Fri 6 Jan 2006
Special election Democratic primary alumnist Jeff Sinnard threw his hat into the ring yesterday to take on Jean Schmidt.
I covered Mr. Sinnard in last year’s report on the first primary debate. Since then he’s added a blog and has been much more active online.
He’s also posted a four part (1 2 3 4) writeup of Jean Schmidt’s night of spooky ghost stories and visions for a better Reich in Loveland.
Boy oh boy do I hope that candidates do more of this type of work. Why are you letting me define your opponent and frame the debate? You want to run against her… take Schmidt on. Put yourself into the picture. Very few people outside of this blog know who you are. Schmidt is a hot commodity right now. You want to get some play in this race. RUN AGAINST JEAN SCHMIDT. Make yourself the voice of the opposition. TAKE HER ON AND MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO REPLACE HER WITH YOU. Take charge. You want to lead the district? LEAD. That goes for all of you guys… Wulsin, Jacobs, Sinnard, Parker and whomever else wants to take on the 2nd. It’s time for my voice to soften and yours to rise up. It’s the only way you’ll win and it’s the only way we can take back the 2nd.
And I’m not talking about vague platitues about how you’ll represent the district better and the values of Ohio and your belief in a better tomorrow and how you work with everyone to bring joy and peace and fluffy bunnies for everyone. FIGHT FOR IT. ATTACK. Fight for jobs. Fight for health care. Fight for our rights. Fight for our Country. Things are a mess and REPUBLICANS are the reason why. TELL THAT TO THE VOTERS. Tell them what’s wrong and how YOU will make it better.
The candidate that wins the Democratic primary will be walking into a room full of love both on the ground and from the blogosphere thanks to the path created by Paul Hackett’s leadership and Jean Schmidt’s uglyness. (think about what I mean when I say love) That’s a prize that will be handed to you the day after the primary. Earn it. Earn the honor of leading the army waiting to help you defeat Jean Schmidt. Show us why we should follow you. The stage is yours. Good luck. I’ll be rooting for ya!
(BTW, I don’t want to hear something like… well she’s not the nominee yet… we might be running against Bob McEwen… We’d better hold off attacking her. With that sentence you will have thrown away your best weapon of winning the race. She is the target. She is your hook. (The thing that makes people listen to you) Use people’s dislike of her and what she stands for to make them like you. Personalize it. As long as she is Congresswoman in this district she is your public enemy number 1. Focus on your objective. If the target changes, we’ll all shift on a dime. But until that point, stay focused on your target.)
January 6th, 2006 at 10:45 am
“Things are a mess and REPUBLICANS are the reason why”
That line might help win the Democratic primary but in the general election in the 2nd district where two out of three voters ARE Republicans, one might want to fight somewhat more tactically.
January 6th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Ahh you caught me. I edited that line.
January 6th, 2006 at 10:48 am
I’m actually torn on that one. Part of my thinks that we need to start branding the Democratic party now. Most vote Republican but Party affiliation is a weak thing in this state. I bet more and more people will be looking for an alternative.
January 6th, 2006 at 10:51 am
It’s pretty gutless hiding from what Party you represent. I say go for it. Tactics be damned. Sometimes you have to chuck tactics for grand stragegy and that is branding your Party as the positive alternative to things as they are.
January 6th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
I dont know, whether they admit it or not, I think republicans are fully aware that the ones supposedly representing them..well…suck.
January 6th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
[…] Ohio 2nd has some good stuff on a Democrat entering the race, and links to Axinar’s account of what might be the most bizarre performance of an elected official in like, forever. …suddenly, the lights went out! It turned out the power failure affected just about everything east of the Little Miami River. Oh, yes, it was quite spooky as Congresswoman Schmidt entered the chamber illuminating herself solely with a small, handheld flashlight and looking not terribly dissimilar from the late John Colicos’ portrayal of Count Baltar from the original Battlestar Galactica series. […]
January 6th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
The tone of my campaign will be somewhere between meade’s and Editor’s comments. I will be standing up and fighting for what I believe in, but I think people are tired of the attacks and negative campaigning. I am passionate about Democratic principles and will proudly proclaim them. I do not intend to demonize Jean, just point out why she is wrong and how we can do better - MUCH better.
January 7th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Jeff, just remember this. You have no money, no name recognition, no significant base of support within the Party, AND you’re running on a pro-life platform which turns you against a significant portion of the party base. Two of your opponents (Wulsin and Jacobs) already have significant support and they are longshots. The press and the blogs will ignore you unless you do things that attract their attention. When Hackett ran against Schmidt the local press barely covered it. (Why? If you ask me it was because Hackett wasn’t agressive enought against Schmidt.)
You have 16 seconds, and you are down by 7 points. You HAVE to foul. That’s the only way you will win. If you want to dribble the ball and watch the clock tick down, that’s your choice, but know that you will lose.
The purpose of this site is to help defeat Republicans. If you don’t want to recognize game, why should anyone help you? We have less than a year and everyone is very very busy.
Personally, I’d like to see more people focused on the grunt work of building up the party and less on these vanity campaign exercises. Sure it’s less glamorous, but it does have the advantage of contributing to real positive change.
January 7th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Editor
I have to disagree with you on the pro-life issue. It doesn’t hurt a Dem in the 2nd.
Statewide, it’s a wash and nationally, I’m not sure it’s big deal anymore.
I agree with the rest of your assessment, but there are a couple of issues that I think we have to take the “big tent” approach on…
Abortion and Guns…
January 7th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
It helps in the general… it hurts in the primary. He’s trying to win the primary while cutting off much of the Democrats base.
Tough sell.
January 8th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Well, I’m not convinced that Sinnard’s pro life stance will hurt him even in the primary in the 2nd. The wider the spectrum of Dems then, yes.
Unfortunately, I have no data to substantiate my argument. Just my personal observation/opinion.
On the other hand, I agree that Jeff’s engergy could better serve in other areas.
For the other reasons you describe, his chances of winning anything are slim to none.
January 8th, 2006 at 10:44 am
I’ve met three Democrats in the 2nd district who are vocally pro-life. All of them were candidates for Congress who lost by wide margins and none of them were women: Jeff Sinnard, Jim Parker and Charles Sanders. As far as I can tell they are trying to sell a mule that no one is buying.
January 8th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
The Sinnard, Parker and Sanders positions on Pro Life/Pro Choice were not the reason any one of those candidates lost.
And if you think they are counter to the opinions of many Dems in the District, especially the eastern ranges then I think you better check a little closer.
What I’m saying is that the issue itself is not as powerful as you might think.
A Pro life Dem can do okay…and then again, an articulate and sincere Dem can do the same al la Paul Hackett. It’s just that I think there are other issues weighing on the minds of 2nd district voters.
Abortion shouldn’t be made an issue because I believe in a well run campaign and can be a wash.
The key here is being able to sustain an effective well run campaign.
Simple enough, heh?
January 8th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I’m saying that on the Democrat side if things I heard three people say that they were pro life. I didn’t here ANYONE else say that it was an important issue to them. I heard MANY people talk about jobs and Iraq and Health Care. I also heard many women talk about how important having control over their own bodies was. If it was an imporant issue to Democrats in the primary, it sure escaped me.
If there is this massive underground support for pro-life positions within the core of the Democratic Party in the 2nd district, I suggest that the people who feel this way better get a move on convincing people of their position, because I ain’t seeing it. In fact, I didn’t see it in the general election either. Hackett ran as about a pro-life a campaign as you can, and did surprisingly well.
January 8th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
I don’t disagree.
I just don’t think its healthy to tell a Dem candidate that they have to be pro life or pro choice.
There is no “massive undergound support” among Dems either way.