"Family Values” Strategic Ploy

In case you missed it from yesterday's story on the Dewine/Brinkman announcements, Brinkman said:

Brinkman, 47, of Mount Lookout, is a third-term lawmaker.

"Family values to me are the No. 1 issue," he said.

That was a shot across the bow, if there ever was one. Brinkman is of course, oh so subtly, alluding to Pat DeWine's broken marriage and his relationship with a lobbyist. Throw the fact that DeWine is dating a black woman, and a whole new element will be talked about, in so many words.

If you see a picture of the two of them (Pat and Betty), then you will know why. This is hardball. It will be a subtle slam at first, but leaving your wife for a lobbyist is going to be Brinkman's main attack. He will use code, as he did in the quote above. The Race issue will not be strongly used. It would backfire if used out in the open, but the undertone will be mentioned behind closed doors. That is how things are done on that type of horrid point.

Brinkman may do more to help the Dems, than win himself the seat. With a crowded field, it will be mayhem.

DeWine opens himself up to the family values issue when he allows his kids to be used as props.

Drinking Liberally

Wow, what a motley crew we pulled in last night at Drinking Liberally. We had Robert Wilson, the announced candidate and announced guest at the event. We also had Paul McGee, another candidate for council make an appearance. In tow were the Dean and Steve Fritch. Most interesting was Greg Harris, former Congressional candidate, who is not running for office, any office, for now.

No one seemed to know if there was going to be a primary for the Portman's seat, or just an open election. I think it just an open election, assuming it can't happen by May. I don't know. If I had time I would comb the laws, but I am instead going to ask someone else to do it and post it. If there is a primary and the GOP is can push only one in the special election, then they are the favorite to win. If it is an open race with DeWine, Brinkman and a Democrat on the ballot, all bets are off.

Damon Lynch to Announce Today

Damon Lynch III is to announce running for City Council this morning. No word on any party endorsement. With support from the Democrats, and a weak field this year, Lynch would be a leading candidate to get on council, his 10th place finish last time is enough to ensure that, but with Pepper and Reece out from in front, he starts as the 8th highest vote getter in the race.

Brinkman and DeWine Are In

It's Official, Tom and Pat are both in the race on the GOP side for Congress. This opens up the GOP's endorsement for Mayor, for now. Brinkman has until I think around the end of May to get into the Mayor's race. Who else will the GOP put up for slaughter? Pepper is jumping for joy right about now.

UPDATE: Portman? What was I thinking. The title was changed in case you are paying attention.

"Mongo only pawn... in game of life"

Yes, I met the Dean last Friday night. The moment felt like a summit. It was like being in Iceland or maybe even Yalta. I want nothing to do with the Dean-Spencer spat. The picture is funny though.

Theocracy on the March: Episode #323

Ken Blackwell appears to be the darling of the extreme right wing of the GOP for the Governor's race. I did not know Blackwell was willing to become the theocrat's bitch. Ken struck me as a Republican, but not a reactionary. If he hangs his hat on religious extremists, he will loose the primary and the general election

Not only does this article talk about Ken Blackwell, it goes on to discuss bigot Phil Burress and his new "movement" to push theocracy on Ohio. The Ohio Restoration Project is just a few synonyms away from Christian Reconstructionists.

Drinking Liberally Welcomes Robert Wilson

Council Candidate Robert Wilson will be joining the folks at Drinking Liberally tonight to discuss the issues facing the city. 7:30 PM at the Comet in Northside.

More from HMS.

Brinkman Running for Congress

Steve Fritsch of Blue Chip Review is is reporting the Ohio House Member Tom Brinkman will run for Rob Portman's seat in Congress.

No other details are out there and Steve indicates he got it from the horse's mouth. This makes for an interesting choice for the GOP. Do you run DeWine and make for a big party fight? My vote, Hell Yes! Let the blood letting begin!

Slow Day

The day is starting out slow. People I suppose are not back from the holiday yet. Hope the Easter Bunny was kind.

Nope

To answer Wes's question: "Y'think...
...the Enquirer will spend an entire Sunday Forum on what Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists think on their holy days?" Answer: Never. Which is what really makes all of the talk about religion in this society so sad. Those who push it do so for profit reasons and/or for religious reasons. There is nothing altruistic about covering a particular religion, especially in a publication that tries to be mainstream, appealing to everyone across the board. Religion is the thing that should not be based on majority rules, therefore all shall follow. Religion should be kept in your home and place of worship. It does nothing but offend people when it is made public. Those who think that the media talking about it will somehow attract new converts prove my point that the motivations are not about journalism, but about religion.

This goes deeper than the media. It happens in the corporate world in a similar way. Most major corporations go out of their way to keep religion out of the activities of the company. This pisses off those who seek to push their religion everywhere they go, but it ultimately works best in a country where religion is not a monolith.

Now, I am sure that I will piss off some whack job who has not yet read this far in the post. It they haven't then they will miss a big point. The Enquirer has every legal right to run the forum section they wish. Corporations can go fairly far legally as well in promoting religion. They don't have as much leeway as what is printed in a newspaper when it comes to employee relations and discrimination, but they still can freely promote religion. Where you can't do it is in the government and government agencies.

What I wish people would do however is to think about how life used to be, at least how it used to be in the stories of old. Religion was not something polite people discussed in public. Why did they not want to push their religion? Well, simple, you don't want to piss people off. You don't want to go on and on about how your minister and all men of the cloth should get married when talking to a Roman Catholic. That is rude. In the same vein, it is rude to assume everyone is religious at all and act as if everyone agrees on the subject when at work or at organizational functions. It is rude to speak of a god when it can be assumed that some don't share the belief of such. When you are in your house or your place of worship, you don't need to assume to do anything. If religion were kept personal and private life in a modern media world just might be a bit easier.

Showdown: FLA

The lengths that Jeb Bush was willing to stoop to in order to win what has become the season's biggest media event is amazing. I wonder if he was planning on using tear gas or maybe tasers on the local police department.

Puppy Killing Can Actually Be Funny

If of course it is fiction and part of political satire. Some of those spoofed reportedly found it funny. I don't know if Pepper did or not.

Let it End Soon

I truly hope the abuse and exploitation of Terri Schiavo by Jeb Bush and Randall Terry ends. Dying today however would, as a friend said, be the first step in her beatification. That would really make a mess out of a horrid situation.

Keating for Kongress?

Bill Keating Jr. is reportedly considering a run for Portman's seat. DeWine is also make more noise about running. DeWine works at Keatings's law firm. Interesting office politics in the making there.

More on the race from the AP, which reports

Other possible candidates for the 2nd District seat include former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen, now a Washington lobbyist; WLW talk-show host Bill Cunningham; Hamilton County treasurer Rob Goering; state Reps. Tom Brinkman of Cincinnati and Tom Raga of suburban Dayton; and former state Rep. Jean Schmidt of suburban Cincinnati.

Keating must have tipped of the Enquirer directly after reading this AP article yesterday. I still am laughing about Cunningham. I actually would love it to be him. He would actually make it far easier for Springer to run for Governor. The GOP would have to eat their words if they complain about putting Talking "Trash" into office.

Great News For Maggie Downs

Glad to here that Maggie Downs is OK and does not have Cancer. Maggie, if you are reading this I think all of your friends and readers are happy to know your lump was "nothing." Keep up the smiles and keep drinking the Guinness.

Independent Eye Re-Launch Party

The magazine Independent Eye, formerly X-Ray Magazine, is re-launching the publication with the name of the original Cincinnati alternative news magazine that first published back in the late 1960s.

Steve Novotni, top cat at the Eye, has announced a re-launch event this weekend:

WHEN: 8pm-12am March 25th and 26th
WHERE: Upstairs at Alchemize, 1122 Walnut St. Cincinnati in downtown Cincinnati

Blame the CCV and Phil Burress

In their bigoted anti-homosexual brain cloud Phil and his stormtroopers pushed a law that reduces the punishment on men beating their girlfriends. Phil's answer is to change all of the other laws to comply with his. Well, thanks there bucko, you could have avoided this by not pushing the law at all; it does nothing but hurt people. It helps no one, expect those out to push their obscure religious views into law. Someone, (ME!!!), might call that theocracy. This travesty is a byproduct of theocracy.

Springer Going National

Jerry Spring radio show is going national on the Air America Network. We can forget about any coverage of Cincinnati or Ohio topics on his show. I don't get to listen to it because of work, but when I did listen the few times I have I heard nothing but national topics. The original spin of the show indicate they would cover some local issues. I guess that meant only when they make the national news.

What I wonder most is how long will the show continue to be broadcast part of the week in Cincinnati? If Jerry is not going to run for office in Ohio or at least chair the State Democratic Party, then I don't see him wanting to base his show here for long.

The editorial comment in the Enquirer news brief on this is small but promment:

Springer's radio stint goes national

No fooling, Jerry Springer's radio talk show will go national April 1 on the Air America network. The liberal talk-radio network provides the "Al Franken Show" and "Morning Sedition" to WCKY-AM (1530), Springer's flagship, and 50 other stations nationally. The daytime TV talk host and former Cincinnati mayor and TV anchor gives "a unique and powerful voice that is a major step in developing our network," said Danny Goldberg, CEO of New York-based Air America. "Springer on the Radio" will air 9 a.m. to noon.

You couldn't fool me, the Editors of the Enquirer love Springer. (cough, cough)

Candidates for Ohio 2nd?

Who is left to run for the GOP? Brinkman said he was not running for congress, but is he back in the picture now? Is it DeWine in a walk? Do we see other GOP dark horses from outside the Metro area?

Will the Dems get someone to run and run early enough to get their name known? Is it Yates? Would a Glen Miller fair better? Special elections for a house seat are always a wild card. It comes down to getting someone to actually come out and vote. The only way people do that is if outside forces dump money and advertising into the area.

Phil Heimlich is Running for Lt. Gov.

Phil has mae it official and is running as Attorney General Jim Petro's running mate for the GOP Nomination for Ohio Governor. They look like they have a good shot for the nomination, but Ken Blackwell still is in good shape with the party. He has national attention. He has many enemies that might want to stick it to him.

More from the Enquirer.

It appears from the Enqurier article that Phil Burress is pissed with Phil Heimlich:

Blackwell, a Cincinnatian, is the choice of Southwest Ohio's social conservatives, activist Lori Viars of Lebanon said. News of Heimlich's affiliation with Petro came as a blow to that crowd, many of whom have been core Heimlich supporters over the years.

"Phil has been a dear friend of mine," Viars said Tuesday. "I am absolutely shocked. I can't believe he would join with someone who's liberal on gay-rights issues."

She and Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, both canceled plans to attend Tuesday's event - which had been planned months ago as a Heimlich-for-commissioner fund-raiser. Joining with Petro could cost Heimlich rather than helping Petro, they said.

"Phil Heimlich does not realize that he has been co-opted in this, because that's the only reason he was picked," Burress said.

Burress said he told Heimlich in a phone call: "I am extremely disappointed. You have made a serious error that could end your political career by turning your back on your base."

It seems odd that Ken Blackwell will be push by extreme right-wingers. On race issues, Ken is a GOP rubber stamp. He is no liberal, but I don't see him as a CCV puppet, like Heimlich is (or was?).