Something Just Ain't Right: Romney Up With Independents, But Down Overall?

A new poll on the presidential election hit this morning, giving Obama a 50% to 45% edge over Romney in the Buckeye State.  With other polls showing the race much, much tighter, something just ain't right about that +5% Obama advantage.

So, as always, we looked at the numbers.

Quinnipiac has the race broken down with Democrats siding with Obama 92% - 6%, Republicans with Romney at 91% - 7%, and Independents favoring Romney 49% to 43%.  As we've said before, Independents are where elections are won, and almost every poll shows Romney clearly has the edge in this category.  But despite Romney being up 6% among the key electoral demographic, Obama is winning Ohio by 5%?

ODP Chairman Chris Redfern changes his story

Last week, we told you about how Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party and wanna-be pirate, is running for state representative in the 89th district. Problem is, the 89th consists of Erie and Ottawa Counties in northern Ohio along the lake, and Redfern lives in Bexley, over 100 miles away.

When the ODP published its list of delegates to the DNC Convention, Redfern even listed his residence as Bexley there as well. After we exposed this on their website, they removed the file to try to hide the truth.

Further, Redfern just bought a new house in the Columbus area this year, his second, and his Port Clinton house in the district is for sale.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman laughs at Erie and Ottawa County voters - Toledo Blade Photo

Tom Jackson from the Sandusky Register picked up on our story and questioned Redfern.

Romney Showing Strength, Democrats Showing Desperation

As Obama has seen his lead in numerous swing states erode--and even vanish--the Romney campaign has been looking to expand the map.  Latest news out of the Keystone State has Romney making a major push in Pennsylvania with his latest ad buy:

Mitt Romney’s campaign has bought air time in Pennsylvania, saying in a memo that the Democratic-leaning state now represents an opportunity for the Republican campaign. 

“Pennsylvania presents a unique opportunity for the Romney campaign,” political director Rich Beeson wrote. “Mitt Romney is more competitive in the voter-rich Philadelphia suburbs than any Republican nominee since 1988.”

This is a major move by the Romney campaign.  While Ohio is a traditional swing state, and has garnered much deserved attention this election cycle, Pennsylvania is a center-left state, going Democrat in every presidential election in the last two decades.  A month ago, Pennsylvania was swinging as much as 12% in Obama's favor--now RealClearPolitics has it rated as a toss-up.

Romney's move in to the state shows he sees an opportunity to expand the map, making a show of strength in a play for more than the necessary 270 electoral votes to take the White House.

But that doesn't mean Democrats won't try to spin it their way.

Union Group's Issue 2 FAIL Continues

Last week, the union front group We Are Ohio sent out this email, highlighting that they are finally on television, advertising for a Yes on Issue 2, despite the ad saying nothing about what the proposal actually does...

Dennis Willard has been the Communications Director for We Are Ohio since the Issue 2 campaign last year.  He's on staff, paid for by the money unions steal...err... appropriate from their members.

So would someone please tell Dennis that his YouTube page is STILL advertising "No on Issue 2," as we pointed out over two weeks ago?!

Kasich's Approval Carrying Weight in Ohio

On the way into work today, I heard a familiar voice endorsing U.S. Senate Candidate, and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

“I’m blessed to have the privilege to lead our great state, and I’m proud to say we’re turning things around and getting Ohioans back to work... For Ohio to continue to do better, we need new leadership in Washington that will put the best interests of Ohio first. We need new leaders like Josh Mandel.”

The ad is incredibly effective, not simply because of its content--Mandel certainly will help turn Washington around and help keep Ohio's economy improving--but because of the guy delivering the message: Governor John Kasich.

According to the new Ohio Newspaper Poll, Governor Kasich is getting the job done, earning the approval of 56% of Ohioans.  And that number comes not only from Republican allies, but from almost every demographic:

New poll: Renacci beating Sutton by 10 points, hits 51%

After last years redistricting process in which Ohio lost two congressional seats, a showdown was set up in the 16th congressional district. Longtime liberal and Pelosi puppet Betty Sutton was drawn into the same district as Jim Renacci, a self-made businessman serving his freshman term in Congress.

Sutton was elected to the old 13th district seat formerly held by Sherrod Brown, after he left it to join the Senate. This was a very blue district, and Betty Sutton is basically a female clone of Sherrod. This ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund highlights her left-wing voting record.



While some on the left have deluded themselves into believing that Renacci is losing the race, a new poll suggest just the opposite. From Wes Anderson with OnMessage Inc:

Ohio Democratic Party scrubs website of Redfern's Bexley residence

Two days ago, we informed you of the emerging story regarding Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern and his candidacy for state representative for Ohio's 89th district, which consists of Erie and Ottawa Counties. He doesn't live there.

One of the main pieces of evidence is a press release on the ODP's own website. The page is an announcement of who had been chosen as Ohio delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Towards the bottom there is a link that said "The full list is available online as a download here." Clicking on that link brought up an Excel file listing all of the delegates and what city in Ohio they were from.

Obama's perpetual lie about the auto industry

Barack Obama has told some whoppers in his pursuit of a second term. But the biggest lie of all is that he saved the auto industry, particularly here in Ohio. Senator Rob Portman has penned an op-ed exposing the Obama campaign’s dishonesty.

President Obama Doesn't Support Small Business

President Obama’s visit to Cleveland yesterday included plenty of rhetoric but little else for those wondering what he stands for.

Plenty of Ohioans still can’t figure out whether President Obama stands in support of small business owners.  He claims to support the American worker, but how can you support the worker but not the person that employs them?

Ultimately, Ohio’s small business owners are left to deal with his unnecessary rules and regulations that do nothing but slow their growth.  These are the same people that hire the workers Obama claims to support.

I think most people would agree that 4,200 incoming regulations upon small businesses makes it harder them to expand their business and hire new employees.

How about $515 billion; the estimated cost of these regulations?  You can’t be pro worker by forcing small business owners to lay off employees so they can pay for duplicate and overbearing regulations.

ODP Chairman Residency Scandal: New Evidence Emerges

Just this Wednesday, we broke the news that Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, candidate for Ohio House District 89, doesn't actually live in his district.  And it's not even close.  His actual residence is some 120 miles from HD 89, in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus.

And after some digging, the evidence just keeps piling up.

Yesterday, Third Base Politics was tipped off by a commenter that not only does Redfern not live in the 89th district, the property he maintains there is for sale.

Ted Strickland loses it on CNN trying to rewrite his legacy

This video is a couple of weeks old, but it's still amusing to watch. After the first debate where Mitt Romney wiped the floor with President Downgrade, Candy Crowley of CNN held a conversation about Ohio with former governor Ted Strickland and Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Watch how DeWine politely lets Strickland have his say, but then when it's the other way around, Ted can't keep his cool and constantly interrupts DeWine.



Nice hissy fit, Ted. Denying there was ever a budget shortfall, and calling everyone a liar. That's the best Ted can do to salvage his failed legacy. What makes it even more pathetic? Getting smacked down by Mike DeWine. Priceless.

BREAKING: ODP Chair Running For State Rep, Lives Outside The District

Democrats in Ohio recently have been trying to stir controversy over an apparent clerical error up in Ottawa County, which resulted in some misinformation going to voters in the area.  Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern was all over it:

"There is no excuse... to botch their most basic job, notifying voters when and where to exercise their right to vote," said a statement from Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, who resides in Ottawa County. (Emphasis mine).

Looks like Chris Redfern certainly has been spending a lot of time focusing on Ottawa County, but apparently he hasn’t spent enough time there. According to the Ottawa County Board of Elections these postcards began arriving last week.  So why did it take so long for Chris Redfern to ask in the first place? Shouldn’t he have known about this before it happened since he “lives” there?

Or perhaps there's another explanation: Chris Redfern, candidate for Ohio House District 89, doesn't actually live in House District 89, as required by the law.

Give Brown The Pink Slip

Dems sue Sheriffs to let inmates vote for Barack

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It has been apparent that the Obama campaign does not have the momentum it had in 2008. To try and make up for their lackluster performance, the Obama campaign is now concerned about those who become incarcerated the final three days before the election.

Fair Elections Ohio has filed a class-action lawsuit to require Ohio’s elections boards to “provide a means of voting for all confined voters that is at least equivalent to that provided for hospitalized persons.”

Republican early vote gains in Ohio are holding

In 2008, Republicans trailed Democrats by a 20-point margin on absentee ballot applications, which included voting by mail and in-person early voting. Three weeks ago, we updated you on the huge gains that Ohio Republicans have made in the early voting game. We told you that based on mail-in applications so far in 2012, that we had narrowed the gap down to 6.5 points, a huge improvement.

A liberal commenter, known for being wrong a lot, retorted that once people started voting early in person, that that gap was going to open back up to 2008 levels. His rationale was that Republicans had the edge in early voting by mail, where as Democrats held the edge in voting in person.

That theory is proven wrong in two ways. First, if you look at Cuyahoga County, the largest in the state, you will see that fully 75% of the early vote in 2008 was by mail. Since the early vote deficit there was a staggering 37 points in 2008, the notion that Republicans win the mail-in vote is preposterous, and apparently was just another lie pulled out of the air in a lame attempt to form some sort of a comeback to the bad news we reported.

Obama Losing Ground in Every Major Demographic

Obama's victory in 2008 was by a 7% margin, what many Democrats want you to believe was a landslide victory.  Considering some major polls had him up double-digits in the days leading up to the election, that's not exactly a "landslide," but a decisive victory, nonetheless.  And Barack Obama did it with support from nearly every major demographic group.

Unfortunately for the President, that support has eroded... dramatically.  According to Gallup, the President has lost significant ground in nearly every major demographic group from where he was in 2008:

Real Leadership On China Will Level The Playing Field

Guest Post by U.S. Congressman Pat Tiberi

Why are 23 million Americans unemployed, underemployed, or so discouraged that they have given up looking for work? Why are 47 million Americans – including 1.7 million Ohioans – on food stamps? Why have median household incomes dropped more than $4,500 since President Obama took office?

The American economy is complex and, no doubt, a variety of factors are in play. But we should not discount the role of China’s unfair trade practices and President Obama’s inability to address these barriers.

Since President Obama took office, as Mitt Romney has rightly been pointing out, the United States has lost over half a million manufacturing jobs, while China has seen a 25 percent increase in its own manufacturing. Indeed, in 2011, China became “the world’s top manufacturing country,” surpassing the United States, which had been world’s largest producer of goods for more than a century.

How did this happen?

Another Issue 2 FAIL

After stealing money from their members, big labor interests were expected to make waves this year asking voters to give up their voice and pass Issue 2 at the ballot this November.  So, when I kept seeing 'No' on Issue 2 television ads, I was left wondering, when is big labor going to release their television campaign?

And then I got this email from We Are Ohio--the union front group that spent enough money to buy a private island defeating Issue 2 last year--touting their new radio ads:

That can't be all.  With all the money they steal... err... assess from their members, unions have to be able to get on television.  So I looked for their YouTube page, only to find this huge FAIL:

Vice President Joey Giggles thinks our serious issues are funny

Last night's debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden didn't produce a clear winner. We knew that Biden was going to come out and be very aggressive. He brought the emotion, while Ryan brought reasoned arguments. In the end, I don't think anyone changed their votes.

But anybody watching had to be wondering why our Vice President behaved like such a jackass. He constantly interrupted, made outrageous faces and laughed while Ryan spoke. He was obnoxious and rude. That left a bad taste in the mouths of independent and undecided voters. One lady in CNN's focus group said he acted like "a buffoon".

Here's a quick video the RNC put together showing Biden laughing hysterically over such hilarious issues as Iran possessing a nuclear weapon.



No. We aren't laughing.

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Obama's national campaign spokesman abruptly ends tough Ohio radio interview

Ben LaBolt, national spokesman for the Obama campaign, called in to Cleveland's WTAM radio today for an interview with Bob Frantz. Hilarity quickly ensues as LaBolt keeps trying to push the Romney $5 trillion tax cut talking point, that even Stef Cutter has admitted is a lie. Stick around until the end of the interview after LaBolt angrily hangs up. The traffic guy's reaction is priceless.



These guys can't take a tough interview with real questions.

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Ed FitzGerald: Just another corrupt Cuyahoga County politician

Those of us who live in Northeast Ohio know the name Jimmy DiMora all too well. Other Ohioans may not, so what follows is a very compressed version of the last four years.

Jimmy DiMora on his way to jail - Plain Dealer Photo

Cuyahoga County, home to Cleveland, had been the subject of rumors of corruption for years. Roughly 4 years ago, it was revealed that the FBI had begun an investigation. The highest level culprit was Commissioner Jimmy DiMora, but literally dozens of county office holders and staff were arrested, including the County Auditor and a sitting judge. DiMora was recently sentenced to 28 years in prison for 33 corruption-related charges.

The stench of corruption, kickbacks and payoffs in Cuyahoga County was so bad, that the voters didn't just kick people out of office, they voted to completely overhaul the entire structure of county government. No longer are there three commissioners, but a county council and a county executive.

Obama's Latest Ad Shows His Desperation

After an abysmal debate showing by President Obama, the polls have Romney closing in swing states throughout the nation--and Gallup today has Romney +2% over Obama in their latest national survey.  Voters throughout the nation agreed that Romney presented a strong case for his election, outlining his agenda and providing far more details than Obama.

Obama's Regulatory Mess

President Obama is visiting Columbus today to boost his campaign and will no doubt celebrate Friday’s news that the unemployment rate has dropped below 8%. 

Ohio’s message to President Obama; welcome to the club.

How much better would the national unemployment rate be if the President followed Ohio’s model of actually encouraging business growth?

 

According to the NFIB the Obama Administration has over 4,000 regulations in the pipeline just waiting to be enacted upon small business owners.  This avalanche of over- regulation could cost our economy over $500 billion and stifle small businesses that are already struggling to stay afloat.

Nobody is disputing the fact that reasonable government regulation of business is warranted and necessary, it clearly is.  However, enacting duplicate and needless regulations requires small business owners to shift resources from actually growing their business and hiring new employees to responding to mountains of paperwork.

Best. Parody. Ever. Obama phone lady.

This is one of the funniest song parodies I've ever heard. Just had to share.



And here's another good one!



VOTE!! Which is the funnier Obama phone lady song?





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Debate #1: Romney buries President Empty Chair McTeleprompter

Last night, my friends, was a classic butt-kicking.

Mitt Romney just dominated the debate in Denver. He appeared every bit competent and presidential. He was assertive but respectful to the President. He looked him in the eye both when he was speaking and when Obama was speaking to him. To the low-information voters out there who have just started to pay attention and tuned in to see if this Romney fellow has what it takes to be President, Mitt delivered. Big time.

Obama, on the other hand, was his usual bumbling stumbling self without his teleprompter. He often strayed all over the place getting in his varied memorized talking points. He was on the defensive most of the night and frequently reverted to the old excuse of blaming his predecessor.

He could rarely bring himself to look Romney in the eye. My mother-in-law texted me, "Why is Obama looking down so much?". Indeed, the President appeared to be very much wishing he was somewhere else.

Even his usual cheerleaders conceded that he got stomped. Check out the glorious meltdown by Chris Matthews who exclaimed, "What was Romney doing? He was WINNING!"

Does Obamacare Cover Butt-Kickings?

Ouch.  I don't know how there can still be undecideds out there, but after debate #1, I think there are less of you.

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

Don't Worry Taxpayers, You Got This!

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Thank you for another burden on the taxpayers, President Obama. Lockheed Martin, one of the top 5 defense contractors, released that it would not be issuing layoff notices this year. "Citing guidance from the White House released Sept. 28 that the government would shoulder the cost of potential lawsuits if broad factory closing are required, the company has decided not to issue notices that it previously said would be required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Jennifer Allen wrote in an email."

Well, isn't that nice. You, me and every other taxpaying citizen in the United States will be paying for the White House's request that Lockheed Martin hold off on sending out layoff notices. It is not a mere coincidence that the White House is trying to delay these WARN notices until after the November election. 

Biden accidentally lets the truth slip

It’s been said that a politician commits a gaffe when he accidentally tells the truth. In a moment of uncharacteristic honesty, Job Biden did just that today in North Carolina. Here he is, explaining that the middle class has been “buried the last four years.”

Will Michelle Obama Eat Her Peas?

The First Lady and her husband are fond of telling everyone, from school children to adults, to "eat their peas". But, will she do the same during her campaign appearance on Tuesday in Cincinnati, when it comes to tough issues that voters want answers to? 

Interestingly enough, I overheard my neighbor speaking to an OFA-Ohio canvasser last night. My neighbor is a registered democrat. So, I can see why the canvasser was targeting their household. What the canvasser didn't expect was to be berated about the failed policies of his candidate. At the end of the exchange, my neighbor said "I'm worried about the spiritual and moral compass of this country. And, your guy isn't the answer.". The poor OFA-Ohio canvasser walked away completely dumbfounded.