Wednesday, February 22, 2012

A District Isn't Only a Number, It's About the People

When someone decides to run for office, the first thing I believe they should understand is that they are seeking a job to represent the people of jurisdiction that they live in.  Running for office is not about getting a job.  You don't just move to a new city to become its mayor.

Denise Driehaus does not understand this.  She did the opposite and foolishly says it to CityBeat. To her it's all about a number, not about the voters. Read what she said here:
“The only way to define statehouse district is by its number because geographies change,” she says. “Everybody’s districts changed during this redraw… the number is 31 for my current district. The number for the new district is 31. So, I consider that to be my district, and I consider myself to be the incumbent in that district.”
Driehaus is not the incumbent for the New 31st, that's just a lie and she knows it. The New 31st district is totally different than the Old 31st. The people and places she represents are totally different. She moved to the New 31st district a few weeks before the deadline.  She hasn't even changed the official campaign address for her campaign committee.  It's still in Price Hill.

Let's face the simple fact: Denies Driehaus moved to the New 31st because she wanted to keep her job, not because she wants to represent the people living there.She's an opportunist. This is about her, not about representing the people of the New 31st.  She's a carpetbagger.  Her views are in conflict with the majority of the people in the new district but she'll happily pretend otherwise.

She's a conservative Democrat and is hiding the fact that she's pro-life.  Her voting record on the subject is clear, but she's scrubbed her 2010 Right to Life endorsement from her website.  She didn't get it in the primary only because Terry Tranter managed to find a way to be more extreme on the issue, otherwise she would have gotten it.

Driehaus's answers to the 2010 Cincinnati right to life survey should make it clear to all where she stands on abortion rights.  In a year when the rights of women to control their own bodies are in danger in Ohio as well as across the county, the people of the New 31st district need to know this and not be fooled because she evades answering the issue head on.  She instead allegedly wants to focus on other women's issues, like jobs and education.  Well, those are issues that affect both men and women.  Driehaus needs to address issues that only affect women.  She needs to be honest with the voters and make her position on abortion clear and open and avoid letting people think she agrees with them on choice. She's anti-abortion and has voted to limit abortion rights.  She's not just against it personally, she actually has voted to limit the rights of women who have been raped or the victim of incest from being able to choose an abortion. There is only one candidate who supports the right of women to control their own bodies and that is Luke Brockmeier.

Make sure the voters know who is thinking about them instead of the number on a paycheck.

5 comments:

  1. I typically agree with you, but just because someone is conservative on one issue doesn't mean they are a conservative. Ted Strickland was pro gun rights (typically a conservative issue) but he was liberal on many more. The same goes with Denise Driehaus, yes I disagree with her anti-choice stance, but she is very liberal on gay rights, the environment, and keeping businesses accountable.

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    1. She is fine on LGBT rights. But so is Luke. She is calling herself an environmentalist now, but what bills was she pushing for on the environmental front before she moved? She has been endorsed by big ag before (Farmers Bureau) which mostly endorses Rs -- Portman, Boehner and Schmidt were also endorsed by them in 2010). http://ohio.evoter.com/ohiofarmers That is not exactly an environmentally friendly organization. What did she advance when Democrats were in the majority? What was her stance on fiscal issues? (She is a fiscal conservative, fyi).

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  2. Dan,

    In order to win as a Democrat on the Westside, you have to be a Conservative. She's no longer in a conservative district. She moved to keep her job. That's not a good reason in politics.

    Also on gay rights, find out where she stands on Gay Marriage. She's not talking about that, she uses more generalities on gay rights. If she is for equal rights, then she should again be up front about what that means. She is instead hiding some of her beliefs because she knows they don't fit the district. The New 31st has a true Dem running and that is Luke Brockmeier.

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  3. I thought you were going to start talking about P.G. I didn't vote for him because I felt Cincinnati was just a stepping stone for him. He hasn't done anything yet to change my mind.

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  4. Denise Driehaus has called Stautberg an incumbent running for re-election. His number changed from HD 34 to HD 27. He didn't move, and the district was drawn for him to be more Republican leaning. The new 34 is Vern Sykes' district -- who was endorsed by ODP as an "incumbent" even though it is a Dem seat as he faces a primary from a better opponent too. That is simply messed up that the number would be the district.

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