In which Jim Heath guarantees he will never get an interview with President Romney

I'm not counting my chickens, mind you. I'm talking about a hypothetical President Romney, of course.

Boy, Ohio has become a dangerous place for Mitt Romney to visit, hasn't it? First, back in the fall, there was the whole kerfuffle over whether or not he supported Issue 2 or not. And we told you just yesterday about how incompetently Kevin DeWine and Brett Buerck continue to handle his Ohio campaign.

Today, Romney appeared to have another flip-flop moment. But it was really a case of a mismanaged question from ONN's Jim Heath, who had been promoting the airing of his interview with Romney all day. (For the 95% of Ohioans who don't know, ONN is Ohio News Network, a network carried only by a few cable companies that nobody watches.) Watch.

DeWine and Buerck still screwing up Ohio for Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has been relying on Kevin DeWine and disgraced former political aid Brett Buerck to run his Ohio campaign. It hasn't been going so well lately.

Romney is down by 11 here in the Buckeye State.

Today, the Romney campaign released it's Ohio Leadership Team. It's loaded with Ohio Republican heavyweights, from the most conservative to the more moderate. That leaves one wondering...why would Brett Buerck need to fabricate an Ohio State Representative out of whole cloth?

Here is a screen capture of the list, in case the page gets scrubbed later.

It didn’t take long

Guest post by SamAdams

Anti-gun group Ohio Ceasefire has created a website for people to send their thoughts and prayers to students and staff in Chardon.

The catch, they don’t make it clear who is sponsoring the site and require that you leave an email address so they can contact you later to “let you know when they get it.”

I’m going to take them at their word and trust that I won’t start getting anti-gun emails as a result of my participation. I really hope that Ohio Ceasefire isn’t going to use this horrible tragedy as a way to increase their email distribution list for future communications.

I hope that I am wrong about their intentions with this site, because playing politics with the lives of those murdered is simply wrong.

Yesterday, instead of taking advantage of a tragedy, Governor Kasich gave a very moving statement about the lives lost.



Today, instead of playing politics, he is going to a prayer vigil in honor of the victims and has ordered flags at the Statehouse flown at half-staff.

Now isn’t the time to play politics, it’s a time to pray for the families whose
children didn’t come home yesterday.

Sherrod Brown's Bailout Bonanza

If you look at the votes Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) casts, the things he says, and the bills he sponsors, one thing is clear: Sherrod is a dyed-in-the-wool statist. For every domestic policy question, his answer is bigger central government.

Sherrod Brown, a loud advocate for socialized medicine more sweeping than Obamacare, was nonetheless the 60th vote for Obamacare. Sherrod was a Senate champion of the auto bailout that left Chrysler owned by Fiat and General Motors controlled by Washington & the UAW. He cast the deciding vote for Obama’s “stimulus” boondoggle.

Make a list of federal bailouts and entitlement expansions from the past several years, and Sherrod Brown’s name comes up constantly. Here’s Sherrod at a June 2010 pep rally for a public union bailout:

For Sherrod, falling tax revenues present a familiar math problem. Union pay and benefits should never decrease, so when tax hikes are a political non-starter it’s time for more deficit spending! Sherrod steps in with free money to balance the equation, waving research from a union-funded Progressive group.

Who voted for DeWine's illegal rule change?

Three weeks ago, we told you about how the Ohio Republican Party changed the rules of who could be seated on the State Central Committee, despite the fact that candidates had already long since filed. GOHP Blog explained to us how they needed a majority of all members to approve the change, but didn't get that. They only got a majority of the members present, but declared a victory for the amendment anyway. We also reported to you how they hid behind a secret ballot to do it.

Since then, we and other groups have contacted as many committee members as we could, and asked them how they voted. I posted about my 13th district members' responses.

It was amazing how quickly the "No" people responded back, and how many others either refused to say how they voted or ignored us all together. Nothing like standing behind your vote, right? See my previous link about the 13th district. Here is another example. Bea Lyons is the 4th district committeewoman. A different person is listed on the ORP website, so she must have been appointed to the seat at some point, probably by DeWine himself. I found Bea on Facebook, and immediately noticed the news article she recommended on her wall. Hmmm....

This is Kevin DeWine's kind of Republican. Let's kick her out of the ORP.

How would you describe someone who chose to stand with Ted Strickland over Ken Blackwell in 2006, and proudly displayed Strickland bumper stickers and signs on their vehicles and property?

Would you call them a Republican? Hardly, right? Well, guess what? Such a person sits on the Ohio Republican Party State Committee. The person in question is Nancy Suhadolnik, wife of Gary Suhadolnik. Not only did Gary go to work for Strickland, he also speaks out frequently against Governor Kasich.

And judging by how much money Kevin DeWine is spending to keep her in her seat, she is the most important person in the ORP. One family in Broadview Heights has now received TEN postcards and 10 robocalls promoting Nancy and the 24th district committeeman Jeff Dean, in just 2 weeks. Remember that TV and radio ad buy I referred to yesterday? That buy alone is enough to buy a new Mercedes. And a person inside the ORP has said that DeWine is willing to spend $100,000 just in Nancy's 24th district alone.

Sherrod Brown Endorsed by Saturday Night Live

You know Sherrod Brown is in trouble when he has a 15 year veteran of Saturday Night Live to raise money for his campaign. One can understand the connection. Both Franken and Brown have a ZERO rating from the American Conservative Union. Sherrod Brown claims to be for jobs, but his voting record suggests otherwise. The fact that he is a reliable supporter of Obama's job killing policies makes one wonder what jobs he supports. The fact that Franken would help Sherrod Brown suggest that he is still a purveyor of comedy. Ohio deserves more than a second term for Brown.

Dear XXXXXXXX,

I’ve noticed something about the right-wing attack machine: Great progressives drive them absolutely nuts.

ORP Chairman DeWine's media adviser helped kill Ohio public union reform

Meet Mark Weaver.

Weaver is an Ohio political consultant who has been around the state for a long time, and had a pretty great track record before 2011. He was the campaign media consultant to Rob Portman's successful Senate campaign in 2010, and even was an adviser to Ronald Reagan.

Last year, however, during Ohio's fight to reform public employee union laws, he sold out and went to work for the unions.

A prominent Republican media consultant has been hired by police and fire unions to thwart plans by Gov. John Kasich and GOP lawmakers to kill binding arbitration and eliminate or alter collective bargaining.

Mark R. Weaver has been commissioned "to help us with our communication efforts as we try to educate the legislature on the realities of collective bargaining and not the sound bites," said Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and a major in the Marion Police Department.

Remember how the unions lied so much in their ads that even the Cleveland Plain Dealer called them out? Weaver was their media consultant and one of the brains behind that campaign to kill reasonable union reforms in Ohio.

We have learned Mark Weaver has been working with someone else in Ohio. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine.

Cordray’s First Move at CFPB? Demand More Power

Guest post by SamAdams

We’ve already highlighted former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s illegal recess appointment and unethical political activity after he pledged to keep politics out of his new job.

Now Cordray and the CFPB have asked for the ability to regulate debt collection agencies and credit reporting bureaus. In effect, greatly expanding their already ambiguous authority.

Sherrod Brown Sucks at Economics

Progressive loon Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has argued time and again that unemployment benefits are a great way to create jobs. As Big Government readers know, Pelosi isn’t the only congressional Democrat to build a career coaxing the masses into Washington’s crushing embrace.

Where there’s a Progressive economic fallacy, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is never far away. Sherrod seems to think the U.S. economy performs best with bureaucrats working all the levers. This is his 20th year in Congress, so maybe we should forgive his ignorance of how a free market works!

During the 2010 debate over extending the Bush tax cuts, Sherrod made one of his frequent MSNBC appearances to share his rendition of the broken window fallacy:


As an Ohioan, Chris Matthews fawning “you’re the best there is on this argument” is not what I hope for from my senator.

I am impressed, though, with the way Sherrod Brown knows what every wealthy American is going to buy! I wonder how long he had to look into his crystal ball to be absolutely sure extending unemployment benefits is better for the economy than letting citizens keep and invest our own money.

The Budget That Isn't a Budget

budg·et (bjt)n: An itemized summary of estimated or intended expenditures for a given period along with proposals for financing them

Last weekend, Obama released major components of his budget. The Wall Street Journal highlighted some of the key takeaways:

The real news in Mr. Obama's budget proposal is the story of those four years, and what a tale they tell.

• Four years of spending of more than 24% of GDP, the four highest spending years since 1946. In the current fiscal year of 2012, despite talk of austerity, Mr. Obama predicts spending will increase by $193 billion to $3.8 trillion, or 24.3% of GDP. The top chart shows the unprecedented four-year blowout.

Sherrod Brown is a Serial Tax Delinquent

News broke Wednesday that Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was delinquent on his property taxes due September 2011 until last week. Sherrod, who angrily demands bigger central government and higher taxes from “The Rich,” paid the nearly $900 in taxes, penalties, and interest due for his $222,000 D.C. condo only after being questioned by a reporter.

Pathetic as Sherrod’s story was early in the day, things got worse for America’s most Progressive senator in the afternoon. His conference call to defuse the situation must have been one of the week’s most hilariously uncomfortable:

“I was late,” he said on a conference call with reporters when asked about the recent delinquency. ”I misplaced the bill and I paid it as soon as I found out. I paid a penalty for being late, and it won’t happen again.”

Obama's Ohio Attack Dogs

I’m relieved Obama for America is pushing every class warfare chip to the middle of the table. If Americans get a better look at Progressivism’s ugly mug and still vote Democrat in November, the country deserves to go bankrupt!

To simplify mockery of their candidate for those of us with apolitical day jobs, Obama for America has assembled “Truth Teams” – Attack Watch in more sheepish clothing – in a handful of swing states. At the Ohio Truth Team announcement, it was suggested that crashing GOP events may be on the Obama cheerleaders’ agenda.

It's ruff defending a failed president!

Leveraging deranged protestors for the Progressive brand of populism is nothing new for Ohio Democrats, so The Columbus Dispatch tried to confirm the insinuation:

Is Mitt Romney addressing his Ohio problem?

Last week, we shared with you how Mitt Romney may have given himself a bit of a handicap with Ohio conservatives.

Make no mistake. Conservatives and Tea Party members are actively engaged in Ohio state politics. With such an intense focus on Ohio’s GOP primary, there is no doubt they’ll play a huge part in who ends up with Ohio’s massive number of delegates on Super Tuesday.

By working with Buerck and DeWine , Romney is making it crystal clear where he stands when it comes to wooing Ohio’s conservative base. In fact, by allowing Buerck and DeWine to lead his Ohio effort, Romney is effectively aligning himself against the very people he needs if he wants to win the nomination and the general election in November.

In other news last week, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine was excited to announce an "ORP Super Tuesday Debate" taking place in...Georgia?

Abe Would Say, Hooray for Iowa

Every presidential primary season, one hears a litany of complaints about the unfairness of the process: reform is needed; it’s all about the money; the calendar is unbalanced; it’s too long; it’s too short; some states are favored; others ignored.

But let’s take up one point that really galls many national media-types. They hate the prominence given to Iowa. In their view, it’s a state unworthy of the attention it gets. It’s too small, too rural, too far from major cities, and nothing like the East or West Coasts. It isn’t even southern, so the reporters can’t make fun of the accents. My response is, God bless Iowa.

Sherrod Brown and the Attack on Everything!

When Sherrod Brown (D-OH) spoke at the Ohio Education Association Representative Assembly last spring, he had a receptive audience for his class warfare routine. Since Sherrod is the most extreme leftist in the U.S. Senate and must face Ohio voters this fall, the state’s public union fight was a perfect chance to remind Big Labor he’s their man.

At the same event where he told horror stories about privatization and the Republican scheme to ruin Medicare, Sherrod rolled the NEA affiliate’s war against union reform into a theme of conservative “attacks.”

By the end of his 40-second detour into the Progressive causes and glorious federal programs conservatives are attacking, Sherrod had built up a 9x attack multiplier! This sort of word power makes Sherrod Brown a rhetorical king, so long as no one ever asks how to pay for the bankrupt boondoggles he adores.

Cordray, supposedly "non-political", engaged in political activity

Remember when President Downgrade used an illegal recess appointment to install former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Cordray has already demonstrated he can't be trusted to keep out of politics in his new job, despite what he told the US Senate during his confirmation hearings.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray vowed during his confirmation hearings that he would keep politics separate from his work, adding that “the work of a federal independent agency and law enforcement work, in particular, must be completely absolved of politics.”

But Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, nonetheless gave $500 to a candidate for Franklin County recorder in December, while his confirmation was pending before the U.S. Senate.

Congratulations to Jason Hart: Blog Bash State Blogger of the Year!

CPAC has just wrapped up, and we got some good news out of it on Friday. That was when they held an event called Blog Bash. We don't have a lot of the details, but one of the host organizers, well-known conservative blogger Melissa Clouthier, announced that our very own Jason Hart has been named "State Blogger of the Year.".

I don't believe this means "Ohio blogger of the year", but rather the best blogger of state politics in the US for 2011. Quite an honor, and definitely well deserved. Please join me in congratulating Jason. We're very glad to have him on board here at Third Base Politics.

Update: Confirmed, Jason won the award for "Best State-level Blogger" of 2011. Great work!

Follow @Bytor3BP

My experience contacting my ORP SCC members

Last week, I updated you on the vote taken by the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee to change the rules of who could be seated on the committee.

We now have some new information about Friday's events. Most votes of the committee, and even most of the votes on Friday, are conducted in the open. However, for the proposed rule change, they used a secret ballot. So, it appears that to protect their seats from a fair election, DeWine and his allies are willing to:

1. Change the rules after candidates have already filed, and early voting has already begun,
2. Violate the party bylaws in order to enact their rule change, and now...
3. Hide behind a secret ballot so voters can't hold them responsible.

Competitive Conservative Governors

Are Wisconsin and Ohio still presidential swing states? Republicans swept to power in the Badger State and the Buckeye State in 2010. During the past year, Governor Walker and Governor Kasich have refused to settle for taxation & spending trends that drove away hundreds of thousands of jobs between 2000 and 2011.

If Midwestern voters see the benefits of free-market reforms at the state level, it’ll be bleak news for Barack Obama’s 2012 class warfare roadshow.

Early results for Walker and Kasich have been mixed, as they’ve both been demonized relentlessly by Big Labor. Wisconsin Democrats fled to protect their union financiers, but Walker and the Wisconsin GOP prevailed. How’s that working for taxpayers?

According to a report by the MacIver Institute, as of September 1, “at least 25 school districts in the Badger State had reported switching health care providers/plans or opening insurance bidding to outside companies.” The institute calculates that these steps will save the districts $211.45 per student. If the state’s other 250 districts currently served by WEA Trust follow suit, the savings statewide could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

If Big Labor’s failure in Wisconsin Senate recall races is any sign, voters can do the math. The Walker budget has caused what any sensible observer would expect: freed of suffocating union control, Wisconsin schools are saving money and avoiding layoffs.

In Ohio, Democrats dug in their heels, demanding higher taxes to fix the state’s estimated $8 billion budget deficit – which, to their dismay, Kasich balanced while phasing out Ohio’s death tax and raising no taxes. Several months and more than $30 million later, leftists killed a union reform bill whose effects voters never got a chance to see.

Obama - That was then, this is now.

The Obama Campaign released this video today: That was then this is now:

Mitt Romney’s Ohio Problem

We’ve all heard the axiom, “as goes Ohio, so goes the nation”. In fact, no Republican has ever won the Presidency without winning Ohio. And for this year’s GOP presidential primary, Ohio is the top prize in what is turning out to be a critical Super Tuesday on March 6th.

In fact, just yesterday analyst Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics identified Ohio as the key state between a Romney runaway and the possibility of a brokered convention.

So the viability of a three-way split probably comes down to Ohio, which has a fair number of evangelicals, though not to the degree that Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia do. Santorum has some strengths he can draw on in the Buckeye State, as his blue-collar message could play well even among Republicans there. If he wins, it means that we probably do have a deeply divided GOP, with Gingrich taking the anti-Romney vote in the South, and Santorum taking the anti-Romney vote in the Midwest.

So with Ohio holding such incredible importance to Mitt Romney’s hopes of becoming President, why is he betraying the very Ohio conservatives he needs to assure victory?

Ohio Dem Gives Occupiers Tickets to Disrupt Kasich Speech - UPDATED

For Governor Kasich, Tuesday’s annual State of the State address offered an important venue to talk up his administration’s achievements and goals. Kasich gave this year’s speech at Wells Academy, a school in Steubenville, instead of the traditional Statehouse venue.

The Ohio Democratic Party is led by Chris “Tea Party F***ers” Redfern, best known for a profane 2010 outburst against Obamacare opponents. Based on their behavior in Steubenville, even November’s Big Labor victory against fiscal reality hasn’t improved the attitudes of Ohio leftists!

State Rep. Bob Hagan (D – Youngstown), a Progressive kook’s Progressive kook, bused in 35 protestors for the event. Worse, Hagan handed out several tickets for Kasich’s speech to Occupy protestors ranting outside.

Rep. Bob Hagan (second from left) and Rep. Dennis Murray (second from right) are thanked by Occupy protestors for Hagan's tickets to the State of the State address.

An Interesting Race

Note: each contributor at 3BP has their own favorite in the GOP race. One opinion for or against a certain candidate is not necessarily shared by other contributors.

Today is probably the tipping point – either it marks the beginning of a major turn in the Republican presidential primary/caucus process – or practically speaking, it’s the end of the road for Mitt Romney’s challengers.

I’m predicting Rick Santorum is going to come in first in Missouri and Minnesota, and show well in Colorado. By doing so, he will slide Newt Gingrich out of the limelight, and the Republican contest will essentially become a two man race between Santorum and Romney.

Kevin DeWine and his cowards hide behind secret ballot

Kevin DeWine is going to go down in history as the most corrupt chairman of the ORP ever. And he doesn't seem to care. The more people that turn against him and call for him to resign, the more desperate and brazen he seems to become.

As a brief recap, remember that just a couple of weeks ago, he and his allies proposed an amendment to change the rules of who can be seated on the State Central Committee, even though candidates had already filed for the election weeks ago. On Friday, the committee met and voted on several issues, including the rule change.

The committee consists of 66 members, and a majority of them, 34 or more, is required to make such a rule change. However, DeWine declared a victory for the rule change with a 29-28 vote, claiming a majority of members present. This is clearly a violation of the bylaws, and is bound to be challenged in court.

February Primary Poll Results

In our latest poll, Mitt Romney came out on top, with a double digit lead over Rick Santorum in second place. Newt wasn't far behind Santorum, though. I think we'll do one more right before Super Tuesday and see how our results compare to the actual primary vote.

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The GOP's Road to Super Tuesday

Note: each contributor at 3BP has their own favorite in the GOP race. One opinion for or against a certain candidate is not necessarily shared by other contributors.

With Mitt Romney's win in Florida, a lot of the speculation about the race going forward has revolved around the March 6th Super Tuesday contests.  While the 10 states (Ohio among them) voting in 5 weeks will be a pivotal moment in the nomination battle, there are actually 8 state contests between now and then.  While none of them will receive the level of media attention of the previous 4 contests, these results will impact the momentum of candidates going into that day.

Personally, I am a Mitt Romney supporter, so feel free to take what I write with that in mind.  But looking ahead to the contests in February, there are a number of reasons for the Romney campaign to feel confident that they will build on their Florida victory's momentum.  Most of the 8 states voting seem to be favorable to Mitt, though there are contests along the way where the other 3 could find success as well.

Kevin DeWine is out of control

Folks, we first told you about the Ohio Republican Party's proposed new rule last week. Today, they met and narrowly approved the rule.

The rule itself is an outrage, because of the timing of it. To change the rules of the game after candidates have already filed, and voting has already begun, was bad enough.

What makes it even worse than that? They violated their own bylaws to do it. I believe that GOHP Blog was the first to report on this, and they did an excellent job explaining it.

DeWine, of course, is touting this as a victory, as the Plain Dealer comments, the vote is a “rebuke to GOP Gov. John Kasich.”

But apparently, no one on the State Central Committee bothered to check the Ohio Republican Party bylaws before they cast their vote.

Under the organization’s rules, Article 8, Section 1:

These rules may be amended at any meeting of the Committee by a vote of two-thirds of all of the members of the Committee, or they may be amended at any meeting of the Committee by vote of a majority of the members, provided that written notice of the proposed changes shall have been given in the notice of the meeting. (Emphasis mine).

Given that DeWine gave notice of the meeting, that means that a majority of the 66-member body must have voted in the affirmative. That’s 34 votes.

DeWine only got 29.

DeWine and his cowardly allies who are trying to change the rules to thwart the wills of GOP voters have now gone so far over the line, it isn't even funny anymore.

We will have more about this charade, but unfortunately, yours truly is sick as a dog right now and can barely function. We hope to interview a current SCC member tomorrow to find out what went on behind the scenes today. Additionally, if anyone else out there has information, please contact us. You will remain anonymous if you wish.

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What’s Getting Sold Here?

Guest post by Carl Dorsch.
Note: each contributor at 3BP has their own favorite in the GOP race. One opinion for or against a certain candidate is not necessarily shared by other contributors.

I keep thinking about Mitt Romney, reflecting on his positive qualities, but wondering about him as
a candidate.

Regardless of who you might prefer, you have to concede, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the eventual Republican nominee was a charming, tall, smooth, confidant, good-lucking, family man. But of course, those same qualities apply to Barack Obama – and most of us here would prefer a repulsive, short, fat, stammering, pug-ugly skirt-chaser - if we were sure he’d beat Obama and do the right things in office.

Ohio Right to Work: Not This Year

This week the Ohio Attorney General approved ballot language for a Right-to-Work amendment to the Ohio constitution. I agree with fellow Third Base Politics writer Bytor, who covered the issue a couple months ago: a Right-to-Work amendment in November 2012 is a terrible idea.

The Senate Bill 5 campaign proved Ohio voters remain too receptive to union rhetoric. Trying to rehash the same arguments during a presidential campaign already focused on Progressive class warfare would be a nightmare.

Class: During a 2010 strike, Ohio Education Association staff hung a banner telling the OEA boss to kill himself.

The ridiculousness of public unions prompted me to start writing and researching with a purpose beyond, "here's what annoys me today, and I know my friends wouldn't want to hear this rant." I wish I were more effective at making the case for union reform! If you could find another sap who spent more free time than I did over the past year arguing for the need to reform Ohio's government union law, I would be amazed. On this subject, Ohio conservatives have a lot of work left to do.

Big Labor's pockets are deep, and any attempt at union reform means attacking the strength of people who get rich pushing class warfare for a living.

ORP committee members being kept from voting?

Last week, we told you about tomorrow's meeting of the Ohio Republican Party. This is the meeting where the ridiculous rule change that Kevin DeWine has proposed is to be discussed.

We are hearing some rumors that once per year, central committee members are allowed to call in to vote by phone. However, there are reports that several members are requesting the number to call in, but are being ignored.

We are trying to confirm and will have more on this as we find out.

Update: "Many members have been upset that the party refuses to provide members call in numbers. Traditionally, the call in number is sent with the meeting notice, but with hours to go before the vote, the party is keeping it away from many SCC members."

We better not find out that this is a strategic and desperate effort to rig the vote.

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An Ohio Santorum Guy Looking at Florida

Guest post by Carl Dorsch.
Note: each contributor at 3BP has their own favorite in the GOP race. One opinion for or against a certain candidate is not necessarily shared by other contributors.

All things considered, I wasn’t too displeased with way Florida Republicans voted on Tuesday. Sure, I would rather they had given a landslide to my preferred candidate, Rick Santorum. But since that wasn’t in the cards, this result isn’t half-bad.

Let me state, I can live with any of the four remaining Republican candidates. The main thing is to defeat Obama and to repeal ObamaCare. So in these primaries, I want to hear about every negative issue the Democrats might drag out in the fall against the eventual Republican nominee. I want it out now, so we can watch the candidates cope with every charge – whether it’s false or valid. If a charge can hamstring anyone, then let’s eliminate that guy now. Let’s not have any fatal surprises in the fall. I want our guy to prove he can handle any mud that’s slung at him, and won’t freeze like a rabbit on the big stage.