my family lineage was all blue collar), but politics is simply beyond the unions' capabilities. They are good for organizing workers and standing up their rights, but when it comes to pure politics - strategy, good judgment, understanding current political climate, etc - they are way out of their league. They have done more to cause Dems to lose elections in Ohio than the Republicans and voting machines.

[beaconess]

3. Rigged elections aren't the problem - that's just an excuse

The problem is just as dsc laid out. The Democrats in the state are disorganized, ineffective and just downright pitiful. For years, the Democratic leaders have refused to build a grassroots operation or to develop a "farm team" of young, strong candidates who can move up in the ranks and run for office when the time comes. As a result, Ohio voters have very few Democratic "stars" or strong contenders and continually see the same faces over and over. Occasionally a new person pops up (such as Hackert), but they are so green and untested, that they can barely get out of the gate.

Republicans, on the other hand, groom their people practically from birth and raise them up through the system carefully and strategically, giving them the support and experience they need. They build up their credentials and their name recognition, raise them a boatload of money and virtually guarantee them credibility and a strong voter base.

Example: Ken Blackwell was recruited by the Republican Party back in the early 80s when he was the Democratic mayor of Cincinnati. They made him lots of promises, so he switched parties and he hasn't been disappointed. They raised him money, got him elected County Commissioner, then got him appointed as HUD Undersecretary under Bush I, ran him for Congress (he narrowly lost), got him appointed ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission. When the Democratic state treasurer left, the Republican governor appointed him to fill the seat and then he ran for Secretary of State. That's how Republicans operate - they take care of their own. Democrats, on the other hand, squabble and fight and play crabs in a barrel and, as a result, never get any traction.

Blaming it on voting machines is a convenient excuse that shifts attention/blame away from the real cause, but does nothing to address the problem.

Ohio Dems need to get their sh*t together.

[HughBeaumont]

4. Let's answer these . . .

"After all that has come to light--and after all, Ohio is not South Waziristan--the people of that State
are really out in force falling for Blackwell's religious mumbo jumbo, and the Diebold corruption, not
to mention all the graft going on in around the governor's mansion?"

"is Ohio such a backwater place that
after such an onslaught of evidence that a thorough house-cleaning is necessary, that Blackwell & Co. have
a better-than-even chance of winning in November? "

"What scares me is that chance that the people of Ohio might elect the likes of Blackwell legitimately. "

Yes, Yes, and it scares the shit outta me too.

Put it this way: I'm seeing Blackwell/Raga signs all over NORTHEAST Ohio. BLUE Cuyahoga. BLUE Lorain. Both areas affected the most in the state and among the most in the country by Republican't policies and the brain drain and job losses that resulted from them.

Now, granted Crackwell would never EVER win this part of the state. African Americans all over HATE that guy, one of the biggest Tom bootshiners ever to semi-comedically surface. I mean, seriously, he's a Living Color skit come nightmarishly to life. He probably tells Wilson-esque darkie jokes in private. The guy's in some aspects worse than Dixie-relocated southern DuhHIGH-AH Reps like homophobe bible-thumber Rawn Hood. He's part of the breed of politician, like Hood, that thinks you should swear on the Constitution to uphold the Bible, not the other way around, as it SHOULD be.

The dilemma and what Duh HIGH ah has to worry about the most, though, is the rurals (specifically the WHITE rurals). When Thom Frank wrote What's the Matter With Kansas, he may have just as well written the same damned thing about Ohio. See, when they see Blackwell, he appeals so MUCH to their hatred and fear of someone or something. These people only see "CHRISTUN", "REPUBLICAN", "HATES TH' GAYS", "LOVES GREAT LEADER PRESIDENT BEWSH", "LIBRUL HATER" .. .. many that are going to cast their vote for him don't really CARE for an examination of the ersatz TABOR he's trying to pass, which has already financially choked Colorado and will choke this troubled, ghost-town flecked state even worse. Many don't CARE about the Election and CoinGate scandals that his name is knee deep in. Many don't CARE that he has no concept of "separation of Church and state" (in fact, some think that's a PLUS!!).

They only care that he does what THEY do . . .and that, my friends, is HATE. Hate Gays, hate non-Born-Again Christians, and really, REALLY hate Liberal Democrats. They could GIVE a shit about issues, debt, job losses, tax-dollar vanishing, crappy schools, non-progressive culture . . . they just don't CARE.

This mentality has sadly affected those who have made it to the suburbs as well. In my city (Avon Lake, a suburb 25 miles West of Cleveland), there are more than a few Blackwell/Raga signs here.

One only needs to chalk it up to "purposely and unabashedly misinformed". When my friend and I went canvassing for Kerry in 2004, we came heavily armed to counter all of the likely misinfo they would be getting from the likes of Gibson, Kilmeade, O'Lielly and Asman over on Hard Right News. We could counter their silly arguments with facts and actual quotes against the Con-job Kerry was getting on the MSM. Nothing doing. You'd prove them wrong, they'd finger-ear themselves, just like that Parshall lady against Randi Rhodes. You'd get "Well, (grumble grumble) . . . agree to disagree", just like Anchorman. You'd get curmudgeon-ness. You'd get huffing. You'd get NOwhere. Fast.

These people WANT to hate, specifically gays and Democrats, who they think are one in the same. That's what they're about and that's why they're voting for this asshole. At least a lot of the solid-Bewsh Northerners, anyway.

The southern rurals which went heavily for the Chimp (mostly in the Southwest and Northwest; only 12 counties total, mostly along a 7-shaped crescent of the right-side of Ohio, went blue), well, I think the one thing we can probably count on is that they'll be racist before they'll be Christian in this matter. Yes, he's all that they want in a governor, except for one TEEEEEEENsy little flaw. Don't think that there isn't still a ton of racism in Suth'un Duh HIGH Ah. Northwest (except Toledo) is all but lost, but there's still enough racist Christians down there who'll either probably hold their nose and vote Strickland because he's a white male, or vote Blackwell and vow never to speak again of the act of "puttin' a Nigra" in the Governor's mansion.

Yes, they DO think that way. In 2006. Sad. And they wonder why Ohio's young are leaving this regressive state in droves.

On edit, yes, the Dems here have really done nothing to help their cause, putting up glib candidates and do-nothings that weren't groomed and raised "stars" like Blackwell, Voinovich and Taft. But that has to be combined with the gleefully hating Reagan Democrat left-overs we still have here that unfortunately make these elections close enough to steal in the first place, Ford plant closings, Republican corruption and scandal and shitty schools be damned.

[Berry Cool]

5. Actually, it's a combination of ALL these factors.

1. Yes, the elections ARE rigged.
2. Yes, the Ohio Dems ARE toothless and disorganized.
3. Yes, there IS a significant chunk of the population of Ohio that really will vote the "God, guns 'n' gays" ticket (as in, vote for anyone who promises them the first two and promises to keep them away from the last).

It's depressing, but it is true.

Giving just one explanation doesn't supply the whole picture. Not everyone in Ohio is like 3, and as upsetting as 2 is, it doesn't really matter so long as 1 is true. I mean, look at this last election. Supposedly, Blackwell is going to step in and straighten everything out. Oh yeah. That's like putting the fox in charge of figuring out why so many chickens are missing from the henhouse. I'm sure it will be VERY helpful.

[OzarkDem]

8. Strickland 10 points ahead of Blackwell

This article is ignoring the fact that polls have consistently showed Strickland running well ahead of Blackwell since the beginning of the race.

Strickland is going to win, period.

[HughBeaumont]

21. Strickland BETTER win, period.

Otherwise, I have no hope whatsoever for this state. Crackwell makes Taft look like Adlai Stevenson in comparison.

[Zynx]

6. We have an enormous lead in the governor's race.

Blackwell is not even really in competition.

[OzarkDem]

9. Welcome to DU!

[Doctor_J]

10. Yeah, it's too bad

unfortunately, between rigged elections, the Dems' refusal to side consistently with working folk over corporate folk, and Ohioans being more "backwater" than you'd think for a northern state, I think the future there is pretty bleak. You'd like to think of Ohio as more thoughtful and educated, like NY, but in fact I think it's a little more Kentucky-ish (more succeptible to hate radio).

[OzarkDem]

11. You need to do some research

All the Dem candidates in Ohio are focusing on economic problems and jobs. All the GOP has left is gay marriage and abortion.

They may win with that strategy in your state, but it won't happen in Ohio.

[Doctor_J]

12. It MAY pull Strickland past Whitewell,

but significant gains which SHOULD be ours for the taking in OH will not be. It looks to me like DeSwine will defeat Brown, and House gains will be non-existent. HughBeaumont's post in the thread pretty much spells out how Ohio looks to this outside observer. Whitewell's hatred of gays, women's reproductive rights, and the constitution will bring alot of Limbeciles to the polls. In fact, they LIKE the fact that he's black - gives them a chance to say "I'm not racist - see?"

Also, my state is decidedly blue, and no amount of lying, hating, and race-bating on the airwaves will turn it red.

[OzarkDem]

13. GOP voters in Ohio are humiliated

They're very disgusted and demoralized by all the corruption of the Taft administration and the Ney-Abramoff issue. Many are no longer declaring that they're Republicans. If Dems can keep that culture of corruption message going in Ohio, it will keep many of those voters home on election day. Keep in mind, the trial against Tom Noe (Coingate) is due to begin this summer and is expected to end around Election Day.

The biggest problem Dems face in Ohio is the GOP controlled news media.

[Doctor_J]

17. That's my point

"The biggest problem Dems face in Ohio is the GOP controlled news media."

That's the problem coast-to-coast - the only reason we don't have super-majorities in both houses, and that Smirk and all his minions aren't in prison.

But the media are too formidable to overcome. You're pretty naive to think that a clear message and good campaigning and strong candidates will overcome 6 months of 24/7 lying, exagerating, and slander. Remember you also told us that Brown was going to be a good candidate against DeSwine (better than Hackett), and it looks now like he's going to get killed.

As another poster put it, OH is part of the deep South now, and the old-fashioned bigots are happy to have a Whitewell to vote for, so they can proudly proclaim their hatred of gays, pro-choicers, and believers in the constituion. With the civil rights movement having made race hatred anathema, they've moved onto more PC targetrs, and Whitewell is a perfect candidate for them.

[OzarkDem]

20. Looks like you have some bad information

Brown is ahead in the polls against DeWine, he got more votes than DeWine during the primary.

I'm pleased to tell you, he's doing very well! Thanks for your support!

[Lefty48197]

14. Ohio is deep in the heart of the GOP's solid south.

What's wrong with Ohio is also what's wrong with Texas, North Carolina, and all points in between.

[alfredo]

16. the religous right is trying to take over. The ends justifies the means

philosophy is at the core of the corruption. Lie cheat or steal and you will be forgiven because you are doing God's work. Remember Fallwell said that God could put a monster in charge of America if it serves his purposes. Noe and Blackwell are the monsters sent by the Republican God.

[spooky3]

22. Hey, DFW, this is a little off-topic but...

I was in your area this weekend and the hotel provided a complimentary Dallas Morning News each day. Aside from the letters to the editor, I was impressed by how non-right wing the paper was both in articles and editorial page. It made me think times really are a-changin'.

[DFW]

23. Hey Spooky,

The Dallas Morning News still has a rightward slant, but not
horribly so. Don't forget Democrat Ron Kirk was mayor of Dallas,
and he polled 45% in his race for Senate in 2004, and I can tell
you that out in Waco, support for him would have been more like 15%.

Dallas has gotten a lot more cosmopolitain in the last 25 years.

By the way, Blackwell may be playing up the God routine, but Tom Noe
was out chasing a new woman every weekend while married with small
daughters in the 1970s. If he's got any kind of religion, it's newly
acquired, that's for sure!

[BobcatJH]

24. This state is backwards as hell, that's what

Look no further than the recently adopted Issue 1