Ohio 2nd Blog

Interesting exchange going on over at the Community Press’ Viewpoints section. Clermont County Republican Club VP Jeff Hardin wrote an opinion piece calling Clermont County Republican Chair Tim Rudd (remember him?) a liar for saying that Congressman Bob McEwen had bounced 166 checks in the House bank. (The County Party has endorsed Jean Schmidt.)

In response Glen Chapman wrote demanding Mr. Hardin’s resignation for exercising his right of free speech:

There is one person who speaks to Clermont County on behalf of the Republican Party and that person is Tim Rudd. Some of the organizations in Clermont County that have the word “Republican” in them are the county republican party, the county republican central committee and the county executive committee. As chairman of the central committee, Tim Rudd is the elected leader of the county Republican Party. The Republican Party is responsible for things like endorsing candidates, manning the polls Election Day, handing out Republican sample ballots and making the day-to-day decisions concerning Republican Party business in conjunction with the executive committee.

The Clermont Republican Club is the social arm of the party. Dinners, luncheons and picnics are planned as an outreach to Clermont County Republicans and like-minded independents. At no time should a county central committee member or officer of the republican club use their title to discuss political business within the media. This is a hard and fast rule that if broken could result in very negative consequences. The Clermont County Republican Party speaks with one voice and that voice belongs to Chairman Rudd.

I guess we’d all better start practicing our goose stepping aerobic workout. Heil Schmidt!
For the record, Ethics Committee investigators did report that McEwen had overdrafts for 166 checks over the course of 39 months. Did they “bounce”? I guess that depends on if he wins in the May primary

If you’re a Republican it’s by hiring high priced lawyers and filing complaints in court against your opponent. It’s good to see some “conservative” Republicans that finally realize how important trial attorneys are. SNARK

Channel Cincinnati has posted audio of the Channel 5 debate between Congresswoman Jean Schmidt and former Congressman Bob McEwen.

Another ringing endorsement:

…Warts and all, though, he’s the best choice in the primary. He knows Washington and Ohio. He’s articulate and well-connected. He’s more sure-footed.

The philosophical differences between the candidates are small. The district’s voters should think mainly about whom they would want looking out for the district’s interests. The record suggests that would be Mr. Ewen.

(Yes, they did mispell the name of the candidate they’re endorsing once at the end…Do’hh!)

UPDATE: One thing that the Dayton Daily News does that is really cool is that they give space for the other candidates to respond to their endorsement. Jean Schmidt and Deborah Kraus took advantage of that.

Roll Call _($$$):

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), who is fighting to retain the seat she won in a special election last summer, was outraised by former Rep. Bob McEwen (R) in the first three months of the year.

The money raised and spent in the increasingly heated 2nd district GOP primary taking place eight days from now came to light when candidates and incumbents in Ohio filed their pre-primary fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission last week.

Schmidt reported raising $216,000 from Jan. 1 to April 12, $100,000 of which was a one-day personal loan to her campaign. FEC records show that on March 28, Schmidt loaned the money to her campaign then immediately reimbursed herself.

Schmidt’s campaign manager told the Cincinnati Enquirer last week that the money was to pay off a previous loan from last year’s special election for the same amount.

McEwen, meanwhile, raised $221,000 during the three-and-a-half-month period, $50,000 of which came from his own pocket.

S.O.B. WMB has been kind enough to provide the audio of yesterday’s Bill “Baby Killer” Cunningham show with Jean Schmidt‘s attorney (and Bill Clinton’s good friend – snark) Stan Chesley and Republican 2^nd candidate Bob McEwen.

Smooth wingnut performance. I like his line that immigrants need to learn American.

ALSO, the Survey USA numbers are still showing Schmidt with a commanding lead. I really want to see the details. I don’t trust the 3% undecided. (HIGHLY questionable of the Enquirer to not link to the full poll, IMNSHO.)

UPDATE: And thanks to BizzyBlog for the link. I like that they link to the contrasting Zogby numbers that have the two neck and neck.

Queen City Forum has a full report on the Congresswoman’s outstanding performance.

Obviously Ms. Schmidt was right about the event being a setup. How else can you explain McEwen winning 96% of the straw poll after her stellar performance?

(Joke flat-out stollen from Clark Street Blog.)

ADDED: NixGuy has the Anderson Township Republican Club’s press release from after the event.

Lots of interesting Chandra news over @ BSB. Go check it out. Action items and everything. Keep scrolling and go back a page of two. This story is intense. This one is fun too… Chandra is relentless. Imagine having someone that’s that much of a fighter and that right and that good on our side.

Jacobs for Congress has a lot of GOTV events happening going up to the primary. I’ve added some pics from them too. I haven’t heard anything from the other candidates.

I’ll be honest with you. I’m worried about the 2nd. McEwen and Schmidt are so tainted, and so bad, and so out of touch with reality that it should be possible for someone serious to knock a few out of the park. Everyone’s written off the 2nd even thought we’ve got two of the biggest jokes in Congress trying to out sue and out extreme and out wacko each other. Will someone step up? This isn’t about what you want. This isn’t about what’s important to you. This isn’t about how frustrated or angry or idealistic you are. This is about convincing… yes selling voters the idea that you can best serve their interests in Washington.

Right now we’ve got two guys that have convinced enough people that what’s really important to people in the 2nd district is families not having the right to make their own medical decisions, and everyone following their faith, and protecting HMOs instead of your grandparents, and wasting trillions on corporate welfare, and invading every Middle Eastern country that even looks at us funny. What person living in the real world puts these things on the top of their TODO list? Please… somebody… show them that these twisted, corrupt, hateful, opportunistic, shells of human beings are wrong. Is it really that hard? Can you put down the idealistic frustration and anger long enough to show people a better way?

Go read the local Republican blogs. It’s not like anyone is bursting at the seams waiting to vote for these guys. How many times do you have to read Hey… I voted for Minamyer or don’t blame me, I voted for Tom Brinkman to realize that they’ve got nothing? NOTHING. Still… folks… I don’t care how much they suck… people ain’t switching teams unless you bring a realistic, rational, simple, human alternative that they are willing to support. You’ve got five minutes before they’re gone. Ready? Tell them: why you? GO.

OK… enough from me. I’m tired and off to bed. Wake me if a candidate does anything.

The Republican side of the primary continues to be the most dramatic. After weeks of bad press for Congresswoman Jean Schmidt it’s time for Bob McEwen to be on the receiving end.

The Enquirer today came out with a pair of in depth stories on McEwen, detailing his recent career as a Washington lobbyist as well as the continuing questions of his residency. McEwen campion The Whistleblower was quick to label them as smears and hit pieces in tomorrow’s issue. Blogger Axinar came down on the side of McEwen really being a resident of Virginia.

While the general information contained in the pieces is nothing new, one specific bit did stand out:

…McEwen, who served on the House Intelligence Committee while in Congress, said most of his lobbying has been for international clients, such as the Republic of Uzbekistan, which hired the firm in 2002 to help the country secure U.S. aid after it helped with the war on terror in Afghanistan. “We could not have done the operation in Afghanistan without the cooperation of Uzbekistan,” McEwen said.

Uzbekistan has a very troubled recent history. From the Wikipedia:

…credible non-government human right watchdogs, such as IHF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well as United States Department of State and Council of the European Union define Uzbekistan as “an authoritarian state with limited civil rights” and express profound concern about “wide-scale violation of virtually all basic human rights”. According to the reports, the most widespread violations are torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions of freedoms: of religion, of speech and press, of free association and assembly. The reports maintain that the violations are most often committed against members of religious organizations, independent journalists, human right activists, and political activists, including members of the banned opposition parties. In 2005, Uzbekistan was included into Freedom House’s “The Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies”

Still, I can’t really see Republicans having a problem with McEwen’s lobbying for foreign dictatorships given the activities on behave of such nations as Saudi Arabia by the Bush clan and their allies.

On the plus side the McEwen campaign issued a press release stating that most of the candidates that ran in last years special election are backing him for Congress. Included in the release were Doug Mink, Eric Minamyer, Tom Brinkman, and Steve Austin. The most surprising endorsement comes from Eric Minamyer who was a big backer of Jean Schmidt when she was running against Paul Hackett.

BizzyBlog gives a breakdown of each of the endorsers.

Opensecrets.org has the 2^nd as the eighth most expensive House race in the country with Jeanie Schmidt spending $833,084 and Bobbie McEwen spending $492,637.

Of the Dems Dr. Vic Wulsin is the only one so far that’s made a blip on the money radar raising $55,964 (+$20,000 of her own cash.). And look at this… a thousand through her Act Blue page. Not bad for a primary…

Also note how much cash Mike DeWine is burning through. It looks like politics is the only growth industry in the Ohio economy.