J. Kenneth Blackwell - Black Republican for Ohio Governor?

[NEOBuckeye]

Word has it that our Secretary of State, (and DIEBOLD voting machine advocate) has designs on suceeding the ever-inept Taft in 2006. If elected, Blackwell would be the FIRST African-American Governor for Ohio. Anyone have a take on his chances?

He doesn't seem to be a household name here in Akron (or Northeastern Ohio in general for that matter). But we do know that he's running. I don't even have a clue about any possible Dem candidates yet.

[galadrium]

1. I dont care if he's green with purple polkadots

Hes extremly right-wing. He will never get my vote. He follows the same tradition as Clarence Thomas, and J.C. Watts,... suckups for rich, white, republicans. He has a good chance of becoming governor, since even most of the racist repubs would rather vote for a black man... than a "liberal"

As far as democratic candidates go, you remember what happened to the last one we had... they defined him as some kind of radical wild-ass liberal. Lets not let this happen again.

[David Dunham]

2. I'd say we will have a Dem elected.

[blueknight]

3. he is a clown....

i remember when he was a democrat in cincinnati. he found out how conservative cincy was and knew he could never win a major election as a dem, so he started kissing ass with the repubs. he is a fool. he is being used up by the conservatives to try to get them the black vote in cincinnati.

[galadrium]

4. Hes your classic uncle tom

And welcome to DU by the way.

[newyawker99]

6. Hi blueknight!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Toucano]

5. Republican rift?

Jim Petro has designs on that job as well.

Blackwell is causing trouble for republicans by petitioning to repeal the sales tax increase. He's clearly campaigning to get his name more recognized with that issue.

I look for them to have internal squabbles and division this time around.

[mosin]

9. Dead right

In addition to Blackwell and Petro, former attorney general and current state auditor Betty Montgomery wants to be governor. So it is shaping up to be a nasty, three-way contest for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

It is fun to watch the squabbling over the sales tax. The latest flap involves Republican House Speaker Householder and a memo outlining strategies for attacking Blackwell. :) (You can see Blackwell's response at http://www.repealthetax.com/News.aspx?ID=27 .) Householder is term-limited after this year, but definitely has further political aspirations of his own.

So, let the infighting continue! It can only help Ohio Dems.

[FatSlob]

11. Agreed, the Republicans are split

Between the conservatives and the moderates. It is getting NASTY. I love it!

[newyawker99]

12. Hi mosin!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[mosin]

13. Thank you!

It's an interesting place you have here! It's a nice place to recharge when I get tired of arguing with neocon fascists. :)

[asthmaticeog]

7. Ken Blackwell is a Diebold suckup nightmare

Fuck him.

[Kolesar]

8. They call him "Secretary INKWELL" because he is always seeking publicity

His repeal campaign for the 1% sales tax is nothing but a publicity gimmick to get some attention for his gubernatorial run.

[FatSlob]

10. Elected Democrats in Ohio are a rarity.

Here is why. Bob Bennett, the boss of the Republicans pretty much shifted the Republican Party to the left. People like Jim Petro and Betty Montgomery are pretty much centrists who run under the Republican name. Ken Blackwell is a genuinely popular guy in the conservative south. However, he is too Republican for the Republicans, so they don't want him to run for an important state-wide office like Governor or AG, as he won't appeal to centrists. Let's face it, in Ohio, most people are centrist. That is why people like Tim Hagen get creamed in the statewide elections, they come off, or are painted as, too left wing. To get elected to a statewide office in Ohio, you must be centrist, or come off as one. Although I actively support Eric Fingerhut, I really don't expect him to come close to winning for the Senate seat. I fear that the Rethuglican Party will paint him as too left-wing. Plus, he comes from Cleveland, which automatically means that a SW Ohioan won't vote for him. We need Democrats from Columbus area to run, nobody doesn't like Columbus! Ok, a little humor there. Additionally, gun owners are in revolt against the Republican Party, that can only help us, as many plan on not voting for Voinovich, due to his support for the Assault Weapons Ban. Ok, that's it for now!

[NEOBuckeye]

14. Maybe it's because Ohio Dems are so damned territorial.

We have Democratic mayors in seven of the "Great Eight" cites -- including Cincinnati (Canton's mayor is Republican), and Democratic majority governments in most, if not all of those cities. You'd think that alone would be enough to get us to pool our resources together to take back state government from the GOP. Alas, most of the city-level Dems are too focused upon the politics within their own cities to see much beyond their borders. Look at the skirmishes between Cleveland's Mayor Jane Campbell and the City Council President on everything from regional government to the city's financial crisis. Heck, it wasn't until Campbell was elected that Cleveland and Akron began any meaningful talk about regional cooperation, even though they're virtually sitting at each other's doorstep.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have successfully dominated state government for much of the past two decades. Maybe because it's all they really have left to focus upon, since they long ago ceded dominance of the major cities to the Dems?