Sunday, June 25, 2006

Ohio Politics

Ted Strickland, Democratic candidate for Ohio Governor, is gaining momentum and campaign money. Strickland is gaining support from Republicans who have been turned off by the extreme right wing bent of Republican candidate, Kenneth Blackwell. Here are some excerpts from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Democrat Ted Strickland, candidate for Ohio governor, said Saturday that Republicans keep coming to him and pledging their support because they have grown disenchanted with Republican-dominated government, nationally and locally.

"Ohio is headed in the wrong direction and is in need of a turnaround," Strickland told about 200 supporters at a rally in Hoffner Park, kicking off his general election campaign in this part of the state.

Among Strickland's supporters: Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. He called incumbent Republican Gov. Bob Taft "about as popular as mad cow disease." A spectator shouted: "He has it!"

...Strickland, 64, acknowledged that he will need votes from Democrats, Independents and Republicans to beat his opponent, Republican Ken Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state. Strickland said he will need Ohioans to elect Democrats to other offices to advance Democrats' proposals on issues such as education, minimum wage and health care.

The crowd cheered when Strickland announced that the independent Rasmussen poll on Saturday reported he has a 13-point lead over Blackwell. Strickland has also raised more money than Blackwell so far - $2.6 million, about double what Blackwell has, a Strickland spokesman said...

It seems as though Republican candidate for state treasurer, Sandra O'Brien, has some problems. Here is an excerpt from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

...As the little-known O'Brien begins her underdog general election run for state treasurer, the recent letter underscores troubling lapses that have surfaced from her 12-year tenure as auditor in Ohio's far northeastern county.

The most serious questions about O'Brien's record arise from state audit findings spread over several years, including a 2003 finding that a lack of safeguards in O'Brien's office led to the embezzlement of $40,000.

Couple those findings with a series of costly court disputes with local officials, and a picture emerges of an auditor with a penchant for controversy a picture at odds with her pleasant demeanor.

With $11 billion in state assets riding on the state treasurer's job, O'Brien detractors question her fitness for office while O'Brien and her supporters shrug off the disputes as partisan politics and see her as a fierce watchdog of public money....

Ouch!!!!

The citizens of Ohio are extremely tired of the corruption that the Republicans have created throughout the state. If Ohioans really want change, they'll need to vote out large numbers of Republicans in the next election. The Ohio GOP controls all areas of the state government. Just voting for a Democrat for governor, is a start, but not enough to make significant change. We have to work together to get Ohio back on the right track and that means voting for Democrats instead of the corrupt GOP.