Thu 13 Jul 2006
Pho has written an article about my interview with Sherrod Brown and its aftermath. Surprisingly he has no comment on what Sherrod Brown actually had to say. He wants to talk about me. Well, I guess I must be a star. Obviously so, since I’m more important than a sitting Ohio Congressman running for Senator.
LOL… this does make me wonder why I bothered spending all my free time for four days transcribing the thing. I should have just sold commemorative plates and been done with it.
Wed 12 Jul 2006
They’re tied! Good times, sports fans.
More at DKos (one, two) and BSB.
The polling company’s memo to the Wulsin campaign after the fold.
UPDATE: The poll questions
UPDATE 2: Vic’s got two of the DKos top recommended diaries now. Our Jeanie is such a great draw.
UPDATE 3 (Note to the Enquirer): HA HA!
Mon 10 Jul 2006
(now with better audio from Yellow Dog Sammy)
 | BrownHacketpt1.mp3 |
| BrownHacketpt2.mp3 |
Paul Hackett formally endorsed Sherrod Brown today. It was great to finally see the two of them together. Connie Schultz and Suzi Hackett both seemed relieved that this was happening when I talked to them. They are the two people that I think have the best window on this whole drama.
The event started with an introduction from Cincinnati’s Mayor Mark Mallory. The whistling at the beginning is Paul getting everyone’s attention. All sounded in great form. I’ve missed covering candidate Paul. I’m sorry for the audio quality. Yellow Dog Sammy is supposed to have better quality audio so I’ll link to that when I can.
This is more than about Paul. This is more than about Sherrod. We need to be greater than the baser elements of our natures. That’s what civilization is all about. Today felt very good.
One group that gets a lot of credit for all this is the Clermont County Dems, who have been fighting to make this happen for months.
More pics over @ the site’s Flickr account.
More coverage:
UDPATE:
BTW, the Enquirer talks about the swiftboating rumors. The person that I was told from several sources was spreading the rumors left the campaign after it became known. I’ve heard that he was fired but I’m not sure. It would have been good if Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid had nipped that story in the bud as soon as Paul compained about it to them back in December.
There are a lot of bad apples who work political campaigns. Karl Rove wannabies. Just got to keep a watch out for them. They do way more harm than good.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Ohio2006 has a transcript.
Sun 9 Jul 2006
Sun 9 Jul 2006
Mrs. Editor previously wrote about the first part of the Strickland fundraiser at Paul Hackett’s house. I attended the second, bigger party at Livingston Lodge, a historical cabin, and it was an incredible evening- the kind of event that reinvigorates your idealism in a climate of cynicism.
Paul and Suzi Hackett invited me to organize the presence of young democrats. Though the admission price was $150, young people were allowed to pay at a reduced price of $20. The chance to see and interact with John Edwards, Ted Strickland, and Paul Hackett was a huge draw to me and many of my Democratic peers. A warm thank you must be extended to Paul and Suzi for making this happen.
Sun 9 Jul 2006
Democratic fundraisers can be the perfect setup for a Vanity Fair photo shoot. Gorgeous men with tan skin, lanky bodies, blonde highlights, sparkling blue eyes, french blue oxford shirts, and pleated khaki pants striking debonair poses. Last night, the Ted Strickland fundraiser hosted by Paul Hackett and featuring John Edwards was simply HOT.
Sun 9 Jul 2006
The Enquirer asked local area members of Congress what the top priority of Congress should be. Here was Congresswoman Schmidt’s response:
“The immigration issue is the largest issue currently facing Congress. In the last nine months 901,428 individuals have been captured trying to cross our border. That’s over 3,000 per day. Many more are not being captured. While the Congress continues to debate the fate of the 11 to 20 million illegal immigrants already here, more are joining them everyday. The Congress must secure our border. The problem of illegal immigration compounds while the debate lingers.”
Interestingly enough all of the members interviewed placed illegal immigration as one of their top priorities.
Those who have followed the Republicans might be able to guess by now that this all is another one of their classic cons. While the left hand flails about the right had lifts your wallet.
From the June 26th edition of the Arizona Republic:
Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is an absolutely necessary ingredient to securing the U.S.-Mexico border. Failure to do so will undoubtedly lead to further chaos at the border, encourage even more illegal crossings, and make it difficult for us to monitor who is within our borders and for what purpose.
That’s why the news last week that work-site enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws has been cut 95 percent, to virtually none at all, is cause for serious concern. Even more troubling is the revelation that law enforcement officials were pressured by members of Congress not to crack down on companies that hire illegal workers.
As one former Immigration and Naturalization Services official explained, “We were pushed away from doing enforcement.” According to the Washington Post, the number of employers fined for hiring illegal immigrants plunged from 417 in 1999 to only three in 2004. The numbers tell an increasingly common story: Washington has failed Arizona when it comes to ending illegal immigration.
Fri 7 Jul 2006
Howard Wilkinson on yesterday’s Enquirer Politics Extra blog says that Ohio 1st candidate John Cranley “stomps on grave of dead issue”:
Thu 6 Jul 2006
Thu 6 Jul 2006
UPDATE: See here
Over a month ago I had reached out to the Sherrod Brown campaign about doing a one on one interview with Sherrod Brown. Up till now they had denied any requests to be interviewed by members of the Ohio blogosphere. Still, even though I was one of Sherrod Brown’s strongest critics during the primary, Connie Schultz always made a point to thank me for being fair. This made me think that there was a slight chance that they would say yes. Surprisingly enough they did, and this Saturday they were able to fit some time in at their hotel in Columbus.
This was the 3nd time that I met Congressman Brown and his wife. The first time was back during the Senate primary when I was writing some of my hardest posts on his campaign. Even so, when we met, we exchanged kind words to each other. The day of the interview I found Sherrod Brown and Connie Schultz to be extremely nice people. While I was setting up Congressman Brown asked me about where I lived, and my family. He was particularly interested in my Grandfather who was elected a Democratic State Senator in Indiana the same year that Kennedy became President. He noticed my copy of Ron Suskind’s The One Percent Doctrine amongst my things while I was unpacking. We spent some time talking about what a tragic figure Colin Powell was.
There were no rules. The Congressman did not know the questions in advance. I stopped taping several times for technical reasons, and once at the end to take pictures. There were only two chairs in the room so he ended up making a makeshift chair out of a footrest and a pillow while myself and a staffer sat down. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t have it since I was operating the equipment.
For this interview I decided to ignore all of the static that I had heard and read from other people about Sherrod Brown and the Senate primary, and just talk to him about what I wanted to talk about… issues that matter to me: How he’s going to beat Mike DeWine. What he would do to turn this country around. I didn’t get into blogging in order to debate who said what to whom in some private conversation at a Christmas party I wasn’t at. As an independent entity I like being relatively isolated from the behind the scenes sturm und drang that most political staffers and wonks obsess about. I didn’t enjoy it back in High School, and I don’t want to blog about it now.
Having now had a chance to interview at length Paul Hackett and Sherrod Brown the thing that strikes me is the intense level of self-confidence they both have. The political sports fan in me loved the clash this produced… the foul mouthed gun toting marine and the crusty old labor street fighter. It was one hell of a fight. Unfortunately, as do all really good fights, it left a lot of lasting damage.
In another time and another place they would have played well off of each other. Anti-war liberals, and pro-military (real) conservatives… these are the two groups that we need to bring together in order to truly change our country… the great bridge as I like to call it. For a time it looked like we were going to build that bridge. Maybe we still can.
In the end I came away very impressed with Congressman Brown. When I listen to him talk, I think how much I would love to have him as my Senator. I don’t care what the polls say. If we have a chance to get someone like that in our corner we’ve got to fight like hell to make it happen, regardless of the past, and no matter what the odds. Besides, I’m really itching for a rematch with Karl Rove.
Bring it on, baby 
| sherrod_interview_part_1.mp3 |
| sherrod_interview_part_2.mp3 |
OH02: Hi, this is Chris Baker, editor of the Ohio 2nd Blog, and I’m sitting in the hotel room next to Sherrod Brown’s hotel room (laughter) interviewing him about the race for Senate. How ya doing Congressman?
Sherrod Brown: Good, thanks. Glad to be with you.
OH02: First off, thanks for letting me do this. It’s very cool. I appreciate that a lot.
Sherrod Brown: Thank you for the substance that you bring to this race, and thanks for your progressive outlook on the world.
