Sherrod Brown campaign dismisses Mandel's military service as only "tactical", says Brown is the "experienced veteran"

It was only a matter of time.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and his campaign have been attacking Josh Mandel's character for months now. One thing they had stayed away from, however, was his military service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Until now.

At a campaign event held at Ohio Democratic Party headquarters yesterday where reporters heard from "Veterans for Sherrod" co-chairman Retired Army Major General Dennis Laich, a reporter asked Laich about Mandel's military service. Josh Mandel served two tours of duty in Iraq.

The Mandel campaign clearly is pushing his experience in the military as a Marine you know, as a major theme in their campaign and I’m sure, hoping to pull along that block of votes. I guess from your experience in the military – will that work?

Laich's answer is incredible (emphasis mine):

It’s not a matter of it working or not. The fact of the matter is that Josh Mandel has served in the military – we applaud that. As a matter of fact, General Kindred and I would hope that thousands of other young Ohioans would choose to serve in the military.

Huffington Post smears John Kasich with racist misquote

The Huffington Post has long been known as a liberal blog, but they have been trying to rebrand themselves as a legitimate news organization, calling themselves "The Internet Newspaper".

That effort isn't going too well, and a stunt they pulled today showed that they are still a liberal rag who will smear conservatives to fit their political agenda.

Today they hosted an event in Tampa with several personalities. The program was about the nation's job crisis, and Governor Kasich was on the panel. The governor made a comment that we need to promote entrepreneurship to the inner cities to inspire more black Americans. Unfortunately, HuffPo completely misquoted Kasich and made his comment sound racist. Here is what they reported, followed by a screenshot of their article.

A Gun That Progressives Refuse To Ban

Can it be? Scientists have finally discovered a gun that 'Progressives' don't want to ban.  It seems like the closer we get to the election, the more we hear we are racist if we don't agree with President Obama's policies.  Add to that the Hollywood folks that only have two forms of argument... name calling and/or wishing death upon Republicans (read more here).  This gun is the only tool left in their toolbox.

Cross-posted:TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons)

Governor Kasich knocks it out of the park

In case you missed Governor Kasich's speech at the Republican National Convention tonight, here it is!



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Photos: Ted Strickland's bus tour draws huge crowds

As I'm sure you have seen from the massive traffic jams around the state, Barack Obama has once again asked Ted Strickland to take a bus tour around Ohio. Appropriately enough, Ted's bus is labeled "Wrong for the Middle Class". He is calling this tour his "counter convention", intended to draw attention away from Mitt Romney and the Republican convention. Let's take a look at some of the stops and the crowds Ted Strickland is drawing.

First, we'll check in on his stop in Youngstown. From WKBN

"We want to talk about the impact of a potential Romney-Ryan administration," Strickland told a group of about three dozen supporters outside the Golden Dawn Restaurant in Youngstown.

The Governor, who is a co-chair of the President's Obama For American campaign, downplayed new polling showing both the president and Mitt Romney in a virtual tie in the Buckeye State.

Don't worry, Ted. I'm told it was more like 40 people.

State of the Senate Race

Ohio: Brown vs. Mandel

First let's take a look here at home. We are working hard, both online and off, to help elect U.S. Marine Josh Mandel as Ohio's junior Senator and to defeat borderline socialist Sherrod Brown.

We have said for over a year that this would be a close, hard fought race and not to underestimate Sherrod Brown. I said in June 2011:

Make no mistake, Sherrod Brown is a shrewd politician. Most of us know he is the most liberal, tax-loving, anti-business member of the Senate. But he's done a very good job of crafting his image of someone more populist and mainstream.

And this brings me to one more reason I believe this race will be close, and we have a shot at beating him. He now has a record that will be exposed statewide. And our side will be certain to educate Ohio voters about how far left Sherrod Brown really is.

Ohio Senate races are usually pretty lopsided affairs, but I still believe this one is going to be a dead heat all the way until November. Let's take a look at some recent polling.

Tranquility Base II - The Eagle Has Finally Landed

After NASA, Neil Armstrong taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati, my alma mater. I started in Engineering more than 10 years after he left there, and was not even in the Aerospace Engineering program, but he was still a legend around campus and especially in the hallways of Baldwin Hall.

Everyone I knew in the Engineering school would puff there chest out a little when mentioning that they were engineering students at UC, "where Neil Armstrong used to teach."

Rest In Peace Neil Armstrong.

Cross-posted: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons)

Solar firm that donated to Ted Strickland in return for tax dollars now in default

Three months ago, we told you about how WK Solar received millions of Ohio tax dollars from the Strickland administration, even though Strickland knew that the firm was already failing.

Media Trackers Ohio details the findings of a Toledo Blade investigation of possible misuse of millions of dollars loaned to WK Solar by the Strickland administration. Among the most alarming of the revelations that MTO's Jesse Hathaway finds is that the Strickland administration knew as early as 2009 that WK Solar was in financial trouble even after receiving $5 million in state loans. Yet, Strickland continued to give the company another $10 million in state funds.

I'm sure it was a coincidence that Strickland received $25,000 from WK executives for his failed 2010 reelection campaign, right Ted Strickland?

At the time, we reported that WK was late on loan payments that had been extended multiple times. The state has had enough, and has declared WK to be in default. From the Columbus Dispatch:

Ohio Democrat's Press Secretary was fired for plagiarism. UPDATED

We've previously discussed the ridiculous story of a supposed accent that Ohio Democrats accused Josh Mandel of using at an appearance in Beallsville last week. Yes, the ODP and Sherrod Brown were talking about serious issues and pointing their fingers at people, yelling about accents.

Andrew Zucker, the Ohio Democratic Party's press secretary, said Mr. Mandel "was caught shockingly faking a Southern accent." Mr. Zucker said the "odd speech" was Mr. Mandel's "latest attempt to mislead Ohioans."

Well, if there's one thing that Andrew Zucker knows a thing or two about, it would be misleading people and faking things.

Zucker used to write for the Ohio University newspaper. Until they kicked him out for plagiarism.

Obama's "Potatoe" Moment... In The Nation's Most Crucial Swing State

We all remember the infamous Dan Quayle "potato-e" incident...

The Democrats Unemployment Fantasy

Good news for Ohioans last week; we aren’t like the rest of America.

If we were, our unemployment rate would have went up the way it did in 44 states and nationally.  Despite the Administration’s best efforts, ours stayed the same at 7.2%. 

It’s worth mentioning that Ohio’s unemployment rate in July 2011 was 8.9%.  We have dropped 1.7% in the past twelve months, a significant shift in the right direction.  The national unemployment rate for the same period dropped from 9.1% to 8.3%, a drop of only .8%.

So why is Ohio greatly outpacing the rest of the country?

Ohio Democrats, in an effort to boost up Obama and soften the Governor for 2014, are going to tell you that it’s their leadership that set Ohio on the right path.  They will argue that the auto bailout and Ted Strickland’s leadership helped Ohio turn the corner well before Governor Kasich took office.

What’s the huge glaring problem with this argument?  Numbers don’t lie. 

We Could All Use Some R&R

America needs some R&R, but there will be no time to rest if we are going to fix the mistakes of the last three and a half years.

cross-post: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons)

Sherrod Brown's "Occupy" Cleveland pal: A bigoted racist pedophile.

We've been highlighting Sherrod Brown's admiration of the openly socialist "Occupy" movement for some time now. And we've also highlighted some of the terrific characters you'll find at Ohio's Occupy camps.

Of course, everybody knows about the Occupy Cleveland members who took their Sherrod-like hatred of capitalism to the ultimate extreme and tried to blow up a Cleveland bridge. More on that further down.

Then we showed you a picture of Sherrod Brown posing with an Occupy Columbus leader who posted online exactly how he prefers to advance his politics:

i am a socialist. if they wanna extend bush’s tax cuts, I’m more prone to pistol whipping rich people for their money. in actual fact, i actually prefer it that way.

i will take what i need. i want revolution just [like] the tea baggers its just that when i bring my guns out it will be a different color of crowd.

Great fella, huh? Sherrod Brown went to the length of writing an editorial to denounce peaceful Tea Partiers, but has uttered nothing but praise for the movement that has people like this as its leaders.

Now, meet the latest shining example of Ohio's Occupy crowd: Tim Russo.

Could Obamacare win Ohio for Romney?

Guest post by Jenny Engel

It is no secret that President Obama is struggling with a record to run on. One of his biggest "achievements" is Obamacare, or more commonly known, thanks to SCOTUS, as a really big tax.

However, in 2011, President Obama and his campaign strategists worst nightmare became a reality. Ohio sent a very clear message:

President Obama, keep your hands off our healthcare!

Issue 3, Ohio's Healthcare Freedom amendment, made it apparent that Ohioans will not stand for overreaching government healthcare takeovers. That doesn't bode well for Obama's re-election chances in Ohio.

Voters First: Criminals, not honest workers.

Guest post by Jenny Engel

Kudos to FieldWorks, the canvassing firm used by Voters First Ohio, for hiring this gem. On August 14th, Timothy Zureick was booked on 22 counts of signing false signatures and one count of elections falsification, both fifth degree felonies in Athens County.

Looks like poor Timmy couldn't even get Democrats to sign his petitions. So, he took a page out of the typical Democrat playbook: Laziness. It was much simpler to forge signatures, make up a fake address for himself and collect a paycheck. Nothing like doing the minimum amount required to get by.

If that wasn't enough fun and games, Mr. Zureick thought he was smarter than the Cincinnati Police Department. According to the news article:

The prosecutor said Zureick had two addresses in Cincinnati, and wasn't found at the first one. A neighbor reported he had moved to his father's home, also in Cincinnati.

"His father first denied he was at the home," (Prosecutor Keller) Blackburn said. Cincinnati police found evidence to suggest otherwise – Zureick's car outside, and movement inside – but Zureick refused to answer the door. Zureick's father was then persuaded to come and escort his son out of the home, Blackburn said.

Congratulations Timothy Noel Zureick for thinking you could outsmart the Board of Elections and the Cincinnati PD. Hope those 23 years in jail you are facing make it all worthwhile.

How much longer will the Democrats claim there was no fraudulent activity associated with this petition drive? We've already seen petition workers encouraging citizens to sign for their relatives and worse. Now this. This kind of behavior is unacceptable. This November, we need to show the Democrats that their criminal ways and flawed policies are not what is best for Ohio. Vote No on what is likely to be Issue 2 this November. For more information on how you can help please visit http://www.protectyourvoteohio.com.

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The Ryan Pick: What It Means & What It Doesn't Mean

This past weekend, Mitt Romney tapped Paul Ryan to be his running mate. And while many will debate the politics of the pick, there's no questioning Ryan's policy expertise. As previously noted on this blog:

The GOP needs to get Paul Ryan in front of the camera talking about the deficit issue as much as they can. He knows it inside and out, can debate it with the other side coherently, and do it without appearing overly partisan.

Personally, the pick was a bit of a surprise. Given the importance of states like Ohio and Virginia, I was almost certain Romney would go with the so-called "safe pick" of either Rob Portman or Bob McDonnell. Even the readers here didn't have Ryan pegged as a top three pick:

AccentGate! Sherrod Brown is scraping the bottom of the barrel

With a new Rasmussen poll out yesterday showing Josh Mandel tied with Sherrod Brown, the incumbent Senator is getting more and more desperate to change the subject.

On Tuesday, Mandel appeared with Mitt Romney to speak to coal miners in Beallsville, which is in Ohio's coal country. The Huffington Post ran with a story accusing Mandel of faking a southern accent.

I have posted the video below. It sounds to me that they are picking on Josh for his pronunciation of the word "out". That's the only word that sounded a bit off to me, and I know there are times when I accidentally and randomly don't use perfect diction when speaking. Nowhere else during his speech do I detect anything different from his normal speaking style.


Video courtesy Marc Kovac of Ohio Capital Blog

Forward... To The Politics of Personal Destruction

And this, from those that promised to change politics in D.C. Hope & Change has given way to Hate & Scare from this point 'Forward.'

Cross-posted: TobyToons.com (Conservative Political Cartoons)

Michelle Malkin attending "Occupy the Truth" Rally in Cleveland

If you live in Northeast Ohio, you may want to head to downtown Cleveland this Saturday. There's going to be a Tea Party themed rally at the former site of Occupy Cleveland, the movement that spawned 5 would-be domestic terrorists who attempted to blow up a highly trafficked bridge.

Notable conservative personalities will be there, including Michelle Malkin, Dana Loesch, and Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit.From Media Trackers Ohio:

In a background document posted online, Occupy the Truth organizers explain that the event is motivated by the failure of national media outlets including USA Today and CBS News to report extensive ties between Occupy Cleveland and the five alleged terrorists arrested in an April 30 FBI sting.

Additionally, Associated Press reporting – carried in newspapers across Ohio and the country – buried the Occupy Cleveland connection and presented without question an Occupy Cleveland denial that the alleged bombers represented the group’s beliefs.

The Ohio Democratic Party is full of hypocrites. Repeat ad nauseam.

You may have heard today that the Ohio Democratic Party is suing the governor's office as part of a records request. They are demanding to see Governor Kasich's schedule, because they believe that he is improperly using his office to campaign for Mitt Romney. Here's the story from the Columbus Dispatch:

“In light of the governor’s questionable use of his office to support Romney, and news the Republican nominee has asked other governors to utilize their official offices to support his campaign, Democrats insist on release of Kasich’s public schedules to help determine whether any wrongdoing has occurred in Ohio,” the party said in a release today.

I heard this on the radio this morning, and thought "Are they serious?". This is just more politics from ODP Chairman Chris Redfern. How many times did we see Ted Strickland traveling around the state with Barack Obama? For a newspaper that liberals in the state claim is pro-Kasich, the Dispatch sure left out this important piece of context.

Lorain County Commissioners Kalo and Kokoski ignored needed repairs but upgraded their own offices

Many of the county buildings in Lorain County are in serious need of repair. Take the Board of Elections building, for instance. From the Lorain Morning Journal:

Due to budget constraints, maintenance has not been given much attention, [Commissioner Lori Kokoski (D)] said. She looked at the Board of Elections building the other day and said it’s ridiculous how many different colors of patches and shingles are on the roof and it has a major roofing problem.

“We have to do preventative fixes, so we don’t have leaky roofs,” Kokoski said.

Elections Director Paul Adams said various parts of the roof have had problems. “I don’t know a department that doesn’t have buckets for water,” Adams said. “It is bad.”

The roof has been an issue since 2004, but he understands that there have been budget constraints.

Legal Maneuver Gets JobsOhio Back On Track

In a bit of legal genius (that may have been overshadowed by other news over the weekend), the Kasich administration is going all in on demonstrating the constitutionality of JobsOhio. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

One state agency head sued another on Friday at the Ohio Supreme Court in an effort to move Gov. John Kasich's private economic development program forward.

But this doesn't mean there is dissension among the Republican governor's top brass. Instead, this was done as a legal maneuver to get the high court to decide once and for all whether JobsOhio -- the private economic development agency created in February 2011 -- is even legal.

Instead of letting the liberals at ProgressOhio further delay the implementation of Ohio’s signature jobs program—which was approved with bipartisan support—the Kasich administration is moving up the timetable. From a policy standpoint, this is great news as JobsOhio will be up and running sooner, helping to create more jobs for Ohioans.

The MSM Welcomes Paul Ryan

Romney goes with Paul Ryan

It's never been a secret that we are huge fans of Paul Ryan here at Third Base Politics. Former 3BPer Jon said this:

It's hard to make national headlines as Chairman of the Budget Committee, but Paul Ryan is making his mark.

And hopefully this is someone that can find a way to more senior office. I'd love to see how he would do as Governor of Wisconsin, but Republican wunderkind Scott Walker just won that job.

Senator, perhaps? Herb Kohl is up in 2012 and considering his age, 75, he may decide to retire.

Let's hope Paul Ryan gets the chance he deserves to raise his profile.

And a few months ago, I praised Ryan for these remarks he made in an excellent video.

"Let me ask you a question: what if your President, your Senator and your Congressman knew it was coming? What if they knew when it was going to happen, why it was going to happen and more importantly, what if they knew what they needed to do to stop it from happening and they had the time to stop it?

Obama's War on Coal costs him the miners union endorsement

We have told you several times about the Barack Obama/Sherrod Brown War on Coal and the damage it is doing in coal country.

Despite ridiculous efforts by his minions to convince us otherwise, Obama's policies are destroying jobs. Just last week, another 239 Ohioans were laid off because of Obama's determination to bankrupt the coal industry.

"This is a sad day for all of us, and particularly Mr. Robert E. Murray, the Founder of OhioAmerican," said Mr. Piasecki. "He is so distraught that he came to the Mine and personally announced the layoffs to each of the employees," he added.

"Mr. Murray created OhioAmerican, and our production began in May, 2007," said Mr. Piasecki. The Mine was intended to last for at least ten (10) years. Now we have been forced by our own Country's President and his followers and supporters to permanently close the operation," added Mr. Piasecki.

Ohioan to Obama: Take my business out of your ad!

Remember this ridiculous ad from President Downgrade, where he tried to tell us that he really said that we have to stand behind small business?



Besides the obvious lie about what he said, the owner of a specialty deli in Cincinnati saw something familiar: her own business. And she isn't happy about it. She wants the footage of her deli removed. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"Voters First" Puts Ohioans Last

Earlier this week, Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted, certified for the November ballot a constitutional amendment aimed at reforming Ohio's redistricting process.  By now, many folks have heard a little about the proposal, backed by a group calling themselves "Voters First."  Unfortunately, the name is incredibly misleading, seeing as how the group is backed almost entirely by liberal groups and union interests.

Even the Cleveland Plain Dealer has called them out on it:

...Voters First's veneer of nonpartisanship has been shredded. And to think that some of its most visible advocates are individuals and groups associated -- for years -- with calls for transparency in campaign finance. Letting themselves be used by the kind of political insiders they decry will make their high-minded talk harder to take seriously.

Obama Playing Politics With Military Voters

Politicians are aiming to disenfranchise voters. They’re setting policy and filing suits to ensure that some Ohioans shouldn’t have flexibility in voting, and limiting the chances that these voters have to cast their ballots.

Republicans pushing for HB 194?  Nope.

Obama for American and the Democratic National Committee filed suit last month in order to ensure that some Ohioans aren’t able to cast their votes; and not just any Ohioans—our men and women in uniform.

The campaign argues that military voters and their families have presented no good reason to have special flexibility in voting. In fact, they Obama campaign has called it “arbitrary” and unconstitutional.

Wasn’t it just a few months ago that these same Democrats were arguing that uniform regulation of elections across all of Ohio’s counties disenfranchised voters? Wasn’t it just a few months ago that these same Democrats cried foul that the Ohio legislature limit—uniformly mind you—absentee voting from 35 days to 21 days.

And yet, Democrats now want to limit voting access to military families. Where’s the consistency of message?

I’m sure it has nothing to do with military support for Mitt Romney at nearly 60% while Obama flounders at 35%. Democrats wouldn’t let politics get in the way of ensuring that every American has the right to vote, would they?

Given this lawsuit, that’s exactly what Obama is doing—playing politics with the votes of those who protect our country.

The fact of the matter is, military voters, especially those stationed overseas, face limitations that can make it difficult to vote. The Ohio legislature recognized that when granting them special flexibility in making their voices heard.

Oh, and it was approved unanimously by the House and Senate.

Every Democrat in the Ohio legislature agreed with these provisions last year, making this move by the Obama campaign nothing more than petty politics, all at the expense of the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country.

Proving once again that Obama cares only about his reelection, America be damned.

Cross-posted at GOHP Blog.

National Unemployment Rate Ticks Up Yet Again

The national unemployment rate is on the rise yet again under President Obama, with the rate rising from 8.2% in June to 8.3% in July.  Not that you'd know it from the lame-stream media:

To be honest, the economy did create jobs at a higher pace than anticipated, and the highest total in several months.  But even MSNBC had to admit the obvious:

But the economy still is far from creating enough jobs to do much for the 12.8 million Americans who are out of work. And the unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in June, signaling that more Americans may have given up looking for work.

Liberals used Ohio school shooting to trick people into joining anti-gun list

Right to left: ProgressOhio Executive Director Brian Rothenberg, New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman

Remember our post about ProgressOhio and Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns back in March? Within hours of the tragic school shooting in Chardon, we reported that they had created a condolence website where people could send prayers and well wishes to the victims and their families. But it was really a scam to trick people into joining anti-gun progressive email lists.

As you can see, rememberingchardon.com has been shut down. Did MAIG act alone in this charade? No. Research on the domain reveals that it was registered by the moonbats over at ProgressOhio. How much cooperation was there between the two groups will probably never be known, but MAIG is still running the same scam in other locations. The email of the person who registered the domain is bret@progressohio.org. Maybe you should send him an email and ask him why they thought it was OK to use a tragedy to further their political agenda.

I started receiving the unsolicited emails from MAIG and knew it was because I used the rememberingchardon.com website. I had proof that ProgressOhio created the phony site, and I suspected that MAIG was in on the disgusting scam, but couldn't find direct proof.

Analyzing the 8/1 Quinny poll: Dems oversampled, great news for Kasich.

Yesterday, Quinnipiac University released a poll of Ohio voters. Ohio Democrats are celebrating the results of the presidential questions. We'll take a look at that first, then we'll move on to the excellent news for Governor Kasich second.

This poll has liberals excited for a couple of reasons. First, it shows President Downgrade Obama beating Mitt Romney by six points. Second, Obama hits the 50% support level, which is key for an incumbent to feel safe.

But, if there's one thing about polling that I can't repeat often enough, it's to look at the partisan weighting. How many Democrats did they include versus Republicans? And how many indies?

For this poll, the D/R/I sampling was 35/27/32 for a Dem +8 advantage.