In a move that Krikorian supporters have been harping about for days now, State Rep. Todd Book has ended his run for Congress.
His statement:
Since I announced my intent to run for Congress I have been humbled and grateful for the support I have received from the district. It [...]
In response to David's insightful post, I figured I'd provide an answer to his question. In a word: PRIMARIES.
It is amazing what they'll do. Here is Senator Bennet back in August when meeting with constituents:
Bennet, speaking after the meeting, said reform shouldn't hinge on the public option, though he [...]
Something interesting happened on the Sunday talk show circuit yesterday, a politician bluntly put his beliefs before his job.
Freshman Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) told John King that he would support healthcare reform, even if it meant losing his seat.
“If you get to the final point and you [...]
It’s not exactly an epiphany, but a PPP Poll has shown that Democrats will suffer if they can’t manage to pass a healthcare bill.
"Most voters aren't following this debate really closely and don't understand the nuances of it all. At the end of the day voters are likely [...]
It’s that time of year again. On this day every year, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all over the state unite behind a common cause: hating Michigan.
[...]Okay, feedback time here at BSB. Last weekend over 60% of you said you supported Brunner over Fisher, but the public narrative seems to be overwhelmingly the exact opposite. So what is she doing wrong? Money is obviously important, but it’s not everything. How does she wrestle control of the [...]
Governor Strickland isn’t all that happy with the Republican controlled Senate’s decision to recess for the holiday without passing a budget fix.
“I think it would be unseemly for the legislature to leave this town with this matter unresolved. I understand next week is a holiday period of time. [...]
There’s no question that we need to be watching the Ohio House races very closely this cycle, as Democrats have only a narrow majority.
In that light, it was some relief to hear that Lou Gentile is running to replace the term limited John Domenick in the 95th [...]
There’s some varying claims about a possible budget deal in the works in the Senate.
The Plain Dealer is reporting that the Republicans in the Senate seem to have reached a deal to pass a slightly altered version of Governor Strickland’s plan to balance the budget by delaying a [...]
Sure he’s no Ken Blackwell, but “Big Head” Bill Todd is back in the spotlight after running two disastrous Columbus political campaigns.
So what’s he trying to do now that he isn’t mayor and his anti-tax rhetoric failed miserably? He’s running for the State House of Representatives!
It seems [...]
I’d like a little input on something from the readers of this blog. BSB has been asked to be one of the first participants of a new program from the Progressive Book Club (PBC), and I’m seriously leaning towards approving it.
But first, I want to make sure you’re [...]
We’ve seen the RNC pick their House targets for 2010 a few times now, but the DNC is finally picking some targets of it’s own. They’ve picked a large handful of Republican held districts that went for Obama for a radio ad buy.
And on that list is none [...]
We’ve seen the scientific poll on the Ohio Senate race, but now it’s time for a poll of our own.
Lets see who BSB’s readers are supporting for the Democratic nomination in this race.
[...]Since Sarah Palin is coming to Ohio to sell her new book, ODP has decided to get in touch with her. They think this would be a perfect opportunity for her to campaign with John Kasich, and they’ve written her a letter saying as much.
At great expense (to whomever [...]
While Robert Portman has moved ahead slightly in a new Quinnipiac Poll on the Ohio Senate race, it seems that the race has become a huge tie. Portman doesn’t lead either Democratic candidate enough to claim a firm lead.
If the race was held today, here’s how it would go:
[...]Earlier today President Obama told veterans gathered at Arlington National Cemetery that “there is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice.”
I’m not sure I could have said it that eloquently, but I feel much the same way. [...]
Republicans may have a Senate primary on their hands after all, because news of challenger Tom Ganley seems to just keep coming and coming.
Right now, the big story is that Ganley seems to be the first Senate candidate on the airwaves. Yes, the self-financed candidate has made a [...]
Let’s get right down to the point, the date for the 2008 Democratic National Convention was announced on November 4th, 2005. You’ll notice that we’ve already passed that point in this election cycle. November 2005 was also the month where interested cities were formally invited to submit a bid on [...]
I knew it would be close, but I had hoped Strickland would come away with a slight lead. In actual fact, he’s tied 40-40 with Republican John Kasich.
So why am I not really worried about this poll? Because it shows people favoring John Kasich 42-34 on the economy.
Yes, [...]
Well, it’s finally that time again. I got the notification this morning that I can expect new Quinnipiac poll results on next years governors race to hit my inbox tomorrow.
So, what do expect them to be? Personally, I think it won’t be a blowout either way but Strickland will [...]
It’s being reported that the DNC has begun contacting cities about the possibility of hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
This got me thinking, why not here in Ohio? Well, let’s take a look at where it’s been the last few times first…
Year City 1968 Chicago 1972 Miami 1976 New York City 1980 New York City 1984 San Francisco 1988 Atlanta 1992 New York City 1996 Chicago 2000 Los [...]This is almost too stupid, but a conservative in Florida has actually filed to create the Tea Party. Yes, a political party named Tea.
I’m impressed, I never thought there would be a 3rd party more of a joke than “Lieberman for Connecticut”.
[...]
The man pictured above made quite a pest of himself at one of Jennifer Brunner’s recent speaking engagements at the Elyria YWCA Board Dinner.
Apparently this guy showed up outside of the closed door event YWCA fundraiser, planted himself just outside the room door, [...]
Let me make this clear, Dennis Kucinich annoys the Hell out of me. He likes to grandstand and make all these speeches about helping people. But when he actually has a chance to vote on something we can really accomplish, he always backs off because it doesn’t fit with own [...]
I haven’t really heard from any Democrat who’s happy about Rep. John Boccieri’s votes last night. Specifically, he voted yes on Stupak and No on passage. He’s for 2!
Here’s Boccieri’s statement on why he backed down when we needed him:
"After nearly 150 roundtables and meetings in my district, [...]
I wrote the other day about how blogger support for Jennifer Brunner has been anemic at best, specifically mentioning the lack of fundraising efforts we’ve seen. At the time I claimed that no blog had raised money for Brunner, and was corrected by one blogger in the comments.
[...]I thought I made this pretty clear, but I’ve gotten many questions and concerns. So let me say this once again:
BSB Is NOT shutting down.
That said, I think BSB will be changing its tone somewhat. I know people (even me) appreciate the much more neutral tone the site [...]
There were three Ohio Reps. really mentioned as toss ups on this bill, and here's how they voted
Rep. Driehaus - AyeRep. Space - AyeRep. Boccieri - NoDennis Kucinich also voted against the bill, because he's Dennis Kucinich and he thinks he's special. Charlie Wilson, despite some speculation, stuck to his [...]
Healthcare reform has just passed in the U.S. House, with bipartisan (1 Republican vote) support no less.
Still waiting on the vote to close, but the number of votes needed to pass has been reached.
UPDATE: It's official, it passed. Now just to wait on the roll call vote to be [...]
If you haven't been paying attention, the House vote on the healthcare reform bill is just a few minutes away.
We'll finally find out exactly where Ohio's representatives stand on this bill, and it will be one of the votes that stays with them for the rest of their career.
So [...]
Earlier today I mentioned that there were some issues facing all blogs in Ohio, and in this post I’d like to share some of my thoughts. First up, the identity crisis many bloggers (including myself) seem to be having.
The simple fact is this: blogging went mainstream, and we didn’t [...]
The last 24 hours have probably been the most tumultuous period of time for this site since I took sole control over BSB several months ago.
If you haven’t already noticed, Plunderbund is down in preparation of a re-launch.
The bombshell concerning this site however, is that ModernEsquire [...]
Congressmen Steve Driehaus, John Boccieri, and Zack Space all have one thing in common. So far, all three of them have refused to pick a side on the upcoming healthcare reform bill vote.
While others like Tim Ryan Charlie Wilson have came out in support of the bill, these three [...]
Getting cocky after Tuesday’s election, the Ohio Republican Party has decided to take a major swing at Governor Ted Strickland. And I use the word “major” compared relative to running a joke like John Kasich against him.
Their new push, called “Turn Around Ted”, includes all the sorts of things [...]
Back in the warm sunny days of September, Lee Fisher was being embraced by the Democratic Dayton establishment. Given the events since Rhine McLin's stunning and totally unexpected loss on Tuesday, I bet Lee looks fondly back to those better times. Because now, there's an outright catfight between McLin's Dayton [...]
Let’s not sugar coat this, we lost some big races in Ohio tonight.
There was the major upset of Mayor Rhine McLin in Dayton for starters. I don’t know anyone who saw this coming. And we also lost Toledo, with Democrat Keith Wilkowski conceding to Independent Mike Bell.
But [...]
Pepper Pike Councilwoman-Elect Jill Zimon declares victory... via Twitter.
Congratulations, Jill! I hope this doesn't mean we lose your voice here, though.
She's the first person to go from blogging to elected office. Can't deny how proud that makes me.
[...]With two-thirds of the precincts in, it appears that Issue 3 is going to pass. No casino effort has led this long, and while the results have tightened over the night, it becomes staticially difficult to imagine that the remaining 1/3 of the precincts yet to return results is so [...]
NBC’s First Read blog is reporting that DSCC Chair Bob Menendez may have already reached a decision when it comes to the Ohio Senate race.
“When Chuck asked Menendez about key Senate pick-up opportunities for Democrats next year, the chairman singled out Ohio and Fisher. But he barely referred [...]
Polls close in a little over 3 hours, so now is the time to vote if you haven’t yet. If you go now, you might miss the after-work rush.
And if you’ve already voted, how did it go?
I was in and out in 5 minutes, but it seems [...]
There’s been an awful lot of hot air blowing around the conservative blogs about something going on down in Athens. Basically, it seems someone had the idea to offer college students $5 to bring a friend with them to vote.
Was it the greatest plan in the world? Probably [...]
Ok, so I have a bias. I am a consultant for a coalition of progressive groups that are against Issue 2. But I had a bias against this effort to hand all agricultural policy over to 13 government appointees long before that. Let me explain why in 8 easy [...]
And how LaTourette would support a bill that was revenue neutral and didn't add to the deficit (which both the new House version and Senate Finance Committee bills have been preliminary scored by the CBO to do?)
'Cause apparently LaTourette forgot about it:
[...]It's been an interesting week for Issue 3 in Columbus.
On Wednesday, the Columbus Dispatch reported, that Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman announced that he is opposing Issue 3. Coleman is the first Mayor of one of the cities slated to get a casino if Issue 3 passes to actually come [...]
Apparently, lightning does strike the same spot twice.
In what is an obvious reply to my post last night, Tom Blumer is back... trying to convince himself and anyone that will listen that yesterday's news about 3Q GDP growth is really not that great of news:
Denninger gets to a GDP [...]
At 1 p.m. today, TruthPAC is introducing to the Ohio press corp the Michigan detective that went undercover in the investigation that lead to the arrest of Pro-Issue 3 supporter Dan Gilbert for bookmaking in Michigan in 1981.
Since news of Gilbert's arrest (which was expunged) became public, it has [...]
Tomorrow morning, Jerid, and a little over 1,000 of his colleagues, will be frantically logging onto the Ohio Supreme Court's website to learn whether they passed the bar exam... back in July.
As someone who has traveled that rite of passage, I wish Jerid well. But as I keep trying to [...]
Just as W. Bush's neoconservatism has become the Republican Party's "Vietnam" that will plague it for a generation on all matters of foreign policy and national security, the Republican Party's "all in" bet against the stimulus is not paying off.
Remember what they said when these proposals were passed:
Unemployment [...]It just wouldn’t be an election in Ohio without some sort of attempt to legalize gambling, and this year it takes the form of Issue 3.
Ballot Language
TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION TO ALLOW FOR ONE CASINO EACH IN
CINCINNATI, CLEVELAND, COLUMBUS, AND TOLEDO AND DISTRIBUTE
TO ALL [...]
A far-right primary challenger against Steve Stivers for the Republican nomination in the 15th district has jumped ship. Instead, David B. Ryon will be run as a Constitution Party candidate.
Ryon, as the Dispatch notes, is firmly anti-choice. Stivers, on the other hand, tends to lean pro-choice.
As you [...]
Good old “Turncoat Joe” Lieberman has stuck yet another knife in the back of the Democratic Party, promising to filibuster the current healthcare plan in the Senate.
So Harry Reid, why exactly does Lieberman still have his committee chairmanship?
[...]Ballot Language
2 PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO CREATE THE OHIO LIVESTOCK CARE STANDARDS BOARD TO ESTABLISH
AND IMPLEMENT STANDARDS OF CARE FOR LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY
Proposed by Joint Resolution of the General Assembly
To adopt Section 1 of Article XIV of the Constitution of the State of Ohio
[...]Well, the fact that the Democratic Governor's Association didn't exactly balk at the premise of my question during today's national DGA monthly blogger teleconference tells me two things: 1) it's not a crazy premise; and 2) the DGA is getting more and more bullish about the NJ Gubernatorial election next [...]
Here it is, the first of the BSB “We Have Issues” series. Issue 1 was fairly hard to write up, as it really doesn’t seem to be a hotly contested issue.
As for format, I tried to stay neutral. Below you’ll find the ballot language, some notable supporters and opponents, [...]
In the 1990s, the Republicans got dereg/privitization fever. One of their crowning "achievements" was a massive dergulation effort of the energy industry. It worked so well, that, well, the Republican General Assembly worked hand-in-hand with Governor Strickland to essentially repeal it.
And yet, amazingly, there are Democrats and Republicans who are [...]
Question: Has anyone heard of any serious efforts here in Ohio to take away people’s guns? You know, by our NRA endorsed Governor?
So why are the OH-House Republicans rallying around a new bill aimed at (no pun intended, I’m not that corny) protecting people’s access to guns?
*cough* wedge [...]
Seriously, I didn't think Pat Tiberi was in serious trouble with a challenge by Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks, but the Republicans clearly do. First, there was the news that Tiberi was suddenly included and moved to the front of the line of the NRCC's program to protect vulnerable incumbents.
And [...]
Apparently, the Kasich campaign is all a' flutter over being endorsed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. You have to admire the Kasich strategy of suggesting that he's really a mainstream Republican, while downplaying his own history as a FOX News host, and yet hosting a fundraising with one [...]
That's how much the pro-Issue 3 PAC has ALREADY spent to advocate for its right to have a gambling monopoly created and enshrined in our constitution.
That's more money than what Strickland and Blackwell spent in 2006 combined, more than Obama and McCain spent in Ohio in paid media combined.
$36 MILLION, [...]
(From the Dayton Daily News)
Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, wants elected members of the Ohio House and Senate, not private gambling interests, to decide if Ohio should have casinos or other forms of expanded gambling.
That’s a main reason that Yates on Thursday, Oct. 22, announced introduction of House Joint [...]
Not news, the Senate Republicans are going to delay doing anything about the State budget purely to maximize the political benefit of keeping the State in crisis.
From the Hamilton Journal News:
“We’re taking the governor’s proposal seriously,” Carey said. Other proposals, including cuts, could be considered, he said. It could [...]
Promoted from the forums. -- David
“Call me the underdog,” I said, in response to a reporter’s question about fundraising seven months before the primary election contest for the open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio.
Polls show me competitive in a race with Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a [...]
What a difference a day makes on Capitol Square. Yesterday, the Ohio House passed legislation to implement Governor Strickland's proposal to delay the final round of income tax cuts passed in 2005 in order to balance the budget without making draconian cuts in education.
The bill passed with the support [...]
You know a campaign really isn't about endorsements when it only lists them on the website, and doesn't even issue a press release on them. (Attn: Garrison campaign, please stop sending me endorsement announcements. You have no primary opponent, so it doesn't matter who's endorsed you unless you get one.)
Brunner's [...]
This is one of those instances in which the Old Media picks up on something that has been seemingly ignored by the blogging community when you'd figure the reverse would be true. But Mark Naymik of the Plain Dealer, Laura Biscoff of the Dayton Daily News, and the [...]
Thanks, Anthony. I totally agree:
From now until the primary, Brunner can raise a billion dollars, or collect pocket lint. I'm not convinced that it matters to her. It certainly doesn't look like she's going anywhere.
And why should she?
I have yet to see a poll that shows Brunner getting rocked by [...]
[WARNING: "Inside baseball" blogger crap below. Proceed with caution.]
Russell Hughlock (aka "staff" and "Pounder") was the founder of BSB who made his blogging name focusing how Paul Hackett was mistreated by the Ohio Democratic Party establishment and how Marc Dann was being forced down our throats.
Shortly after the 2006 elections (roughly [...]
We pretty much knew that last quarter wasn’t a good one for the Brunner Campaign, but I think the damage may have been far deeper than anyone expected.
So just how much did Brunner bring in last quarter?
About -$54,000. That’s right negative.
It’s not really fair to put [...]
Following up on Modern’s post earlier, it’s time to check back in on another at risk State House district. Specifically the 93rd, which is currently held by Secretary of State candidate Jennifer Garrison.
Last time around I was incredibly vague because the potential candidates and local party officials [...]
The Ironton Tribune reported on Oct. 9th that Democratic candidate Bob Walton, Jr. has dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for the 89th House District currently held by State Representative Todd Book. Book cannot run again due to term limits and is presently running in the [...]
I have a weird standard on these issues. Generally speaking, I tend to think that our fundamental charter of our government should only be tinkered with good reason in order to ferret out government waste, abuse, or corruption. I believe we should amend our constitution to protect our liberties, not [...]
The 2009 Election is coming up quickly, and this year we have three statewide issues on the ballot. So far, we’ve only briefly touched on these issues at best, but that’s about to change.
Since ballot issues can be confusing or misleading, I think we should put together some sort [...]
Lost in all the other fundraising news was this little jewel, OH-12 candidate Paula Brooks has raked in $161,861 so far.
Her opponent, incumbent Patrick Tiberi raised $331,904.
But the kicker? She’s only been in this race for 5 weeks. Tiberi’s was raised over 13 weeks (7/1 – 9/30)
Lets [...]
A really interesting piece by former South Carolina Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings on an issue that strikes at the heart of the long-term economic challenges faced by Ohio before the recession started--ones that will continue long after it's over. I will excerpt a key part, but you should really [...]
Freshman Congressman Steve Driehaus now has three things in common with former Congressman Steve Chabot: both have represented Ohio's 1st Congressional District, and both raised over $150k and have on hand slightly over $500k.
The August of GOP Angst apparently didn't give either candidate an advantage in campaign fundraising in [...]
Remember when Warren County Commissioner Mike Kilburn said that his county wouldn't accept any of Obama's "filthy" stimulus money? It made Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" honors. Then, of course, his county wound up taking stimulus money after all...
Well, rather than face a challenging GOP primary for re-election, [...]
In the Democratic primary for the Second Congressional District, David Krikorian leads in the fundraising race against State Representative Todd Book. Krikorian reported having nearly $115k on hand to State Representative Book's nearly $45k. Krikorian's fundraising total was boosted by nearly $80k in donations from the candidate himself. Nearly all [...]
Here's the shorter version of my earlier post: Tim Russo and I both sniffed this out back in March. Fisher was going to focus on maximizing early fundraising so that his numbers compared to Brunner would lead to process stories that could help him push Brunner out before there really [...]
Today's story from the Columbus Dispatch on the Democratic Senate primary shows that the media has its knives out for Jennifer Brunner. The only thing that's changed is that they're just more transparent about it now than they were from the beginning. Let's face it: the media has been' [...]
Following on the heals of Brunner firing her finance team, Lee Fisher has released some information about his fundraising numbers.
Basically, Fisher raised $620,000 last quarter and now has $1.6 million on hand.
[...]According to the Dispatch, Jennifer Brunner’s campaign has fired their finance team.
It’s well known that Brunner has lagged behind in fundraising. Perhaps fresh people will be able to make more progress.
One things for sure though, this doesn’t spell encouragement for her numbers from last quarter. And the [...]
The statewide AFL-CIO has endorsed several Democrats running for statewide offices, including:
Ted Strickland for Governor Richard Cordray for Attorney General Kevin Boyce for Treasurer David Pepped for Auditor And Jennifer Garrison for Secretary of StateGranted none of them have serious primary opponents, but the AFL-CIO is always a [...]
House Minority Leader John Boehner recently voted against our troops by voting against the defense appropriation bill. Boehner voted against it because the bill had a rider that would add membership in the military, disability, and sexual orientation to existing federal hate crime laws that already make it a federal [...]
As we get closer to Election Day 2009, there’s one local race candidate that I really think we need to highlight. That is, of course, the one of fellow blogger Jill Miller Zimon.
I often like to refer to Jill as the voice [...]
Lee Fisher just picked up yet another Congressional endorsement for his U.S. Senate bid, that of the 16th district’s John Boccieri.
"I know that, as our next U.S. Senator, Lee will be a leader on behalf of all Ohioans. Lee will work tirelessly to bring new economic development to our [...]
A few days ago a put up the Gun Show: Undercover video, which was part of an investigation by Mayor Bloomberg of New York into the culture of illegality at gun shows around the country (I consulted on the launch of the video), where cash & carry is the [...]
Joseph over at Plunderbund points out the odd reversal that ProgressOhio has done on Citizens for Community Values in the last few years.
In addition to Joe’s points, I’d like to add this. How in Hell could any progressive organization partner up with a group the [...]
Will Andrew Sullivan possibly survive the rhetorical keyboard lashing he got today from Tim Russo? Will I survive the certain lashing retort from Tim for writing this post? Although these are rhetorical questions, the obvious answer is yes to both.
The real question is would Tim give any politician not [...]
David Potts, StuffQueerPeopleNeedToKnow, JenniferBrunner, modernesquire, Cliff Schecter
