Who Will Run Against Schmidt in the 2nd?

I doubt Brinkman will challenge her, but the real question is that since Hackett is running for Senate, who will challenge Schmidt in the 2nd congressional district? Hackett had challengers in the Dem primary, will they all be back? Do any have a chance? He had a good chance to beat Schmidt, could anyone else?

Blackwell, Strickland Lead Polls

Buried in this local news briefs page, the Enquirer reports on the Dispatch poll listing Blackwell ahead in the GOP nomination with 32%. Petro had 18% and Montgomery had 16%. That is a big lead for Blackwell. That is bad news for the GOP and for the state. The last two GOP governors to win were not right wingers. Ohio is not a right wing state. The fire breathing will not win.

For the Dems Strickland leads Coleman 22% to 19%, with Flannery at only 4%. This race is going to be a tight one. I don't know who I like better. I have not had a chance to hear both of the leading two speak. I guess I would prefer both running for statewide offices, instead of against each other.

Kabaka Oba Jailed On Intimidation Charges

Michael Bailey, better known as Kabaka Oba of the Black Fist is behind bars having been charged with intimidation of a victim in a criminal case.

The case in question is one where Oba (Bailey) was charged with aggravated menacing. In the latest charge, Oba is alleged to have intimidated the same person he is alleged to have been menacing. The original case has a compliant filed which states that Oba threatened to Kill the victim and showed the victim a handgun.

Oba was previously acquitted on an aggravated menacing charge in 2003.

Sidenote: Oba first name "Kabaka" is inconsistently spelled. Sometimes it is spelled differently in the same court document where it is listed as "Kabaca." Based on Nate's Blog I am going with the "K".

The "Welcoming" City of Mason

There are many things that came to mind when I read of the story of the bar with the "For Service Speak English" sign in the window. This is bigotry. I am sure people will bemoan me for harping on the suburbs yet again, but come on, this is just pathetic.

This is hate. No matter how much back peddling the owner is doing now, his intention was to keep his bar void of Latinos. That is illegal. Now, there could be a fine line where he will tolerate those Latinos who speak English, which I think is how he is trying to play this, and that may be where he can skirt the law. It is wrong, but the legal status is different.

I can just picture the temperament of the bar's regular customers from this:

Jim Freeze, a regular patron, said "it's the damn liberals" that are trying to infringe on Ullum's free speech.

The only thing eluding me is the verbal inflection used by Mr. Freeze. Was it uttered in a grumble or in more of a northern country twang? Or by chance was it just an Austrian accent?

When I am attacked for this post, which I will be, I have to ask people an honest question. Are the Mr. Ullum’s and Mr. Freeze the exception or the norm for the people of Mason and Warren County? I hope they are not a majority, but I think any honest answer of those living in Mason or anywhere else is that these men are not just apparitions. They are at a minimum a representation of the views of a very significant portion of the people living in Mason and Warren County. Call it veiled hate or tempered bigotry, but just call it wrong. They don’t see what they do as being wrong, but it is wrong, and the manner in which places like Mason are becoming locations were conformity and uniformity are not just desired but required, it foretells of troubled times.

UPDATE: More on this from the Enquirer's Editorial Page. What they have that is most interesting is that the complaint on the sign came offically from a Mt. Auburn group. Mt. Aburn in in the city.

And He's Off!

Charlie will not be coming down the home stretch until 2009 when his term expires as a member of the Ohio State Racing Commission.

This commission oversees wagering. Will Charlie help get casino gambling in Ohio and even in Cincinnati?

McCain Out on a Limb?

Chris Geidner links up news that Sen. John McCain, what I would call a sane Republican, has endorsed Ken Blackwell in the Primary for Ohio Governor. This makes no sense. Petro and Monty are clearly McCain type picks, not Blackwell or at least the Conservative Christian's new darling Ken Blackwell.

I respect John McCain a great deal. I would find it very difficult to ever vote for him, but I respect the man for what I think are sensible views on many issues. This endorsement is not sensible.

The Debates Rage On

We have a report from Greg Korte on this morning's debate at Seven Hills Upper School. It is great for the candidate's to be going to schools for a debate. Could they have picked a bigger school maybe with more students? It may not have been a manageable event in that case, but the more students that are exposed to real life civics the more students that will hopefully take part in real life civics.