Speaking of Endorsements

The following column by Peter Bronson is brought to you by the Committee to Elect Ken Blackwell. It is a badly veiled campaign commercial. Bronson is in Blackwell's corner. He wants a "a real conservative." That sounds like people who say they are a "real Bengals fan," not a bandwagon fan. It reminds me more of a person who says they are a "real Christian," not like the Catholics and Mormons.

(Let the “Brian is an anti-Christian” posts begin. They are wrong, but they will begin none-the-less)

More Endorsements Are Out

Does anyone care who the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors endorses? This is a matter of momentum and perception. The more people willing to go on the record, the better. There are a few organizations that hold more weight than others, but still, few change their minds about who they are going to vote for. Instead I think endorsements provide vindication of one's viewpoint and increases the likelihood of a person actually voting.

Cincinnati Advance Debate

Greg Korte has the review of the details. I, as a member of the main sponsor, will focus instead on praising everyone who helped put on a great debate. I will single out Barry Gee for his great work, along with Joe Wessels for the radio broadcast, Nick Spenser and everyone at alchemize for their help with the venue, Regina Russo for moderating, and Tiana Rollinson & Michael Altman for being panelists.

From CinAd I wish to single out and thank Sandy for organizing the reception, Steve for being the timekeeper during the debate, and Christa and Bridget for helping out behind the scenes. I may have missed someone, if I did, thanks to you too!!!

On the lighter political side, I introduced myself to Nate Livingston, who was out front passing out Anti-Pepper handouts, interesting. I was very disappointed though in Peter Bronson. We sent him a specific invite, and he RSVP’d that he would attend, but he did not show up. I have never met Peter, and actually was looking forward to meeting him. Maybe next time.

Well, if you were at the debate, sound off on whom you think won. I was not able to see all of it, I was doing a few things behind the scenes, and as I said before I want to say out of talking about my views on this particular debate, so don’t look for my analysis.

I was so very pleased to have both candidates at an event CinAd sponsored. I hope everyone who attended had a great time and I hope they learned something about both candidates.

UPDATE: More from Korte's Blog.

Question the Mayoral Candidates

What questions do you have for Mallory and Pepper? Cincinnati Advance is accepting questions for the Candidates at tonight's debate. If you post your name, neighborhood and your question here or on the CinAd website, I will include it with our list of questions. That does not mean it will be asked, but we will get as many fair questions asked as possible. We are not going to let things get out of control, so save the scandals for the blogs.

You can also email them to me, if you don't want it listed for all to see.

Mallory Gets Old School Republicans

Going against type Stanley J. Aronoff and Richard Finan endorsed Mallory for Mayor yesterday. Is this a crack in Pepper's GOP Armor or just old friendships cashing in?

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.

Blah!

What are the top excuses I should have used for being late to work?

Beechmont Levee was Closed and I had to drive all over the East side was the real reason, but I could use others just in case.

I for one am in favor of doing something about the lack of a transportation corridor for the East Side. We have few ways to cross the Little Miami River and if one is blocked, like today, the rest overflow with traffic. The sooner a Red Bank/50 to Route 32 connection is made, the better.

Them

It appears that many people in Mason don't want "them" walking around their neighborhoods. The "Them" is anyone who does not belong. That means, well, anyone who is not like everyone else who live in Mason. That is, well, bigotry. That is the suburbs.

Wilkinson Joins Korte

It is good to see that Howard Wilkinson has joined Greg Korte on the Enquirer's Cincinnati Political Blog. When I worked downtown I would see him eating lunch in Skyline all the time. It is good to see him in the blog world.

Bronson Takes Sides

I don't think Bronson cares who wins the Mayor Race. His man, Nutty Charlie Winburn, lost big. This column suggests that Bronson is leaning towards Pepper. The column for some reason brings another TV show into a political column. I really must suggest to Peter, who I may meet at next Week's CinAd Debate, that he needs to start getting out a little more. He is watching way too much TV. It seems he attacks a TV show every week because they don't portray something, twice recently women, that don't act they way he wants or think they should act. Leave television shows out of it.

Pepper vs. Mallory

Things got a little bit testy last night. Pepper did at least two things wrong. First, he boosted the importance of the "Black Fist" by saying their opinion matters too anyone outside of the three members of the group. Second, he got petty and got negative. Endorsements are not substantial political issues. Actions matter, who is listed on your website is not.

I can feel Pepper's desperation like a fog in a river valley. It is as if he is reaching for anything to hit Mallory with: a stuffed animal, a feather, anything. He is starting to signal a massive move to the right. I would guess he would ride the crime issue all the way into November, but say little about how he would change what exists. What exists is his membership on the governing body of the City that has the perceived extreme problems on crime.

I don't know how much these debates change anyone's opinions. Those attending may form an opinion, so I guess more people need to attend or listen to the debates. Stay tuned to WAIF-FM 88.3. Cincinnati Advance will have their debate covered and covered in a big way.

UPDATE: Well, I was extra rushed today and bit out of it, so my bad typing and lack of proof reading was bad.

Miers for SCOTUS

In what so far seems like a pick few are happy with, I myself don't know what to make of this nominee. She appears short on experience and big on being a Bush Crony. She has no record on much of anything to suggest that she has much of a judicial philosophy formed. She seems like too much of a politico, one of Bush's people who is there because Bush wants her there, not because she is the right person for the job.

She may turn out to be a Souter or a Scalia. I think she is heading for tough questions from both sides of the aisle, which gives the Dems more room to hit her on any soft spots.

It is not unthinkable that she would not make it out of committee. That would take the right wing to do that, but that could happen. I can't imagine the Dems would want to join forces with the right wing on this, but who knows what will happen. It all depends on how much she states her views. If she doesn't, then I expect she could lose a vote on the floor and lose fairly largely. Keep in mind we are talking about the Republicans here, and if they are nothing else, they are good little soldiers.

The NYTimes has a story that does make me sick. It is amazing how BushCo has to reach out to extremists, dare I say theocratic fascists, like James C. Dobson. When Bushco has to spin like this, you know they are dealing with a group of people who are extremists:

Beginning at 9 a.m., the White House and the Republican Party began organizing a series of nearly a half-dozen conference calls with conservative organizers to relieve anxieties about Ms. Miers's views. In one call, friends of Ms. Miers, including Justice Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court, testified to her evangelical Christian faith and devoted participation in the theologically conservative Valley View Christian Church in Dallas.

Mr. Hecht, in particular, assured them that she personally opposed abortion and had once attended "pro-life" events with him, said participants in the call. (He made similar statements in an interview with Marvin Olasky, editor of the Christian conservative World magazine, published on its Web site.)

When it matters that she is a "evangelical Christian," then you know there is a problem. If there are those on the right, and I think there are MANY like this but more than will admit it, who honestly want or need her to be a particular religion, than how long will it be before our political battles become something closer to the Sunni-Shiite battles in Iraq. When I say battles, I don't mean a war of words. I sound like Chicken Little here, but the divide in this country on religion is growing. This pick may try and soothe that divide, but in the end she may just do what the extreme right wing wants out of political fear.

Hackett to Challenge DeWine for Senate

Here is your answer. This is interesting. Hackett could tap into the Southwest Ohio GOP strong hold. If He does that and carries the middle, he can win this. Poll numbers are not proof of anything but possibility at this stage of the game. DeWine is not the worst Republican in the world, but the far reaching extremism of much of the GOP in this state, may be the ruin of him and their chances. The bloody GOP governors primary will be an illustration of that. The race is on and Hackett is out with a good start, but there is a long way to go.

Hackett Over DeWine in WSJ Poll

Daily Kos reports what I frankly find surprising. Paul Hackett leads Mike DeWine 44 to 36 percent in a WSJ Poll. This is huge news for Paul Hackett and will put wind under his sails. I don't know how it plays for other Democrats looking to get in the Race. The GOP is behind mike, but with a big statewide push for Governor and Senate, the Dems have a chance to take both.

I am surprised DeWine is that far behind. Hackett's name really carried over from his strong showing down here back in August. Will he run for Senate?