Ohio's Election Disconnect

The 2008 election is in the history books but Ohio's election troubles are not. Let's just say it's a blessing in more than one way that the presidential race was not close.

Dennis Willard calls out the politically motivated Ohio Supreme Court as well as the Republican leadership in the General Assembly. He aptly labels the never partisan interference as Ohio's insane season (worse than silly season)and offers a blunt remedy:

Then, everyone involved should put down their crayons and read Election Law for Dummies before attempting to fix the many flaws in Ohio's election law.

Step 1: Set aside vanity mirror and remove such silly technicalities as you must sign and print your name or your provisional ballot doesn't count.

Finally, for once in your political careers, heed your own rhetoric and place the needs of the voter and citizenry first.

What I can't figure out is why GOP legislators and jurists turn a blind eye to the fact that election insanity hurts voters of all political stripes. None of this critique even factors in the buffoonery on display by the Ohio Republican Party (Bennett, et al) every election cycle.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Election Day in Akron 8

It's on. The most important election in a generation from Akron's ward 8.

10:15 - Game over once they called Ohio. Knocking on all those f*&#ing doors actually paid off! Everyone take five.

16:30 - just got back from canvassing. basically no one was home. The people I did manage to coax to the door had already voted, good. Before I left the staging house some of the organizers were whining about low turnout in Ohio. That made me cringe. Wouldn't we expect turnout to be lower due the 25% that cast early ballots? Pho twittered about low turnout at the polls. I''ll admit I'm nervous.

12:05 - leaving for the staging house to pick up a last day canvass pack. I hope all this knocking makes a difference. It better.

9:00 - The futility of stupid people. My idiot neighbor just set up a sign with a blown up copy of an anti Obama pamphlet on William Ayers. Talk about low rent. Even the plutocrats down the road aren't going to this extreme.

8:36 - The line at Case is gone. Voters are trickling in now. Did early voting relieve the pressure on election day?

7:40 - I'm going to get my free Starbucks coffee. Hey did you hear it's free if you voted.

6:35 - They are lined up at Case Elementary to get it done before work. Before the doors open the line runs down Harcourt and just starts to wrap around Westvale. They may have a half hour wait. Not too bad compared to four or five hours. Pix to follow.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Some Local Races of No Real Interest

Sutton Wins By 30
Betty was already looking at a pretty sizable win over her Republican challenger Harry Potter. I don't think that's his real first name he wanted to siphon off some votes from parents of J. K. Rowling fans. Anyway I'll be waiting to see if an Obama coattail effect pushes Sutton's win margin into the stratosphere.

Randy Cole Wants In
Mr. Cole ran for Ward 8 Councilor two years ago and lost to Bob Keith. This election he picked State Representative of the 41st district as his class project. Randy lives in the neighborhood and seems to be well liked. He is challenging incumbent Brian Williams who is also well liked. I have noticed there are more Cole signs in the area. I have even seen some Cole signs paired up with Obama signs which could mean Randy's appeal cuts across party lines, good news for him.

Status Quo in Summit County
I think it's safe to say that all the incumbents holding elected County offices will keep them Some like Sheriff Drew Alexander are unopposed. Why in the hell are we forced to vote for County Engineer? Rusty Pry will have no problem defeating Jim Laria and his giant man size photo yard signs, scary.

The Kooch Hangs On
There was talk that Dennis Kucinich's latest quest for the presidency had fatally tarnished his image and the voters would send him packing. Jim Trakas has an uphill battle to unseat the Kooch even if there is some level of discontent in the 10th district. In the end enough people still love the little elf congressman plus the district is heavy Dem. In a year where there will be a down ticket effect from Obama I expect to see a victorious Dennis emerge on Wednesday. Sorry Jim.

Will PLJ Be Derailed at the Last Minute?
Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jones looked like he would sail to a win over Bay Village Mayor Deb Sutherland (call her Deb). There has been some static over PLJ's use of a County employee and car to be chauffeured to and from work and his law offices. The situation had started to fade when he was busted this Saturday by Channel 3 (or was it 8) in a county car driven by his trusty assistant. There's nothing better than a minor scandal like this to enrage voters but, I don't think Peter has to worry. From what I hear there are more PLJ yard signs in Bay Village than anywhere in the western burbs.

Say It With Me, Snitchler!
Did you know Celeste DeHoff failed to pay her property taxes? Do you even know who Celeste DeHoff is? I'm not even sure what State district this race is for and frankly I don't give a crap. The pay off is the guy running the adds has a great last name for a weaselly looking dude running negative adds. Snitchler, Snitchla. The race is actually for the 50th House district in Stark County.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Bennett Comes Up For Air

The Ohio GOP's decision to drop its court battle over voter registration may signal a brief detente with Jennifer Brunner. That news and a call to negotiate comes as a surprise but a welcome one. Don't be fooled into thinking the change in tactics is a change in strategy though. The realization that the lawsuit method wasn't gaining any traction finally sunk in and there is still time to regroup. One of the GOP attorneys was quoted as saying different approach was needed.

I can't imagine that the GOP dropped the suit because they are genuinely concerned about the potential ill effects on voter turnout. The change in approach may just mean there are other ways to create problems for legitimate voters on election day. The idea of a court created caging list sounded grand but time is a wasting. Maybe the impact of early voting was a factor in the decision to move away from litigating, for now. Early voting is looking like a much needed relief valve to take the pressure off of the line and the process on Nov. 4th. The GOP has probably conceded that voter caging is not going to have the effect of creating confusion as in years past now that voters have the early option.

Don't count out future court action even if it comes after the election. If for some sick twist of fate Ohio ends up being close enough for a recount then look for the friends of Bob to mount legal challenges to the method of voter verifications. With this in mind don't forget to vote early.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Quest For The Perfect Caging List

As sure as the leaves will fall off the trees this fall the Ohio GOP will strive to find ways to prevent a free and unfettered election process. The plan usually depends on carving out a large group of potential voters and finding a way to divert them into provisional ballot purgatory. As we have seen this year Bob Bennet et al have focused their energy on creating a court enforced caging list. Why spend untold dollars mailing out certified letters in order to identify potential victims of their age old suppression racket? The events of 2008 have given these creeps the perfect backdrop for asking the courts to do the work for them.

The tactics may differ but the strategy is always the same, divert as many potential voters to the confused path of provisional balloting and hope the election is close. Bill Boyarsky sums it up:

Republicans, as they did in 2004, can make massive challenges of voters in Democratic areas, creating confusion and slowing the vote. Challenged voters cast provisional ballots, which are counted later. But in 2004 many potential voters walked away from long lines created by the challenges. Some doubted that their provisional ballots would be counted.

The histrionics over the ACORN voter registrations and the new focus on getting Jennifer Brunner to employ cross matching have provided the poor slobs on the right the latest method to create that special underclass of voters. The key to this year's scheme is getting a court to enforce the tactics. The corollary to the plan is to turn up the heat on the ACORN story by drumming up white fear and relying on law enforcement to legitimize the fear about the group's activity. And yes, I said white fear. There are reports on numerous threats and racial slur laden emails the group has been receiving since the fear has been ratcheted up.

After losing 9-0 in the US Supreme Court the GOP re-modulated faster than the Borg and filed a new challenge with the Ohio Supremes. This latest filing should worry anyone concerned about the real integrity of this election considering the heavy conservative leaning of the Ohio court. A victory for the GOP will enshrine their caging tactic as version 2.0 and keep the tactic alive for future elections. If the SCO sides with Brunner then the chance to see a fair outcome in the Ohio becomes more of a reality. In the end the only real hedge for winning this election is an overwhelming force of support for the Democratic candidate.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Seamore Butts Is Not the Problem

The latest hysteria over fraudulent voter registration cards is an overblown reaction to a minor issue. The stories about bad voter registration cards are hyped as indicators of insidious election fraud coordinated to tilt the election in one candidate's favor. The Plain Dealer and some other media outlets have been in a tailspin recently over problems with a small number of voter registration turned in to Cuyahoga County by ACORN.

A story in the PD about the voter registrations in question describes the situation but finally manages to provide some much needed context as to what is happening in Cuyahoga County. As you could have guessed the amount of names in question is minimal, the story by Joe Guillen indicates 50 out of 65,000 cards turned in have problems. According to my slide rule that would be a staggering 0.08% (I'm even rounding up) of registrations turned in to the elections board. The cards were already flagged by board employees so it's not a voting issue. Even the normally bitchy pants Rob Frost, Chairman of the Cuyahoga County GOP wasn't overly concerned, from the PD:

But even Chairman Rob Frost, the second Republican member on the county's election board, said the potentially fraudulent registration cards do not jeopardize the fairness of the election.

His opinion on the lack of severity of the matter was seconded by the other Republican member of the Cuyahoga County BOE, Jeff Hastings. The consensus seems to be that the bad registrations are a result of a sloppy operation on the part of ACORN's staff not a concerted effort to have everyone vote three times. That understanding over the ACORN voter card issue has been lost on the McCain Campaign. Seeing another line of attack McCain and his advisors have begun to link Obama to the group and it's alleged diabolical scheme to register fake voters. If you were part of the flailing John McCain campaign you'd probably do the same thing. Claiming that a few erratic voter registration cards threaten the election process isn't an honest assessment of the real problems facing voters.

A story written by Dennis Willard appearing in today's ABJ highlights the true threat to free and unfettered elections. In his account the Greene County (Ohio) Sheriff had taken up the banner of fighting election fraud. What made this case disturbing was the Jim Crowe era tactics attempted by a elected law enforcement official. As Willard points out Sheriff Gene Fischer took it upon himself with no evidence of apparent wrong doing (only rumors) to start investigating the names of the 300 or so persons who early voted in Greene County. Fischer's requests involved seeking the public and non public information of the people who early voted. Presumably the names would include some of the students attending two historically black universities that are located within the County. The arbitrary and seemingly biased way that this "investigation " was started is enough to sound the tocsin over voter suppression:

This ill-conceived act is enough to raise questions about Fischer's understanding of the law and his sensitivity to ensuring that voters —especially African-American voters — feel secure and not threatened by exercising their fundamental rights, but his ineptitude did not occur in a vacuum.

The context Willard refers to is the importance of Ohio in this election and the issues that demobilizing voters, be they black or white through intimidation and suppression could have on the outcome.

The real problem with elections in swing states like Ohio is and has always been voter suppression and purging of voter roles. Unlike registration drives from outside groups these two menaces are abetted by the government bodies charged with protecting our most important franchise. A dark and inequitable force that seems to gravitate around poor and working class citizens in economically depressed areas.

Just in the past few weeks there have been stories of attempts to purge voters from the rolls in Michigan, Colorado and even in Ohio (no way). The story is repeated every four years and the purging always seems to zero in on minority and poor voters. In fact Michigan officials were going to attempt to challge voters who's homes had been foreclosed on and thus had outdated mailing addresses. Who can forget the voter challenging drives and caging lists in Ohio in 2004? That round of voter suppression was brought to you by the Ohio GOP and the fomerly important Ken Blackwell. An exhaustive story by Robert Kennedy Jr. detailed the damage caused to the fairness of Ohio's voting system in 2004.

Clearly the likes of Seamore Butts, Hugh Jass, Heywood Jablome and the Dallas Cowboys pose only minor nuisance for election board staff trying to sort through voter registrations. Troubles from phony registration cards pale in comparison to the damage caused by system enforced voter purging and suppression that rears its head every four years. I've said before the only sure way of overcoming this undemocratic influence is through the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force. The crushing wave of support for candidates like Obama and the disdain for more Bush era policies will provide that force on election day.

If you get the chance check out Greg Palast's new web site and comic book called Steal Your Vote Back. Vote early vote often once.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Crossover Voting Meet Overwhelming Force

The prospects of crossover voting amounting to anything more than a pet project of Rush Limbaugh and his merry band of dittoheads are slim and none. Of course loud mouth righty blowhards get the adulation of an intellectually immature fan base poised to move when called upon. The thought of steering the election to a favorable match up for November is in the same category as the bumper sticker pablum they ingest daily.

There as been a good deal of press on the GOP crossovers in the Ohio primary election and Cuyahoga County in particular. The Columbus Dispatch released an analysis of crossover voting and found a sizable number of GOP superfans crossed over to the tune of over 20,000 voters. The intent of course was to cast votes for Clinton and keep her campaign alive thus throwing the race into turmoil. Of course the democratic race didn't need an help with that and the crossover voting didn't really alter overall course of the election. In politically savvy move SOS Jennifer Brunner has cast aside any ideas of prosecuting crossover voting in an interview with the Cleveland PD:

"I would be very hesitant to move forward in a criminal investigation," Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said before giving a speech at John Carroll University. "At what point are you going to start getting into censorship?"

Basically let the cretins have some fun it can't stop the inevitable defeat the GOP will be suffering in the general election, or so we hope. Still the Cuyahoga BOE is pursuing a investigation of crossovers in the County. This "quixotic effort" as described by County Prosecutor Civil Division chief Dave Lambert, will go nowhere fast once it hits the inevitable party line vote.

I've said it before, winning this election will have to be done using the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force. The GOP attack dogs are going to use voter suppression, caging and other dirty tricks to sway this election. The appropriate defense to this crap is to bring the full force of progressive ideas and a strong candidate to the electorate. An unstoppable wave of D(d)emocratic voters that will wipe out the effects of any GOP nonsense.

Caging, Voting's Dirty Little Secret

The practice fo voter caging is finally getting some attention from Congress. Politico has an article covering the efforts of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to introduce legislation limiting the practice. Supporters of the bill claim rightly, that the practice of challenging the addresses of large swathes of registered voters discourages college students and younger voters from voting.

In NE Ohio we have had are share of this tactic. In the case of the 2004 election the GOP cadres submitted mass requests to verify voters addresses in Cuyahoga and Summit County. The requests targeted minority voters in low income neighborhoods not college students. This was a perfectly devious compliment to the voter challenges at the polls that also targeted this demographic. Nothing like the white mayor of rich Westlake challenging black voters in poor East Cleveland.

Limiting the practice at the federal level makes sense. They already have something called the Voting Rights Act I think. Still you will always have some critics of measures that encourage people to vote. In a wonderful coincidence one of the potential critics on the Senate Judiciary Comm. is Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT). A different man but same name as beloved Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett who coordinated the voter suppression efforts in 2004.

Post Debate, Message to Prospective Nominee

No live blogging of the debate here but it was cool to see a room full of local bloggers going at it in WKYC headquarters. Also great exposure for CSU, the City and Ron Paul supporters with big signs. The large chunk of time spent on health care was impressive but getting one last lok at the iteraction between Hilary and Barack was the real draw for me. I have nothing else to say about it that hasn't been floated in the MSM or blogosphere other than what follows.

Message to the Prospective Democratic Nominee - When Russert Attacks

I'll admit I wasn't overly impressed with both candidates responses to this question about Iraq from Tim Russert:

RUSSERT: I want to ask both of you this question, then. If this
scenario plays out and the Americans get out in totality, and Al Qaida
resurges and Iraq goes to hell, do you hold the right in your mind as
American president to reinvade, to go back into Iraq to stabilize it?

Barack and Hillary answered the question thoughtfully but they were not direct enough on the Al Queda threat posited by the Russert question. The question of Iraq will undoubtedly be a central issue in the general election campaign, it won't be the last time that question is asked of a Democratic candidate. In addition McCain will have to tout his support of the surge and will also be directing that same challenge to his opponent. What would you do pull out? You would let the terrorists win? The assertion that there is a possibility that Al Queda will take over Iraq has to addressed head on. Doing so will redirect the focus to the actual problem of the Iraq occupation and cut the terrorist hysteria off at the knees.

The Democratic nominee should never address questions of Iraq and redeployment (semantics are important) and Al Queda taking over without mentioning:

There was no Al Queda presence in Iraq before the invasion.

Al Queda in Iraq's (Mesopotamia) creation was a response to the U.S. occupation.

The security vacuum resulting from this policy failure provided fertile ground for AQI to take hold in western Iraq.

We have to begin withdrawing forces anyway because the surge is unsustainable in the long term.

What ever happened to when they stand up we'll stand down?

The actions of the current administration on Iraq have let us no good options.

No way in hell is a predominantly Shia nation going to allow a group of foreign Sunni Salafists to "take over" their country.

To address a semi-moronic question like the one posed at last night's debate without driving these points home would be well, the beginning of silly season.

Thanks to Ohio Daily Blog for posting the debate transcript.

Give McCain Some Credit

McCain faced another "how do we beat the bitch" moment and this time made the right choice. It started when righty talker Bill Cunningham was warming up the crowd at a McCain rally in Cincy today. The rant which targeted Obama, Clinton and even Madeline Albright sounded like a cry for attention in the style of Ann Coulter. Really just standard fare for this species of bloviator.

To his credit John McCain disavowed the whole incident and even went as far to apologize to the media that were present. Yes, apologize for what we have come to know as a common right wing psychopathy. Now I'm sure part of the reaction from McCain was inspired from the constant hits he's taken from the ghouls on right-wing radio but it still showed some altruistic purpose. With both Obama and McCain lobbing snippets of admiration at public gatherings they are at least giving the impression that this general election could be decided mostly on policy questions.

That idea of course minimizes the threat of political hatchet jobs from outside players. You just know lapel pins, patriotism and the pledge will eventually be thrown into the mix from somewhere out in 527 land.

Dennis, Not Dead Yet

We've gotten a good dose this week of what the congressional race for the Ohio 10^th district is about. The challengers all tried in earnest to get their best shots at Dennis the Kucinich and make a case for a change in leadership.

After listening to the debate on Wednesday and the serious interview Q&A session with Dennis and Joe on 90.3 WCPN on Thursday I'm thinking Dennis will survive this one.

The real challenger, Joe Cimperman almost comes across as Dennis-lite and in fact sounded kind of over his head or naive at times. As for the other candidates (O'Grady, Ferris, and Palmer) I'm not sure what makes them particularly more qualified than Kucinich other than the fact they are not him. And that is certainly what the race for the Ohio 10th is about this year. Although it's probably going to take more than an endless supply Kucinich jokes to unseat him from his congressional perch.

For the voters the real test will be that if they are so turned off by the antics and ego of the boy mayor are they willing to take a chance on Cimperman? I don't see the other candidates peeling away enough votes to make a difference in the end. This one will come down to a one on one contest between an incumbent and the main challenger. I'm glad I don't live in that district anymore.

It's Here:Super Tuesday Prelim's

Our primary election hydra sprouts new heads tonight as the returns come rushing in. The (insert superlative here) Tuesday primary bacchanal promises to deliver all sorts of surprises and open up the next phase in the presidential contest. Here are a few observations as we anxiously await for the carnage to begin.

Us and Them
The governing style of each party are characteristically ingrained their primary rules. Dems divide state delegates proportionally and the GOP use a winner take all method. Democratic primary voters living abroad can vote while their GOP counterparts do not have that right. A move I haven’t been able to answer is why the polls in the W.Virginia GOP-only primary close at 12:30 in the afternoon (according to a spread in the Wall Street Journal).

Don’t Bother Parsing Yet
With 24 States and a whole slew of polling data pouring in over the last few days it’s not worth trying to divine any certainty from the numbers. Yeah Barack Star has momentum but there’s way too much going on to be sure of the results. I’ll opt to wait for the dust to clear some time after midnight before I am willing to trust what I see.

Ron Paul Wins AK?
Can the this libertarian in GOP clothing pull off a lone primary win in Alaska? This seems to be his only even remote chance at wining a state.

Right Wing Radio Melts Down – Again.
When McCain wins big tonight I expect the sound of Republicans eating their own to fill the airwaves tomorrow. Rush, Hannity and company have been apoplectic over McCain’s appeal and if he puts Mitt down for the count tonight expect the shrieking to get louder.

Ohio Matters
They like me, they like me, they really like me.

If you believe the conventional wisdom (smart money?) then the democratic race will not be decided tonight. That means the good ol’ buckeye state will land a top spot on Tim Russert’s little white board when the March 4^th primary rolls around. It’s good to relevant.

Where to watch
Aside from the bountiful content available on the internets I plan to watch MSNBC. Chris Matthews can be hard to digest and Russert comes across as way too serious when paired with Keith O. but it works. CNN’s coverage is overly contrived and they still think Bill Bennet makes a good addition to their panel.

John Bows Out, Rudy Cracks Up

Even though I expected it I was bummed to see John Edwards drop out of the presidential race. His populist message and calls to address poverty were inspiring to some. His message of helping the poor in America was also about changing the economic landscape that has been tilted against the middle class for some time. There was of course wide spread opining as to why this message did not catch fire with primary voters. It makes you wonder if things would have played out differently if states like Ohio had been moved up in the primary schedule.

Just when I was feeling blue I got a slight pick-me-up seeing Rudy throwing in the towel today. His fall from the top of the national polls is one of the intriguing stories of the 2008 election. Apparently the more you learn about him the less you like him. He took the fifty state strategy and turned it into the one state strategy. Not a good idea. The other silver lining is Rudy's endorsement of McCain. That act alone should make right-wing radio nation jittery all over again.

Uncle Fred Gets the Job Done

It was no real surprise that Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race. He exited the race the same way he entered it, seemingly confused and lacking energy. Maybe he realized that many of us were not convinced he was an admiral on an aircraft carrier.

With McCain's trajectory locked in towards the GOP nomination it was time for Fred to pull the plug. It's no secret Uncle Fred is a friend and ally of McCain, he did endorse him in the 2000 presidential race. I subscribe to the theory that he was only in the race to peel away votes from Rudy to give McCain some breathing room. With McCain gaining momentum it was time for Fred to go. Maybe he'll be on the short list for VP.

If you don't think Team McCain has gained steam just read David Brooks' Column in today's NY Times. He points out that McCain is bucking the GOP establishment (what a maverick) and lassoing a wide range of support from conservative voters. BoBo even thinks the GOP has resurrected its chances of holding onto the White House.

Dennisless Debate Format Works Well

The glass top table at last night's Democratic Primary debate was short (get it) one candidate but I doubt he was missed. Despite the legal challenges and pleas from Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinich was not permitted to participate in last night's debate hosted by MSNBC. I'm not part of the bash Dennis crowd but I have to say the format of this debate would not have suited having an odd man out (and I mean odd) included in the panel. Tim Russert has a hard enough time avoiding the appearance of being disingenuous without having to coddle also ran candidates.

The Democratic race has been distilled down to three serious contenders for now and this forum provided a glimpse of three separate candidates each working to portray an image of presidential preparedness to the viewing audience in cable television land. The debate was more of panel discussion with each candidate permitted to ask the other a question while sitting comfortably at the table. As Daily Kos offers,

Each of our three candidates brings tremendous strengths to the contest. Any of them would be a strong general election candidate, and they all appear to be sufficiently prepared to enter the White House in 370 days.

The Dems have a steady confluence of energy that looks like it will lead to an orderly synthesis of selecting a clear nominee. They need to continue moving in that direction being careful not to backslide towards the Hobbesian state of the GOP race. Sadly that means the end of the line for the bottom tier candidacies. No more standing at podiums and making jokes about the other candidates' political gaffes or debating about the nature of Jesus. As much as I think Dennis has to offer in the marketplace of ideas his presence would have been counter productive (and the chairs didn't go up high enough). Sorry.

Iowa, the Beginning of the End or Not?

A long holiday reprieve and a bathroom renovation (that's not a euphemism) has kept me away from the blogstead. I didn't feel that motivated to post about too many things anyway. The one thing that I should be weighing in on is the presidential primary race, namely that thing in Iowa tomorrow. Forgive me if I'm not overcome with mass amounts of punditry about the race. Now that it's actually 2008 I will try to pay close attention though. It's not easy when the bulk of the media coverage is more about the horse race and less on the candidates sans the patina of talking points (he got the memo). As the loony GOP reminded us in the onslaught of 2006 political spots, "the stakes are high" and the future of the free world depends on the outcome of this one.

My call for Thursday is Obama pulls off a close one with Johnny Edwards a few points behind. I am hoping and unabashedly admitting that I want Edwards to win the nomination in the end. I like Obama but as Paul Krugman has been pointing out the Barack Star has been borrowing from the right wing bag of talking points at different points of his campaign rhetoric. I'm uneasy about that choice.