Latta Hot Air: Keep an Eye on Ohio 5 (special election Tuesday 12-11-07)

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/12/06/latta-hot-air-keep-an-eye-on-ohio-5/

by Tula Connell, Dec 6, 2007

This is a crosspost from Firedoglake. Seth Michaels, our AFL-CIO presidential website coordinator, joins me in writing this blog. Thanks, Seth!

So what if the 2008 primaries are literally days away? We still have work to do in the 2007 elections.



On Dec. 11, a special election in Ohio’s 5th Congressional District pits a hangover from the old Ohio Republican agenda against a progressive who’s willing to fight for working families. The business-as-usual state representative, Bob Latta, won a nasty primary to become the Republican nominee. Democrat Robin Weirauch opposes bad trade deals, supports the pro-worker Employee Free Choice Act and has spoken out against Bush’s maneuvers to deny health care coverage to millions of the nation’s children.

DU for Robin Act Blue fund raising page: http://www.actblue.com/page/os

But Weirauch faces an uphill battle: She’s stumping in a district that gave Bush 61 percent of its vote in 2004. The seat was held since 1989 by Paul Gillmor, a Republican whose death Sept. 5 created the vacancy. So we in the union movement are making a big push to help. This special election is about working families in Ohio. But it’s also one more step toward our Labor 2008 get-out-the-vote mobilization, as we shoot for the trifecta: a progressive House, Senate and presidency.

The two candidates couldn’t more clearly represent the national political pattern we’ve seen emerge in recent years: corruption v. progressivism. Latta last month was reprimanded by the Ohio Elections Commission for making false statements about his primary opponent and has taken donations from Tom Noe, the Republican fundraiser imprisoned in corruption scandals last year. Weirauch, who understands the economy of northwest Ohio and is committed to improving it, made her campaign announcement at a shuttered factory and promised to fight for good jobs. Speaking of the factory’s former employees, Weirauch said:

For too many, this is a very familiar story in these parts. Too many of our neighbors have worked hard and played by the rules with the promise of economic security and a good pension and health care into their golden years. But unfortunately they found those promises to be shattered. In fact, Washington isn’t listening to these stories.

FULL story at link.

[bluestateguy]

1. Are the college kids in Bowling Green still going to be on campus?

We will need that vote.