Ohio 2nd Blog

Stories in America has collected responses to the President’s “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq” by Iraq war veterans Paul Rieckhoff, Operation Truth Executive Director, and Paul Hackett.

Both Congressman Sherrod Brown and Martha Stewart will be in Lebanon Saturday. Brown as a part of his Senate kickoff tour… Martha Stewart with a camera crew at the Christmas festival and parade in search of tips on how to celebrate the holidays.

One thing that you have to give Congresswoman Schmidt credit for is that she’s had a profound effect on the American political landscape. The problem is that the effect has been entirely to the benefit of the Democrat Party.

I remember back after the special election 2nd debate. This was at the height of the race when all the swiftboating talk was going on. It would have been so easy for her to defuse the issue simply by showing him a little bit of respect on the war. Instead she had to keep attacking Hackett, never once giving him an inch for his perspective as a vet, and thus a star was born.

Now Mark Shields reports on the new face of the Democrat Party, John Murtha, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Schmidt:

I predicted that the speech he was about give to would have the same impact on the debate over Iraq that former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite had on February 27, 1968, when he spoke of the near-certainty that “the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.” President Lyndon Johnson said: “That’s it. If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” Murtha did not believe me.

What made it all true was the venality and stupidity of the Republicans. From the personality-challenged White House press secretary accusing him of “surrender” to the clueless, but venomous, Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, unaware of his combat record, accusing Murtha of being a ” coward,” Republicans made Jack Murtha the most prominent Democrat in town.

As one astute Senate Republican aide observed to David Rogers of The Wall Street Journal, “If the House Republicans want to make Jack Murtha the face of the Democratic Party, then Republicans will really be trounced next year.“

Another very interesting perspective comes from Seymour Hersh on Wolf Blitzer’s Late Edition:

We have generals that do not like — anymore — they’re worried about speaking truth to power. You know that. I mean that’s — Murtha in fact, John Murtha, the congressman from Pennsylvania, which most people don’t know, has tremendous contacts with the senior generals of the armies. He’s a ranking old war horse in Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. The generals know him and like him. His message to the White House was much more worrisome than maybe to the average person in the public. They know that generals are privately telling him things that they’re not saying to them.

And if you’re a general and you have a disagreement with this war, you cannot get that message into the White House. And that gets people unnerved.

Schmidt picked a real winner tangling with Murtha.

Coward?!! Try Nazi sympathizer.

(via Atrios)

Behold:

BTW, Project Logic points out that their location choice might not be the best.

Tom Brinkman is featured today in an article in the Beltway insider publication The Hill. Some highlights:

Calling Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) “Mean Jean” and a “pathological liar,” a Republican former rival said yesterday she would almost certainly face a serious primary challenge next year.

“I don’t know who it will be,” state Rep. Tom Brinkman said in an interview with The Hill. “It could be me. It could be Bob McEwen. I think it’s important that she have one challenger to beat her. You don’t want two or three or four because it splits up the vote. I think she’s in serious political trouble.”

Good thinking there…

Brinkman said the GOP House primary returns from this past summer would likely determine Schmidt’s challenger in the May 2 primary. The filing deadline is Feb. 16.

“There’s a pecking order. I didn’t come in second,” Brinkman said. Referring to McEwen, he added: “I’ll have to defer to the guy who came in second.”

Very interesting…

Brinkman said McEwen has been all but officially campaigning for the seat, in the state’s 2nd District, stretching from the Cincinnati suburbs to the rural areas east of the city.

That effort includes, Brinkman said, shoring up McEwen’s support among elected officials and pastors who backed him last time.

Bennett, Schmidt’s chief of staff, said McEwen had signaled he might run for senator, governor or secretary of state. He added that McEwen no longer lives in the district.

Really… is that true? Did he sell his home here?

And finally on Hackett:

A Democratic source in Washington said Democratic officials want Hackett to run for the House seat again. Other possible Democratic contenders include David Pepper, a former Cincinnati mayoral candidate. Adrienne Elrod, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Schmidt’s comments on the House floor had embarrassed the congresswoman and distracted the Congress from the debate over the Iraq war.

Turning to the Senate race, Brinkman said DeWine, too, could face an insurmountable challenge. “I think either of them would beat him,” Brinkman said of Hackett and Brown. He added that the senator’s opposition to some gun rights had hurt him, giving Hackett, a strong backer of Second Amendment rights, a better shot in the general election.

UPDATE: Project Logic also reports that a group calling itself American Viewpoint is conducting pro-McEwen push polls. Project Logic has details on the content for the calls.

Sports fans… it appears that we have ourselves a horserace.

UPDATE 2: On an interesting aside, key Bob McEwen backer Dr. James Dobson is the target of an IRS complaint over his political activities. Could the actions of these left wingers help Jean Schmidt?

UPDATE 3: I just now noticed… look who’s on the upper right hand corner of the print version

Well well well… looks like the Congresswoman is about to be serenaded with the Dean scream. The DNC just now sent out a fundraising email to put up a billboard in our beloved 2^nd chastising her for her comments concerning Jack Murtha.

The full text after the break…

(more…)

Mike Coleman is out. I am a big fan of the mayor and hope to see him make a stab for something again soon. Still, I am glad that he dropped out early on. Later on it will be interesting to make an assessment of the mistakes made by the campaign.

Blogger and certifiably insane person Tim Russo is floating the theory that Eric Fingerhut will step in and instantly become the front runner because of his DLC connections. Can someone who has the ability to prescribe drugs attend the next Meet the Bloggers, please.

Project Logic is reporting that Congresswoman Jean Schmidt has signed on to cosponser HR 4313: The “TRUE” Enforcement and Boarder Security Act of 2005. Key components of the legislation _[pdf] include building a security fence along the border with Mexico and denying benefits to illegal aliens.

I can just imagine how fun agricultural communities will be with masses of bored and uneducationed immigrant children roaming their streets.

Juan Mann of DeportAliens.com spells out the justification:

But what is “true” immigration law enforcement anyway?

Answer: Real immigration law enforcement is arresting aliens, deporting them, and making sure they stay out.

WRONG

Here’s the answer, and it’s so simple you could do it without passing a single bit of new legislation: ENFORCE THE DAMNED LAWS. Prosecute employers that hire illegal aliens. A few perp walks of Maw and Paw Kettle off their mega farms and presto! problem solved. But we all know that they’ll never attack the problem from the source, because no one that donates to ARMPAC wants to end their access to ultra cheap laborers that have almost no rights. It’s much easier to just use illegals as Piñatas and pour billions more down the crony sinkhole commonly known as the Department of Homeland Security.

I give the very conservative odds of this budget buster passing at 100 to 1 against. Business will put the kibosh on this sucker faster than you can say “cowards cut and run”. Plus, Rove has worked too hard building up Republican support in the Latino community to lose it with this baby. HR 4313 is nothing but vaporlegislation being used as misdirection from the disaster which is the Republican’s handling of the Iraq debate.

UPDATE:

Bloomberg > Bush Seeks to Bridge Republican Split on Immigration Plans
Knight Ridder > Bush tries to straddle divide over illegal immigration to U.S. - TOUGH TALK: BUSINESS LIKES CHEAP LABOR, BUT VOTERS WANT SECURE BORDERS

This bit sounds more promising:

…other lawmakers, mostly in the Senate, have shown bipartisan leadership and a desire to solve the problem, not just its symptoms. Crafted by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (S 1033/HR 2330) sets realistic immigration levels and adds tough enforcement. It would provide: undocumented workers a multiyear path to citizenship if they live crime-free, learn English, pay taxes and fines. It also provides security enhancements and labor tests so that jobs aren’t taken from U.S. workers. By such reforms we can protect our borders and enforce our law.

Dayton Daily News > Dems may get leader Dec. 19

Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin said Monday she has a plan for Ohio Democrats to pick a new state chair by Dec. 19, a plan that probably won’t allow for a statewide series of town hall meetings.

One thing that the net roots needs to learn is that if we want a voice in choosing the top we need to be just as involved with the choices made at the bottom.