Ohio 2nd Blog

I would love to see a progressive breach before the 2006 midterms. We didn’t make it with the OH-02 special… CA-50 came up short… our last chance to build up that progressive wave with an electoral victory is the Lamont-Lieberman Senate primary. Ned Lamont’s numbers are looking very very good, and all of the positive energy is on his side. So far Lieberman’s most enthusiastic supporter has been Ann Coulter.

Check out 2nd district blogger alumnist Tim Tagaris’ diary over @ DKos on the race, and if you agree that this is a good investment in our future show Ned Lamont some love. (BTW, this would also be a good way to stick it to Chuck Schumer over his actions in the Senate primary.)

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DL Cincinnati has up an interview with Democratic 35th district State Representative candidate Karen Adams. Karen was one of the main boots on the ground in the Hackett phenom, so it’s great to see her getting out in front of the podium.

The latest Plunderbund podcast features Oh02’s favorite candidate for nothing, Paul Hackett. Renee in Ohio has been cool enough to transcribe the interview. Good stuff.

This section stands out:

When I was running last year in the 2nd congressional district in southern Ohio, I can’t tell you the number of elected officials from the state level and the national level that, as my campaign, after the primary, began to catch a little bit of traction, would call up and plead with me–*plead* with me not to make the race a referendum. Plead with me not to be critical of George Bush, and plead with me not to be critical of the war in Iraq. Because in their vast failed experience, it was a losing way to fight the race. They *begged* me to just stay silent about my criticism on Bush, and they *begged* me to just stay quiet on my criticism on the war in Iraq.

And if you go back a year ago now, you’ll see Bush’s approval rating was above 50%, and there were *no* national–*zero* national Democratic leaders that were taking on the president on the war in Iraq. Not Harry Reid, not Chuck Schumer, not Nancy Pelosi, not Jack Murtha. Not a one of them! Not a one of them except for, forgive me if I sound like I’m blowing my own horn, one loud-mouthed Marine who’d just come back from fighting in Iraq, who was quoted on the front page of the New York Times, calling President Bush a chickenhawk, and telling the American people that it’s a resounding failure what’s going on. And then some months after that, Congressman Murtha had the temerity to stand up, without, may I add, the approval or Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer–

BTW, I believe that, Michael Wood, the guy who coined the term candidate for nothing has accepted a gig with Shamansky in the 12^th as Communications Director. During the special and senate debacle Wood was usually the first person that I’d bump into at events… the problem was that he wasn’t allowed to talk to me, so it was always a “Mr. Baker”, and that was it. His gig was similar to Charlie’s in the first seasons of West Wing.
Since Mike was often the driver, I wonder if Shamansky will rent out the big ol’ bus. The 12^th has the potential to be a fun one, so congrats on that.

(via Hotline (via PD Openers))

Congrats Karl!

Damnit, if only you’d landed a job with the DCCC. I need a contact over on the House side of things. Senate races are no fun to blog about.

Karl is a major player. Smart move hiring him.

Sherrod Brown was in Dayton this morning meeting with people to discuss the aftermath of the Hackett affair. Len @ Blogesque and SusanD @ Howard Empowered People documented the event. No recordings were allowed.

Congratulations to Jacobs for Congress Campaign Manager Tiffany Ellis for being formally welcomed into Cincinnati politics with a misogynistic, hate filled blurb in tomorrow’s Whistleblower:

DemocRAT nothing Thor Jacobs, who hopes to challenge “Mean Jean” Schmidt in the District Two congressional house race, has chosen a campaign manager from the state of Michigan, a little bimbo named Tiffany. Jacobs wants to represent the people of Ohio yet he chose a campaign manager from Michigan who has never worked an Ohio campaign in her entire bouncy little life. That should get the airhead twit vote for sure.

You don’t amount to anything around here politically unless you’ve been spewed on by the Blowhard.

UPDATE: I’m reminded that Ms. Ellis did work on an Ohio campaign. You might have heard of it: Hackett for Congress.

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.)

Ohio 2^nd special top earner Tim Tagaris has moved from working for Sherrod Brown to blogging over @ the DNC. Today he’s posted an interesting read over at Daily Kos concerning the DNC goings on. I like this kind of color commentary. Too much of what is the Democratic Party has been behind the scenes, especially here in Ohio. For instance: if you want to a fun challenge, go and try to find out what the rules are for your local county Party.

What do you get for selling out Ohio workings by switching your vote on CAFTA? If you are Republican Steve LaTourette it’s a lavish DC fundraiser by former Ohio 2nd Representative Rob Portman.

Donors who put up $500 to $2,500 to see Portman at the Capitol Hill Club will be benefiting LaTourette’s political treasury.

It seems that things are going very good for the LaTourette power couple these days.