Can Ted sell Solar?

Ted Strickland needs to sell success stories.

With a desperately bad record to reflect upon, those opportunities are few and far between.

But a look back at the Governor's State of the State speech and a recent statement from President Obama provide us a clue of where the Governor's campaign will look as they start recording footage for campaign commercials.

Cue Toledo, Ohio.

With its new solar power plant, it's a perfect example of what the Governor would like to expand upon throughout Ohio.

But is Toledo really the model the Governor will likely portray it to be?

Moving past the semantics debate, it's worth delving into the issue of Toledo's place as a "leader" in the solar industry.

In March, The Blade published a three-day series of reports that showed Ohio had, despite its early success in the solar industry at UT and First Solar, lost out on thousands of solar manufacturing jobs in the last few years to states offering more lucrative incentives and stronger product markets for solar companies.

Because of state government subsidies and more solar consumers, states such as California, Oregon, Arizona, and even Ohio neighbors such as Michigan and Pennsylvania have attracted dozens of solar manufacturing operations over the last few years. The soft estimate of 6,000 solar jobs in Toledo now is the same estimate from 2007 when the region was dubbed a solar "hot spot" nationally.

First Solar may now employ 1,000 people at its Perrysburg Township plant with an average starting wage of $12 per hour for its factory workers, but its headquarters are in Arizona and most of the $2 billion-a-year company's production takes place in Germany and Malaysia.

[...]

Willard & Kelsey, an aspiring panel maker in Perrysburg, has on several occasions failed to achieve its predicted employment numbers and has been sued for failure to fill a contracted order. But the company now says the issuance of a $10 million loan from the state should help it grow from 70 to 200 employees and ramp up production by year's end.

As we've talked about for months here on 3BP, Strickland is relying on "green jobs" to make his case for re-election. But in the midst of this jobs crisis, can Ohio afford to make its focus an incentive reliant industry that has shown very little evidence of durability and economic growth?

Should taxpayer dollars be spent by the millions on subsidy-funded jobs by the dozen, when we're hundreds of thousands of jobs in the hole?

This video from back in March shows what Strickland is up against. Is he willing to spend the dollars necessary to sell an industry that has been shown to the voters over and over again as not the success many thought it could be?

"We're not gonna let ya down."

The Kasich/Taylor team is back up with another TV ad. This one drives home the solid conservative principles Kasich has been running on for months and keeping the focus on what voters care about in this election - streamlining government and the economy.



This 2nd TV ad from the Kasich team does beg the question - where is Ted?

They've got plenty of cash. Polls have clearly been trending against them. What's holding them back?

They almost seem paralyzed.

After all, there are only 72 days to go. And this line isn't going to fix itself.

The Titanic is sinking and there aren't enough lifeboats

It's not smart to argue with Charlie Cook. The non-partisan political analyst is rarely wrong and has built a business off of being right.

So with that in mind, this is bad news for Democrats:

“I think Republicans are going to get the House back,” he said flatly in a conversation taped for WSJ.com’s “Big Interview” segment, which will be posted on the site Friday morning.

To be precise, Republicans need to win 39 Democratic seats to get control of the House, and Mr. Cook’s current estimate is that they are in line for a 35- to 45-seat gain. “But frankly, I think we’re being very conservative with that,” he added. “The odds of it being higher than that range are a lot better than lower.”

Obviously, the big news here is that he firmly predicts, for the first time, that Republicans will win the House.

But what caught my attention was his statement about the odds being in favor of Republicans winning more than 45 seats.

Obviously, a win under Cook's scenario means Ohio Democrats like Kilroy, Driehaus, and Boccieri are gone.

But if we start inching beyond the 45 seat expectation, as Cook expects, that brings Space, Wilson, Sutton, and Kaptur firmly into play.

The DCCC may have a lot of cash, but that doesn't mean they should be trying to save every single vulnerable seat.

The smart play is to abandon those that are doomed and give the money to those that can make some use of it. The Titanic is sinking and there simply aren't enough lifeboats.

And yet, watch as they spend more money on Paula Brooks' challenge of Pat Tiberi.

Morons.

Ohio's Jobs Crisis won't win Ted any votes

Today we learned Ohio's unemployment rate is still stuck in the double digits - 10.3%.

This is the 16th straight month of where unemployment has topped 10%.

Overall, employment increased by 1,800. And, to be fair, private sector jobs seem to have increased slightly. This month by around 10,000. Only about 350,000 jobs to go, Ted!

So is that 1,800 net increase in job growth the reason Ohio's employment dropped ever so slightly?

Not so much.

When you look a little deeper into the unemployment report you find that 24,411 people completely left Ohio's workforce in July. That's the largest drop, by far, yet this year.

In fact, that's the largest drop since Ted Strickland became Governor.

Why is that significant?

These are people who have quit even looking for work. They have become economically inactive. They've become so disillusioned in trying to find a job that they've simply given up.

And when these people leave the workforce, they no longer count against the unemployment rate. It's as if they aren't even there.

Lucky Ted, eh?

Not really. While no one disputes a net gain is better than a net loss, from a political perspective these aren't numbers that are going to sway hearts and minds. Think Ted is going to hop on TV and brag about 10.3% unemployment? Didn't think so.

The other problem for Strickland is that unemployment is a very personal issue to people. No matter how much he may try to spin the realities of Ohio's jobs crisis, at the end of the day one in ten Ohioans who want a job can't find one.

These are voters' sons and daughters, neighbors and friends. And they are seeing and feeling the pain that comes with unemployment.

And that ticks them off.

So when Ted tries to tell them things are going well and to enjoy Recovery Summer, that clearly isn't going to really resonate.

And the news gets worse for Ted. These numbers aren't going anywhere for at least a month when the next report comes out. That means yet another four weeks of his opposition ripping him apart on the issue that matters most to Ohioans. And does anyone expect the next report to be significantly better? No, they don't.

If Ted thinks he still has a chance, it won't be because of Ohio jobs.

While Teddy yaps, taxpayer dollars get funnelled to unions

While College Democrats and Ted Strickland nip like an annoying chihuahua at the heels of John Kasich over the compensation he earned, and OSU defends, for teaching students at OSU, real life is creeping up on the Governor.

Yes, Ohio's facing its 16th straight month of double-digit employment, but now Strickland also has to contend with yet more problems stemming from the School Facilities fiasco.

If you'll recall, Ted Strickland appointed Richard Murray to head the OSFC specifically because of his ties to big labor. But a recent Ohio Inspector General's report said, Murray "abused his authority by repeatedly acting as a go-between for union representatives and participating in arm-twisting sessions with local school districts."

After the report came out, Murray said he's allowed to discount taxpayers' best interests and show bias in favor of unions.

And through it all, Ted Strickland said Murray has his full support.

Well, it turns out that Murray's bias almost cost taxpayers millions of dollars that didn't need to be spent.

The architecture firm that designed improvements for the state deaf and blind schools said the Ohio School Facilities Commission signed off on cost estimates four times, then decided to add a union-only construction clause that probably drove the cost of bids way past the budgeted amount.

The cost impact of the pro-union "project labor agreement" wasn't included in any of the estimates that were sent out for bids, according to a written statement from Andrew Maletz, vice president of SHP Leading Design.

The only way to know how much the PLA added to the cost would be to get rid of it, said Rachel Miller, a public-relations consultant for the firm. "It is a suggestion," she said.

State and union officials have said that the design might explain why the bids came back $11.4 million over the $28 million general-construction budget.

This is downright disgusting.

While Strickland complains about teaching gigs that were funded by private dollars, Strickland's cronies are trying to divert millions of your dollars to unions.

Why? So Unions can turnaround and give Strickland campaign donations right back.

How much have they given him? By my count, about $1,938,610.86.

Ohio, throw the bum out.

For someone who hates outsourcing, Ted has a funny way of showing it.

Strickland is trying to make a campaign issue out of his opposition of NAFTA.

Of course, that ignores the fact that he refused to support any withdrawal from the agreement just last year. Not to mention all the campaigning he made on behalf of Hillary Clinton where he defended the trade deals President Clinton signed.

But for the sake of yesterday morning's news showing the number of unemployed Americans seeking financial assistance reaching its highest level of 2010, and this morning's news showing the 16th straight month of double-digit unemployment in Ohio, I guess we can just ignore Ted's flip flop and pretend his latest stance is true - he really does oppose free trade with North America.

With that in mind, I'd like to know why this is such a bad thing.

Six months into 2010, the value of Ohio exports reached $20.2 billion, a 29 percent increase over the first half of last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division. This year, Ohio’s export surge has outpaced the nation’s 23 percent increase.

[...]

Exports are a pillar of Ohio’s economy. One in every 13 jobs in Ohio’s private sector was linked to the manufacture of exported goods in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. One of Ohio’s leading export sectors — autos and auto parts — was up 74 percent through June, after diving last year.

Other sectors seeing big jumps are electric machinery, iron and steel, and plastics, Scherer said.

As usual, the countries buying the most Ohio products are Canada, Mexico and China.

Strickland is proud of his vote against NAFTA. Sorta.

But if he had his way, there is no question Ohio would not have enjoyed this one glimmer of hope in its effort to recover.

But the funny thing is, despite all his yelling and screaming about "outsourcing", Ted Strickland sure doesn't mind wooing a company that does exactly that.

To show off a 196,000-square-foot office park in the Cincinnati suburb of Milford to executives from Tata Consultancy Services, India’s biggest tech company and a thriving part of the Tata Group conglomerate.

To sweeten the deal, Strickland threw in $19 million in tax credits and invited the TCS crew to a state dinner at the governor’s mansion. “The economy is difficult,” Strickland says in the Jan. 11 issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek. “I will go wherever I can to find jobs.”

[...]

With the economy growing again but unemployment stuck at double-digit levels, states and municipalities across the U.S. are scrambling to woo anyone with hiring plans -- even if that means going hat in hand to the same bunch that have been responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs going overseas.

[...]

TCS already had to delay opening the Ohio center for almost six months during the recession in the U.S. And Wipro says its Atlanta operation isn’t yet profitable. Both say American facilities are unlikely to create huge numbers of new jobs in the U.S. soon. For several years, at least, the vast majority of work will continue to be done in India and other low-cost countries, according to Surya Kant, North America president for TCS.

Despite sending "hundreds of thousands of jobs overseas", at best Tata hopes to create 1000 jobs. And that only costs Ohio taxpayers $19 million and a posh dinner with plenty of booze at the Governor's mansion.

Governor Strickland is a big, giant hypocrite.

Obama and Ohio Dems do their best to avoid reality.

Yesterday, American taxpayers likely spent well over a million dollars for President Obama to hang out in the backyard of a middle class family and make absolutely no substantive news whatsoever.

It was, of course, an easy to put together official event so taxpayers would have to pay for the real reason for Obama's visit - to campaign for Ted Strickland.

But the Columbus Dispatch highlighted another event that actually might have been worth the resources spent to bring the President to Ohio for the 9th time since his inauguration.

A few blocks from where President Barack Obama was raising money for Gov. Ted Strickland, Dan Howard was in line with about 400 other people at a job fair Downtown.

"I wish he could come," said the 48-year-old Grove City man, who lost his job in the spring. "I would love to talk to him about what it's really like."

Instead, the President appeared in the beautifully landscaped backyard and made this statement that was big enough to get splashed on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch:

It is?

Well, once again the President may have been better served attending the job fair:

Bob Hillman, who ran the employment event for National Career Fairs, said employers across the country want to hire but are uncertain about what will happen in Washington with taxes, health care and financial regulation, and that is keeping them on the sidelines.

"They're simply scared to death," he said.

In other words, the policies enacted by Obama and the Democratic congress have been job killers.

Need proof? Look at the news that exploded this morning:

But despite this incredibly clear indication that Democrat efforts to fix the economy are failing, it still didn't stop the Ohio Democratic Party from pushing the President's message that runs clearly against reality.

Despite the hundreds of billions of your money being spent by Democrats, their ideas aren't working. Instead, they are digging us deeper. We need a change.

Vote Kasich. Vote Portman.

Nice company Kilroy keeps...

It's no secret that Democratic candidates are making a very obvious and organized push to try to divert attention to Social Security.

Stories have been documented all over the state of Democratic candidates and their allies using various tactics to go on the attack.

In fact, as this was just ramping up last week 3BP wrote a post about it.

Well, it turns out Mary Jo Kilroy and her allies pick some very odd company to represent her efforts to distract from the issues that matter most to Ohioans.

The Dispatch Daily Briefing blog named Bruce Bostick as the lone individual that was sent to Stivers headquarters in a cheap ploy to try to gin up publicity on the issue.

But who is Bruce Bostick?

Well, according to this link provided by the Dispatch, he's a communist with a history of mental problems.

We know you've had your problems in the past associating with socialists, Rep. Kilroy, so was this really the best choice to help those questions go away?

Meet Mary

Well produced video of a great candidate and capable LG...

Two more items about that Rasmussen poll...

Since I didn't get a chance to provide much of a substantive look into the Rasmussen polls that came out recently, I did want to point out two items of interest. This gets into the weeds a bit, so if poll analysis bores you, move on to the next post. Ha.

First, as I've mentioned before with Rasmussen, and also finally discussed by the Columbus Dispatch a couple weeks ago, the Rasmussen sample once again seems skewed towards Democrats.

Now, of course, this goes against everything we hear about Rasmussen, right? He's supposed to have his biases and whatnot.

But if that's the case, how do you explain this?

Kasich wins Republicans 88-7. Or +81.
Strickland wins Democrats 74-12. Or +62.
Kasich wins Independent voters 52-28. Or +24.

Massive superiority in winning his base, overwhelming victory among Indies, and yet Kasich is only up 8? That simply doesn't compute unless Democrats are heavily weighted.

Second, for the first time we get a look at what happens when leaners are included in polling. For the unititiated, normally leaners are defined as those who intially answered 'unsure' when asked for whom they plan to vote, but then are asked once again to provide an answer. These leaners tend to be the people least likely to vote and those who don't pay attention or don't make up their mind until soon before election day. Traditionally, these types of voters follow the mood of the nation/state and will break towards the challenger or incumbent based on their positive or negative perceptions.

Conventional wisdom would therefore state that leaners would break towards Kasich.

And they are.

When leaners are included, Kasich's lead is bumped up two points to 52-42, above the magic 50% plateau.

But the Party breakdowns make this increased lead even more interesting.

Among Democrats, Strickland goes from 74-12 in the original poll to 78-15 among leaners. In other words, among Democrats Strickland only won 4 for every 3 that went to Kasich.

Among Independents, Kasich went from 52-28 to 60-30. In other words, Independent leaners broke towards Kasich by a 4-1 margin.

Think any of these people have been effected by Ted's repeated attacks? Didn't think so.

Keep it up, Governor. We're loving your strategy.

Torched Earth Politics burns Strickland

As we've seen in the polls, Strickland's efforts to delegitimize Kasich in the eyes of the voters hasn't worked.

In the face of a massive jobs crisis, yelling "outsourcing", "NAFTA", "Wall Street", or "Lehman", seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Strickland's particular focus on trade as of late caught the attention of the Columbus Dispatch.

And what they unveiled once again weakens the messenger in his effort to tear down his opponent.

Although Strickland voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement and against granting China permanent favored trade status in 2000, he supported retaining most-favored-nation treatment for China in House resolutions in 1993 and 1994.

[...]

Although he blames NAFTA for Ohio's job losses, Strickland last year supported President Barack Obama's decision not to reopen the agreement with Canada and Mexico, saying at the time that "we have to be very careful about any signals of protectionism."

Ohio is the seventh-largest exporter among all states. In 2009, Ohio exported more than $34 billion worth of goods and services, including nearly $2 billion to China.

Besides calling Strickland out on his hypocrisy, that last stat is an important one to note. Without NAFTA or trade with the Chinese, there is no question Ohio would be exporting fewer goods. Exporting fewer goods means lesser demand. Lesser demand means lesser production. And lesser production means fewer jobs.

But after the total and complete failure of Turnaround Ohio, does it surprise anyone that Strickland can't comprehend what's good for Ohio's economy?

Of course not.

All that said, let's hope Strickland continues with his torched earth style of campaigning. I don't mind the results.

Let's hear it, Chairwoman Bucaro.

It's fun to catch your opponent when they don't dot their i's and cross their t's. It doesn't really mean much, but it's an easy dig that can get under the skin of your opponent and make their campaign account slightly smaller.

But the Butler County Democratic Party Chairwoman was a little too enthusiastic when she went to the press to call out State. Rep. Courtney Combs for omitting his disclaimer on two campaign signs.

Jocelyn Bucaro, chairwoman of the local Democratic Party, said the two yard signs along Nilles Road do not have disclaimers that identify a campaign committee, committee officer and address, which is required by the Ohio Revised Code.

“It’s ‘Campaign 101,’ ” said Bucaro. “If any of my candidates would have done this, I’d call them out on it.”

You would, would ya?

Well guess what. Here's your chance.

Here is an advertisement promoting a fundraiser earlier this year on behalf of Bruce Carter, otherwise known as Combs' opponent in November. I'm sure you've seen it, Chairwoman Bucaro. Your name is listed as the contact person for the event.


Notice anything missing?

Yep. A disclaimer.

It's Campaign 101, Madam Chairwoman. You better call yourself out.

Mary Ellen doesn't get any room to breathe.

A new PAC has formed to make sure Maryellen O'Shaughnessy never has a chance to pose a serious threat to Jon Husted in his campaign for Ohio Secretary of State.

With the creation of TAME PAC, voters have a chance to learn about O'Shaughnessy's obsession with running for a wide variety of offices and her total and complete lack of qualifications to run elections in Ohio.

Here's a brief web ad TAME PAC put together.

The high quality of the site and web ad show this isn't just a flash in the pan, but a well organized and well financed movement to ensure one apportionment seat isn't put in jeopardy. Actions like this will make high-dollar contributors think twice before taking a chance on sending a donation to Maryellen. And that's good news for the entire statewide GOP slate.

Rasmussen validates what we already knew.

Last week we had Reuters/Ipsos calling showing a 9 point lead for Kasich and a 7 point lead for Portman.

This week we have Rasmussen confirming the trend for both Republicans with new polls showing an 8 point lead for both Kasich and Portman.

In polling, validation is important. When you see a number of polls showing the same thing, it's safe to say they are more likely than not to be accurate reflections of the state of the race.

And utilizing the aggregate of all polls, here's the state of each race.


No matter how you look at it, this is very bad news for Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher.

Some other bad news for both Democrats?

Despite their efforts to tie Portman to Bush and Kasich to Wall Street, it isn't substantively affecting each candidate's favorability rating.

In fact, Kasich's favorability went from 47-34 just a couple weeks ago up to 51-34 in the latest Rasmussen poll.

Portman? His favorability went from 46-27 two weeks ago to 51-23.

So all that negativity you Democrats are spewing? Please, please, please keep it up.

Annnnnd the bad news doesn't end there.

Guess how many Ohioans rate the economy as "good" or "excellent"?

6%. Seriously. That's it.

Ohio needs a change. Ohio needs Kasich and Portman.

We're well on our way, everyone.

Keep up the hard work.

Social Security is not in crisis, Mr. President?

At this morning's backyard event, President Obama was noted as saying "social security is not in a crisis".

Not in a crisis, Mr. President?

Does this not qualify as a crisis?


That New York Times article went on to say:

Analysts have long tried to predict the year when Social Security would pay out more than it took in because they view it as a tipping point — the first step of a long, slow march to insolvency, unless Congress strengthens the program’s finances.

“When the level of the trust fund gets to zero, you have to cut benefits,” Alan Greenspan, architect of the plan to rescue the Social Security program the last time it got into trouble, in the early 1980s, said on Wednesday.

All that, and yet this is not a crisis.

Where are your priorities, Mr. President?

Ted needed to give away tickets.

This e-mail was forwarded to me this morning.

It was sent to all students in the John Glenn School at Ohio State University.

Apparently that Strickland event going on this morning with the President wasn't exactly the hottest ticket. Why else do you end up having to give away two full tables and expedite security protocols?


Strickland/Obama! Feel the Enthusiasm!

OR NOT!

The Life Blood of Ohio Democratic Politics Rejects Zack Space

From Politico:

Still smarting over Democratic Rep. Zack Space’s opposition to the health care reform bill, a coalition of Ohio labor groups is moving forward with a campaign urging voters not to support his reelection bid.

The Service Employees International Union is preparing to launch a campaign, dubbed “Skip-a-Space,” against the second-term Democrat, urging 18th District voters to withhold their support for Space — a move that threatens to imperil his competitive November bid against Republican state Sen. Bob Gibbs.

Ouch.

I imagine Space was thrilled when he was told by Pelosi that he could flip flop on his original yea vote on Obamacare. After all, the Dems had the votes for passage and if a few targeted seats could get out of making another politically damaging vote, they rightly should. After all, it's not like their base wouldn't understand.

Whoops.

As we all know by now, Big Labor is the heart and soul of Democratic politics in Ohio. While Space still is getting some support from folks like the AFL-CIO, this clearly damages the Congressman's hopes for re-election.

On top of the efforts of the SEIU, Space also learned yesterday of another third party hit from an organization called the Committee for Truth in Politics. Here's the ad going up in Ohio's 18th.



While Gibbs doesn't have quite the financial muscle to compare with Space, these third party attacks will do serious damage and weaken Space from all sides.

With Rep. Boccieri's seat moving yesterday from a Lean Dem to Toss-Up in Charlie Cook's popular race ratings, could Ohio's 18th be far behind?

The Way Too Early 3BP 2012 GOP Primary Poll Results

On Friday 3BP hosted its latest 2012 GOP Presidential primary poll.

We asked readers whom they would vote for if the primary was held today.

Obviously, while voters were only allowed to vote once, this was far from a scientific poll. Instead, it was simply an opportunity to see where readers of 3BP stand. Why does that interest me? Well, if you're reading this blog, you're very likely more interested and informed than the average GOP primary voter and have invested more time into learning about potential presidential candidates than most have at this point. With that in mind, it's a fun exercise to see where candidates stand among those that have gotten to know them already.

So with that said, who won, and who surprised?

The top six vote getters were the following:

• Mitch Daniels - 24%
• Chris Christie - 18%
• Mitt Romney - 11%
• Sarah Palin - 11%
• Haley Barbour - 8%
• Newt Gingrich - 8%

As I've been hoping, My Man Mitch seems to have caught on with the conservatives that read this blog. The question? Just how interested is the guy? He clearly is ramping up his profile, so one has to think he's preparing himself to make the jump. But he's been a lot less obvious than the Tim Pawlentys and Mitt Romneys.

Chris Christie's early success in New Jersey clearly has apparently inspired many of my readers. But is it too early for him to make the jump? Very likely the answer to that is yes. The guy is going to have his hands full with New Jersey for quite some time. Putting together an organization and making the jump while still in his first term would be a mighty chore, and he's also shown no interest in even trying to give it a shot.

The surprise? How far back Mike Huckabee finished. He only pulled in 2% of the vote.

We'll try this again down the road. Thanks for participating, everyone!

JobsOhio will work.

This morning, Kasich offered up what's being called the "first substantive proposal of the governor's race" from either candidate when he announced his proposal to privatize the Ohio Department of Development.

This innovative idea, while new, does have some proven success of working elsewhere.

And we only had to look next door to find it.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is the State of Indiana's lead economic development agency. The IEDC was officially established in February 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce. In order to respond quickly to the needs of businesses, the IEDC operates like a business.

Led by Indiana Secretary of Commerce and IEDC Chief Executive Officer E. Mitchell Roob, Jr., the IEDC is organized as a public private partnership governed by a 12-member board. The IEDC Board of Directors is chaired by Governor Mitch Daniels and reflects the geographic and economic diversity of Indiana. The IEDC focuses its efforts on growing and retaining businesses in Indiana and attracting new business to the State.

Sounds familiar, eh? Now my understanding is that while JobsOhio will be very similar to IEDC, it won't be a carbon copy. Kasich's team wants to create a hybrid of what works from around the country.

So how is the IEDC doing? Pretty damn well if you ask the fellas that actually do the hiring....CEOs.

This year, CEO Magazine polled 651 CEOs and asked them what states were best for business.

Guess who was best in the midwest. That's right. Indiana.

This is the same poll that showed Ohio dropping 24 spots(!) since 2005. Going from 20th in 2005 to 44th in 2010.

But it's Strickland that likes the status quo. According to him, we're on the right track.

Reality states otherwise.

It's time or a change. It's time for JobsOhio.

UPDATE: The Ohio GOP has edited together some good footage from the announcement this morning. Check it out:

Lee Fisher's campaign is battered and bruised.

What a day for Lee Fisher.

With a new $500k tv ad buy from Karl Rove's American Crossroads organization in support of Rob Portman, the GOP is kicking Lee Fisher while he's down.

This morning, a new Rasmussen poll showed Portman extending his lead to 45-37, closely mirroring what we saw in the recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.

And on top of all that, Forbes Magazine's Real Clear Politics published an article today highlighting the superiority of the Portman campaign organization.

How much can Fisher stand? And how long until we learn of the DSCC pulling out of the race completely?

With Portman's favorability at 51-23%, it's quite clear that all the efforts to attack Portman's connection to Bush have failed miserably. And that's the only bullet in Fisher's gun.

It's ok to wave the white flag, Lee. Just keep your shirt on.

Doing something about it.

A Governor's job is to make their state's business environment more attractive than the states around them.

And not too long ago, Governor Strickland's own Council of Economic Advisors predicted that Ohio won't recover from the economic downturn as quickly as the rest of the nation.

That means the development model currently in place is not working as Ohio is not more competitive than the states surrounding it.

Today, John Kasich put forth "the first substantive proposal of the governor's race" to turn that around when he announced his plan to replace the Ohio Department of Development with a private, nonprofit corporation.

Kasich would create JobsOhio and appoint a 12-member board of directors to oversee economic development efforts by the state. The board would be comprised of current and former chief executive officers, including some from small companies. Members would come from different areas of the state and industry groups.

Two things are very clear.

1. Whatever the current Ohio Department of Development is doing is not working.
2. We need to do something different.

And since Lee Fisher and Ted Strickland failed to do anything to improve the ODOD, Kasich is showing some leadership with JobsOhio.

Kasich's JobsOhio plan is vastly different. It completely replaces the current bureaucratic nightmare that is the Ohio Department of Development with an incentive-based organization with far greater accountability than anything ever seen in government. If the JobsOhio staff aren't getting the job done, they get fired. If they do something wrong, they lose their job. Something that doesn't happen in the Strickland/Fisher Department of Development.

Results are required. Fancy seeing that, eh?

You can read the details here.

UPDATE: The Strickland campaign is up with their response to Kasich's plan. It focuses on more attacks of Kasich and defending the status quo. If the status quo is what Strickland wants to run on, fine. But it's not what Ohioans want. It won't turn Ohio around. And it won't win him the election in 2010.

Why President Obama is coming to Ohio.

President Obama is a liability to Democrats this cycle. Of that, there is no question.

His approval numbers are universally low, with both Gallup and Rasmussen showing his worst ratings yet.

The Washington Post is running stories about how Democrats have chosen to run from the President.

One senior Democratic consultant suggested that the distance candidates are seeking to put between themselves and Obama is reflective of the ascendance of economic issues in voters' minds. "Barack Obama's economic policy of spending our way out of recession is seen as a failure at best and harmful at worst," the source said. "That should tell candidates in competitive jurisdictions all they need to know about running with the president."

And even the RNC is jumping on the bandwagon with an amusing ad mocking all the Democrats who refuse to be seen with Obama.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Despite every shred of evidence showing the President to be a liability, the Strickland campaign is welcoming him in with open arms for a widely publicized campaign event tomorrow.

Why?

There can only be three possible reasons. And none of them are good for the Strickland campaign.

1. They need money. Bad. While Strickland almost raised as much money as John Kasich last reporting period, a massive portion of it once again came from Union and Special Interest money that is now tapped out. If they are bringing in a massive political liability to raise money and risk damaging Strickland further, it must be because they have to.
2. Strickland's numbers look awful. The latest numbers on the race showed Kasich up 9. But the real problem, as I've mentioned many times before, is that Democrats aren't supporting Strickland the way that's necessary to make victory possible. It's very possible that the Reuters poll merely reflected the massive weakness among the base that they've seen in their own internal polling.
3. They're really, really, really stupid.

If you take Strickland's manager at his word, it seems the closest answer is #2.

From the Dispatch:

"From a strategic perspective, Democrats are enthusiastic about the president," said Aaron Pickrell, Strickland's campaign manager, who views Obama's visit as an opportunity to rekindle the excitement among the party faithful that propelled Obama to a 4.6 percentage-point victory in Ohio in 2008.

"We're reaching out to them to maintain that enthusiasm," said Pickrell, who also was Obama's Ohio campaign manager.

So here we have the Strickland campaign admitting there is an enthusiasm problem within his own base. I appreciate the honesty.

But if he wants to talk strategics, he's leaving out a very important number - Obama's approval rating among Independents.

It's true, according to Gallup, support among Democrats for Obama since his inauguration has been relatively steady. But among Independents there has been a massive drop of 35% since February of '09. With support of the President among Indies sitting at an amazingly low 39%, any benefit of inspiring the base comes paired with the significant sacrifice of losing Independents.

But the Strickland campaign is willing to risk it.

Why? Because they have to.

The Strickland campaign is in serious trouble.

The $1 million Backyard Visit

When the President came to Ohio for a 10 minute speech commemorating the 10,000th stimulus project, it cost taxpayers between $500,000 and $1,000,000 to transport Obama and his entourage of secret service, limos and all the other bells and whistles that come with a presidential visit.

Well, on Wednesday the President arrives in Ohio again. This time to campaign and raise money for Ohio Ted Strickland.

But just because it's a campaign-based visit don't think you're going to get away with not paying the President's transportation tab.

Why? Because he's going to take some time out of his day to go hang out in someone's backyard:

President Barack Obama will meet with an unidentified family in Clintonville Wednesday morning while in Columbus.

The president will have a backyard discussion about the economy with the host families and others, a White House official said this morning.

Thanks to this backyard visit, you the taxpayer are paying an ungodly sum to help the President raise money for Ted Strickland. Why? Because it counts as an official presidential visit rather than a campaign visit that would require campaign dollars to fund.

Now to be fair, other presidents have utilized official events in order to help pay for campaign-based events. But in this economy and after so many trips already by Obama to Ohio, is this event really necessary?

Is Ted Strickland so desperate that he wants taxpayers to spend $1 million, or possibly more since it's an overnight visit, to send an unpopular President to Columbus to campaign for him?

Yes. And 3BP will have more on that desperation tomorrow.

Ronald Reagan is still right.

A new video from the Republican Study Committee does a fantastic job of using footage from Reagan's A Time for Choosing speech in 1964 to convey the choice facing voters in 2010.

Chabot, Tiberi, and Stivers have commanding leads

A relatively new polling firm, We Ask America, is out with new polls on three key congressional races in Ohio.

• Steve Chabot is up 51% to 39% with a 26% edge among Independents.
• Steve Stivers is up 46% to 41% while leading Independents 44-32%.
• And Pat Tiberi shows up the anti-incumbent argument by leading 51-34% with a 15 point buffer among Independents.

If these numbers hold up, many on the Democratic side are going to wonder why the DCCC wasted so many resources on races that were clearly so far outside the possibility of victory.

After a little research into their background it seems We Ask America, a new automated polling firm out of Illinois, seems to have a partisan Republican background. That said, it doesn't mean their polls shouldn't be considered legitimate. After all, Public Policy Polling (PPP) is a Democratic firm and they are considered among the top pollsters. Unfortunately, since they are new, We Ask America doesn't have much material to back up their accuracy.

Back in March, WAA had Democrat Mark Critz leading Republican Tim Burns by 39-35% with 26% undecided. About two months later, Critz beat Burns 52-45. If they were overtly partisan, this race is easily one where they could have skewed the results. Instead, it turns out they were pretty darn accurate.

We'll need to see how November turns out to see just how good WAA is as a polling firm, but with the Critz result they're 1 for 1. New polling firms have to start somewhere. Let's see how they do.

In case there was any doubt...

Thanks to Robert Gibbs who is helping my side's talking points:

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said there’s “no question” that the gubernatorial races in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin will have an impact on the president’s election, and that having Democrats in charge would “absolutely” help Obama in 2012.

“Strong gubernatorial races in all three of those states will help the ticket top to bottom, and having governors in those states in 2012 certainly will help him,” Gibbs said.

Pari Sabety does her best Chris Farley impersonation.

By my count, since Ted Strickland began running for Governor he has received $1,938,610.86 from unions.

Nearly $2 million. Just from Unions.

With that in mind, was anyone honestly surprised by this headline in the Columbus Dispatch over the weekend?


Richard Murray, the Governor's handpicked OSFC Director, is actually refreshingly honest.

It's rare that you see Democratic appointees so clearly and directly state what we all already know - that the Strickland Administration puts labor's interests over that of the taxpayers.

Of course, that didn't stop Pari "Hit and Run" Sabety from trying to cover the Administration's butt a bit...

Asked if she agreed with the inspector general's recommendation that the OSFC should ensure that Murray remains neutral toward union labor when working with school districts, Sabety wrote: “I agree that the Commission’s neutrality with regard to local district decisions should be made more clear, so I have asked the OSFC legal counsel to draft clarifying language.”

In other words, "shut up, Richard!"

The 3BP 2012 GOP Primary Poll

As we head into the weekend I thought it would be fun to bring back the 3BP 2012 GOP Primary poll and see where our readers stand. The last time we did this our top three vote getters were Sarah Palin, Mitch Daniels, and Haley Barbour. Time to see how things have changed.

Have at it, folks.

Well that didn't work, how about this....

Democrats are starting to accept the fact that they won't win on the economy, jobs, or health care.

So that means it's time to start throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks.

If anything.

First up? Social Security.

All of the information I've seen, and I've seen some of the national polling data and some in local districts as well, show that people are... extremely nervous about privatizing Social Security," said Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "And they are worried that that's what Republicans intend to do. They tried it once... and it is a major plank in the road map that was set forth by their point person on the budget committee, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.)."

In an interview with the Huffington Post, the Maryland Democrat said he is taking his cues from the debate that Democrats successfully argued during the turn of George W. Bush's second term. "The fact is that the American people soundly rejected the Bush privatization proposal," said Van Hollen. "The events of the past 18 months underscore what kind of economic devastation would have been caused to seniors."

This week alone, Democrats are set to host 100 town halls centered on keeping Social Security intact. And they're putting together TV advertisements to air against Republican lawmakers who have supported privatization.

Taking her cue from her masters in DC, as always, Mary Jo Kilroy was one of them as she had her own social security town hall this week in central Ohio.

But can the new strategy work?

A Democratic polling firm seems to think so.

In Thursday morning, the influential Democratic polling firm Democracy Corps released new findings that echoed and amplified Van Hollen's point. The firm found that 68 percent of respondents responded favorable to a message that: "The federal deficit is a big national problem but we should not make major spending cuts in Social Security or Medicare." Only 28 percent favored the idea that the federal deficit is such a national problem that we have to cut spending broadly including possible future cuts to Social Security and Medicare."

Now this seems to make the decision to attack on Social Security a smart one, eh?

Not so much.

Stand alone polling questions like the one asked by Democracy Corps are all fine and dandy. But if the issue at hand doesn't resonate to the public, scenarios like the one posed to the Democracy Corps sample don't matter much.

So will Social Security resonate? Not if this question from the recent Reuters-Ipsos poll is any indication:


Anyone see Social Security on that list?

Didn't think so.

While the new strategy dreamed up by the Democrats may briefly distract from the issues that matter most to voters, it won't have any significant effect on the elections in November.

Does that mean Social Security reform doesn't need addressed? Of course not.

It's simply not a winning issue for the fall.

But feel free to keep trying, Dems.

We should totally screw with the 14th amendment...

....said Sen. Harry Reid.

For all the brouhaha over Republicans wanting to review the interpretation of the 14^th Amendment, the citizenship/birthright clause, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, once supported revising the current interpretation of the birthright citizenship clause in 1993.

Mr. Reid introduced a bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee as the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993. The bill, which died in committee after it was referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs, includes tough immigration provisions that would make many wonder where Mr. Reid truly stands on the immigration and border debate.

The Center for Immigration Studies said of the bill in 1993:

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 1351) that includes a provision that would limit citizenship to those whose mothers are United States citizens or legal permanent residents. However, Senator Reid's proposal is to amend only the Immigration and Nationality Act, not the Constitution.

Pwned.

Makes you think the Senator may regret these words he uttered not long ago:

For more on the text of Reid's legislation, click here.

Where do they go from here?

This is what happens when you overpromise and underdeliver.

“In 2008,” Michelle Rena Jones says with a laugh, “we cheered, hollered, partied, celebrated.” The party’s over in 2010, though, and she knows it. Jones says promises haven’t been fulfilled, and now she feels as though she made a mistake — and she’s not the only one.

Real or Fake?

This is the kind of viral marketing that can help advance a narrative.



The hostess seems to be trying a little too hard with the snarkiness, but it still does a good job of communicating some of the ridiculous projects our tax dollars are paying for in Obama's stimulus.

More mud in the swamp.

The Sestak Scandal is back.

Thank you, President Clinton.

I'll let the GOP members of the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform take it from here:

In February, allegations that someone inside the Obama White House offered Pennsylvania Senate Democratic nominee and three-star Navy Admiral Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) a job in exchange for his withdrawal from the PA Senate Primary race were made by Sestak himself. In late-May, White House Counsel Robert Bauer released a memo claiming that “The White House Chief of Staff enlisted the support of former President Clinton who agreed to raise with Congressman Sestak options of service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board. Congressman Sestak declined the suggested alternatives, remaining committed to his Senate candidacy.”

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) responded, “You know the saying there’s three sides to every story, well, now we have it. Admiral Sestak has repeatedly said he was offered a ‘job’ in an effort to obtain his withdrawal from the Senate Primary. The White House has said ‘efforts were made in June AND July” in said job as well as the admission that they ‘enlisted’ former President Clinton to make the overture. President Clinton says he ‘never tried to get Sestak out of the race.’ Who’s telling the truth?”

WBRE-TV has reported that former President Bill Clinton, who until yesterday has not spoken publicly on the controversy, denied any involvement in trying to maneuver Sestak out of the race:

“Clinton denied it to EyeWitness news, saying he never tried to get Sestak out of the race and has never been accused of it.” (WBRE-TV, 8/10/10)

Sestak told a different story on May 28^th:

“Last summer, I received a phone call from President Clinton. During the course of the conversation, he expressed concern over my prospects if I were to enter the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and the value of having me stay in the House of Representatives because of my military background. He said that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with him about my being on a Presidential Board while remaining in the House of Representatives.”

Who am I? Why am I here?

Doing his best impression of Phil Hartman doing an impression of Admiral Stockdale, yesterday Ohio Governor Ted Strickland answered the latest batch of questions on Rebategate.

Patrick Preston of WCMH-TV, the reporter who first broke the story and has been doing a tear-up job of getting to the bottom of the whole mess, had a chance to confront Strickland with the latest gap in the story.

First off, we see a shifty eyed Governor attempt to tell us that he didn't know when he was told about the whole incident. Odd, eh? You'd imagine if something was a big enough deal that he felt it was necessary to implement an executive order, that he'd probably have an idea of when he found out about the incident. Apparently not.

But the most interesting part of the interview is Preston's question about the five month gap between the Department of Development finding out about the outsourcing and the implementation of the executive order banning said outsourcing.

PRESTON: Is that the sort of issue you'd expect to be informed of right away?

STRICKLAND: Yes, especially if it was the result of a violation of existing rules and regulations. That's the part of this I find most...most troubling. If the rules had not already been in place it would not have been as troubling to me as knowing that there were rules in place that were not observed and followed. That's when I think it was most appropriate for me to be brought into the loop because it involved a decision as to whether or not personnel would be help accountable and what that accountability would entail.

In the article Preston notes that he asked the Department of Development why the Governor wasn't notified and they had not yet responded at time of posting.

Lisa Patt-McDaniel is the current Director of the Ohio Department of Development. Her boss just said she screwed up. That's bad.

Imagine that, an appointee of the Governor screwing up. Shocker.

Ohioans deserve a competent executive branch. Time after time after time, Ohioans have learned that is something they can't expect to find in Ted Strickland's administration.

Rich Rodriguez is to Michigan what Barack Obama is to America

This is a guest post from an old 3BP contributor by the name of The Seaward. And with football finally upon us, it's a good one. Check it out.

Think about it.

Both followed the last in a line of linked figures that started with a legend (Bo/Reagan), stumbled through a middling successor (Gary Moeller/GHWB) and then a much-grumbled-about third in the line (Lloyd Carr/GWB). Both of these men earned some early praise (Carr for '97, Bush for his handling of 9/11), but both ultimately fell prey to their critics and their later years were marked by constant complaints about their performance -- sometimes justified and sometimes not.

Their departures led to a chorus of voices screaming for change. No one from the Bo coaching tree would take over for Carr, and there would be no GOP savior to succeed Bush.

A-ha! We got our men! Obama to lead us with hope and change! RichRod to lead us with his brilliant spread option!

Sure, there were some lingering questions. Obama hadn't ever... you know... run anything in his life. RichRod had imploded spectacularly in his last game at West Virginia and shredded everything that wasn't nailed down on his way out the door.

But who cared? Change was here!

And then we learned that maybe there was a reason a football program... or a country... did things the way they always had.

Early humiliations and missteps were brushed aside.

"It's the previous guy's fault! Did you see the economy/roster he inherited? How can he be expected to work with this?"

And as the months and years drag on, things somehow don't seem to be getting much better.

Both are still bumbling easy tasks... both exhibit a wanton disregard for rules.

"The Constitution? Practice hours and coaching restrictions? Those are for others, not me!"

And now we're seeing the tide really turning. Many Michigan fans want a Bo disciple (Stanford coach and former UM QB Jim Harbaugh) back in charge. And the polls are pretty clear that America has more or less had it with the change, thankyouverymuch.

And it seems likely that this November, both of our Change-a-maniacs are going to receive a swift kick in the ass from the good guys.

DJ Note: As a couple friends helped point out, The Seaward's column nails it pretty good except for a few key points.

1. At least Rodriguez has the decency not to blame Lloyd Carr for his failings.
2. It's only going to take UM about 2-3 years to clean up Rich Rod's mess once he gets the boot.
3. No Ohioan has any interest in seeing Rodriguez get replaced.

Strickland loses grip on his home turf

Much of politics is perception.

Voters ask themselves a multitude of questions as they head to the voting booth.

"Are our leaders doing a good job? Are things going well? Has he or she well represented my interests?"

How voters perceive those answers matter.

So how will voters in Ted Strickland's home base react to the job he's done for southeast Ohio?

Unfortunately for the Governor, there are four issues that many people of southeast Ohio are bound to remember as they go to the polls.

1) The Big One. Unemployment.
In the 12 counties that encompass southeast Ohio, unemployment sits at 12.25%, or 17% higher than the state unemployment rate and 29% higher than the national unemployment rate.

Things are bad in the U.S. They are even worse in Ohio. But they are god-awful in southeast Ohio. Nothing matters more than putting food on the table and a roof over your head. And thanks to the jobs crisis, the people of southeast Ohio are suffering moreso than normal.

2) Who deserves the cash?
A wave of new federal dollars have flowed into Ohio recently via the Hardest-Hit fund. A number of variables determine who gets the most money to help pay their mortgages. Well, it turns out those variables mean a lot of southeast Ohio won't get the same level of assistance as other parts of the state.

This year, the Appalachian Regional Commission designated 6 Ohio counties as distressed. Three of them don't get the same level of assistance as more well-off counties like Butler or even Franklin County. And it's quite likely many in southeast Ohio won't find that very fair. Are some of the reasons for the levels of compensation valid? Perhaps. But that doesn't help the perception much, does it?

3) The 3-C.
Southeast Ohioans are contributing their hard-earned taxpayer dollars to fund the famous $400 million 3-C train. On top of that, millions more of their tax dollars will be spent for years to come to keep it running. All on a train they won't use unless they are willing to drive an hour or more. With times as tough as they are, how happy would you be funding a train you have no use for?

4) Trashing the Hometown Boy
The Shoemaker name is well-known in southern Ohio. Mike Shoemaker served in the Ohio House for 14 years and the Ohio Senate for 6. His Dad served as Lt. Governor. And he was fired by Governor Strickland for questionable reasons. I imagine there are a few people in southern Ohio that weren't very happy with that turn of events.

The problem for the governor comes when all of these perceptions become reflected in reality.

The first instance of which was first seen in the May primary data from SE Ohio.

Despite the Democratic Senate primary being the highest profile race on the ballot, 2,326 voters in the 12 southeastern counties switched from Democrat to Republican in the primary. In return, only 470 Republicans switched to Democrat.

While those aren't a massive amount of voters, the trend is particularly significant. Why? Because those 12 counties voted for Strickland over Blackwell 71.3% to 27.1% in 2006.

You'd imagine such a stronghold for Strickland would stay somewhat loyal. Instead we are seeing a defection. Now if your first reaction is to say the number of new GOP voters is relatively small, fine. But if you are going to do that, you need to also consider the far smaller number of new Dem voters at the same time.

The trend is clear. Much of southeastern Ohio is fed up with Strickland.

Does that mean John Kasich will win each of these 12 counties? Not necessarily. But without question, Strickland is going to perform far weaker is his home base than he did in 2006.

And if he can't keep Duck Run in line, how can he expect the state to stay loyal?

Is the stimulus working?

This report from the AP should answer that question for you:

Initial claims have now risen in three of the last four weeks and are close to their high point for the year of 490,000, reached in late January. The four-week average, which smooths volatility, soared by 14,250 to 473,500, also the highest since late February.

The prospects of more layoffs added to this week's grim outlook for the economy, which began Tuesday when the Federal Reserve lowered its assessment of the recovery.

It's very simple. The $800 billion stimulus was enacted nearly 18 months ago. If it was working, would we currently be approaching highs of jobless claims for the year? The answer, of course, is no.

The question now for voters isn't necessarily whether Obamanomics has worked or not. It's pretty damn clear that it hasn't. Instead voters will be asking themselves, "who should I blame?"

That's not good news for the Party currently controlling massive majorities in Congress and the Presidency.

Murray paints Strickland into a corner.

The School Facilities Big Labor Scandal keeps making news.

A quick recap for those who have been enjoying August vacation like normal people do:

In 2009, Strickland fired the Director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission, the son of a Democratic Party legend, for not being cozy enough with the unions. He was replaced with Richard Murray. Richard Murray came under investigation by the Ohio Inspector General for cozying up a little too close to the unions. The IG determined Murray "abused his authority by repeatedly acting as a go-between for union representatives and participating in arm-twisting sessions with local school districts."

Well, on Saturday the Governor said:

"I support Mr. Murray. I think he's done nothing wrong."

On Sunday, the Dispatch went in a different direction:

Murray’s actions were grossly unprofessional and unacceptable for the head of a state agency in charge of billions of dollars in public money. The governor faces a choice: Remove an administrator who has ill-served the public, or keep him and thereby choose to serve labor’s interests rather than those of Ohio students and taxpayers.

Then the Plain Dealer said:

Murray, whether he believes it or not, has compromised the credibility of his office. Should he fail to resign, Strickland should give him a push. That might be politically expedient, but it's also the right thing to do.

And Richard Murray's reply in an interview with NBC 4 in Columbus dropped the hammer:

"As long as I have the Governor's support, I will not resign."

My friends, we've got an old-fashioned showdown.

And things have gone from bad to worse for Governor Strickland.

Right off the bat, Strickland said Murray did nothing wrong, but left wiggle room for Murray to resign of his own accord [wink, wink].

Ohio's two largest newspapers told the Governor that Murray must be fired or resign.

Then Murray took away Strickland's only out by saying the only way he would resign is if the Governor told him to do so.

So now Strickland has two choices.

One. Murray resigns. If this happens we know it will because the Governor asked him to do so. It's also the right thing to do. The problem? Based on the Governor's initial statement it would lack any political credibility since he had already thrown his public support behind Murray.

Two. Keep Murray. That leaves Strickland open to further criticisms into the indefinite future. And not just by his opposition, but by the media as well.

Either way, it's a lose-lose.

And it was all self-inflicted.

Republicans can count...

...and pretty darn well, it turns out.

From the Dispatch:

A memo sent to members of the Budget Planning and Management Commission, the bipartisan legislative panel that is supposed to come up with potential options for dealing with the 2012-13 budget shortfall, calculates the amount of one-time money in the current budget at $8.4 billion, the same figure reached by Senate Republican fiscal experts.

This is one time I wish Republicans were wrong.

It's unfathomable that Ohio's state government allowed itself to blow up to such a level that someone believed using $8.4 billion in one-time money was actually a good idea.

Taking it to David Pepper

Thanks to David Pepper's family money, the race for Auditor may be the most challenging for the GOP among all the statewide campaigns this election season.

And from the looks of this video, Dave Yost is ready to play hardball.



Yost is a bright, engaging, and hard working candidate. And with the apportionment board up for grabs, the race could not be more important.

That said, he faces quite the deficit in campaign dollars. If you'd like to contribute, please click here.

Enthusiasm!

President Obama's Organizing for America is pushing hard to have an influence on the elections in Ohio.

On their Ohio website they provide an opportunity for their plethora of volunteers to sign up and go door-to-door in neighborhoods all around Columbus.

The signups so far have been.......underwhelming.


You see something like this and it puts the 23-point enthusiasm gap from yesterday's Reuters poll into perspective.

Ohio Democrats! Feel the enthusiasm!

Three days.

Three days ago, John Kasich released his first statewide ad on Youtube.

Today it has 9,629 views.


Three months and seven days ago, Ted Strickland released his first statewide ad.

Today it has a little over 8,800 views.

Just sayin'.

Who is paying for Zack Space's campaign website?

Because it sure isn't Zack Space.

Click on the pic and look at the bottom right. "Zach" Space? Way to pay attention to detail, guy who runs Space campaign:



UPDATE: Apparently Congressman Space's staff reads the blog. Hi, fellas.

As seen on his site this afternoon: