Guffaw!

This week's The Other Paper, an independent publication based out of Columbus and widely read among the Ohio political establishment, had an article that had me choking on my breakfast. In it they highlight Matt Borges, a longtime GOP operative that back in 2004 faced a misdemeanor charge of restrictions on a public official.

Apparently, Borges volunteered to help set-up at John Kasich's announcement for Governor back on June 1st. And boy, did that piss off Democrats.

Anonymous e-mails sent to reporters and politicos have questioned Borges’s level of involvement, as well as Kasich’s use of someone who already was slapped for misdeeds for a public office.

[...]

“There are plenty of ways” to enlist the help of someone who the public may find of questionable character, said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.

Such a person can be paid through the party, or by political groups, he said.

“But we have plenty of talented people to rely on without employing those who pled guilty to abusing public office,” Redfern said.

[...]

In the well-choreographed dog-and-pony shows that are campaign kickoff events, isn’t it a bit risky to have a disgraced former public-office staffer guiding supporters to their chairs?

The Republicans say no.

So let me get this straight.

Democrats are complaining about a campaign volunteer who once was cited with a misdemeanor.

Seriously? You REALLY want to go there? Fine with me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you THE OHIO DEMOCRATS!

• Jimmy DiMora - Cuyahoga County Democratic Chairman and County Commissioner who is the target of a federal corruption probe.

• Jennifer Brunner - Ohio Secretary of State and Senate candidate who illegally paid for Senate campaign items with funds from her Secretary of State campaign fund.

• Marc Dann- Former Ohio Attorney General who resigned in disgrace after massive misuse of state funds....and cheating on his wife.

• Dean DiPiero - Democrat Mayor paying Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern's wife thousands of dollars to "lobby" the Statehouse. This after then State Rep. DiPiero said in 2000 that he didn't need the help of lobbyists to wring money from the Republican-controlled state government for his hometown.

All that in just the past few months, and you want to complain about a campaign volunteer with a misdemeanor?

The Democrats named above aren't just political operatives charged with setting up a microphone or making sure people sit in the right spot. They are elected officials with whom voters had given their trust, and had it taken away.

Please, Ohio Democrats. Keep it up. This is a conversation we'd absolutely love to have.