Keep Jean Schmidt Away from the House Microphone

With the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives coming this January, hopefully the Democrats will keep Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt away from the microphone.

Meanwhile, it looks like Jean Schmidt may get her wish about having nuclear waste in her home district. The following excerpts are from an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The designation means each site, including the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky., will receive part of $16 million in grants the U.S. government has set aside to study site feasibility.

The proposed advanced nuclear fuel recycling facility would bring jobs to the Pike County area but is opposed by residents led by the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group who fear it would become a nuclear dump....

...Schmidt, a Miami Township Republican who won a difficult re-election for her seat earlier this week after remaining ballots were counted, praised the announcement.

"This is just a first step in a long and thorough evaluation process," Schmidt said in a statement, calling it a "win for Piketon."

"The study money will go a long way toward future economic development opportunities and may bring thousands of jobs to the area," Schmidt said.

The sites - from Atomic City, Idaho, and Hanford, Wash., to Savannah River National Laboratory, S.C., and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn., were chosen from among 14 applicants.

Those people who voted for Schmidt will be able to thank her when they get radiation exposure, their property values go down, and their children are exposed to toxins.

Are You Kidding Me?

There are some news stories that just make you say, "Are you kidding me?" See if you agree with my assessments:

*Arkansas Times:
You thought $200 million was a lot for the Clinton Library in Little Rock?

How about a half-a-BILLION bucks for the Bush library in Dallas. That's the tab the NY Daily News is putting on a soon-to-be-announced fund drive. Oh, but wait. It's a library AND "think tank." Boy could stand to do some thinking.

The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans.

The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said....

Wow! Will the only book be My Pet Goat? It looks like the Bush supporters are trying to put a positive spin on the miserable failure of the George W. Bush administrations. They are trying to re-write history. A Bush library built with this kind of money is a waste of time and money.

*Bush won't withdraw. Seacoast Online:
Under intense pressure to change course, President Bush on Tuesday rejected suggestions Iraq has fallen into civil war and vowed not to pull U.S. troops out "until the mission is complete..."

Just when will we know that the mission is complete? Will something happen? Personally, I don't think this administration know when the war will be over. They just want to leave it for the next president to clean up.

*How did Senator Inhofe get elected? Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma has called global warming a hoax and served as the Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The guy is obviously ignorant. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer will replace Inhofe. Thank goodness!

*Ohio's unemployment rate for October was 5.1%, according to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. It must be all those fabulous minimum wage jobs at Walmart. By the way, Walmart is the single largest employer in Ohio. I don't shop there because they don't treat their employees fairly and they are unfair to their suppliers.

*Newt Gingrich wants to examine your right to freedom of speech. Idiot. According to the Union Leader:
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.
Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message....

Who wants to take advice from a guy who has been married three times and divorced twice? Gingrich is not my idea of a person to trust or use for advice. He can't handle his personal affairs and should not be looked at as a leader.

Recounting in Central Ohio

*Update on the race for the 15th congressional district (Dispatch):
Ohio’s closest congressional race is official, but it’s still not over. Republican Deborah Pryce was declared the winner yesterday by 1,054 votes over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in central Ohio’s 15 th District.

With provisional and last-minute absentee ballots added to the totals, the margin narrowed so considerably from unofficial election-night returns that state law requires a recount. Pryce’s official margin was less than half a percentage point out of more than 220,000 votes cast....

For further information check Kilroy for Congress.

*Last night on Countdown with Keith Olberman, Craig Crawford of Congressional Quarterly made an interesting point about why it is proper that the media calls the war in Iraq a civil war. I'm paraphrasing here: The White House has objected to the use of the term 'civil war' and prefers 'sectarian violence.' Crawford said that the media has an obligation to the people, not some politicians. He said that even if the White House doesn't like the words, Iraq is still a civil war.

What took the media so long to wake up???

Waiting for News

2nd Update: On the News on channel 10 tonight, reporter Eve Mueller said there were 2600 provisional ballots that were thrown out in Franklin County and that those would be looked at during a recount. Kilroy won Franklin County. Also, Kilroy has not conceded. Thank you, Mary Jo.

NEWS UPDATE: There will probably be a recount in the vote tally for the Ohio's 15th district.
10TV.com has the story:

A winner has finally declared in the race between Republican Deborah Pryce and Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy, 20 days after the election.

Incumbent Deborah Pryce will still represent Ohio's 15th Congressional District, but this story is far from over.

The provisional ballots are in and the Board of Elections declared Pryce the winner.

Here's a look at the final numbers. Pryce had 110,711 votes to Kilroy's 109,657, giving Pryce a 50.2 percent to Kilroy's 49.8 percent. That margin is tight enough to require a recount.

Franklin County: Kilroy wins
Kilroy: 98,964
Pryce: 91,411

Madison County: Pryce wins
Kilroy: 5,073
Pryce: 8,344

Union County: Pryce wins
Kilroy: 5,620
Pryce: 10,966

When the votes are totaled, Pryce has a 1,054 lead.

In a press conference Monday, Pryce said that the results had been a long time coming and she was glad it was done.

Pryce also said she had not heard from Kilroy in regards to a concession.

When asked about how close the race was, Pryce said that some congressional races were determined by three or four hundred votes, so by those standards, the race was not close at all.

The Secretary of State's office will look at the final numbers. If there's confirmation that the vote difference is less than one half of one percent, which it appears to be, there will be an automatic recount. All three counties in the 15th district then have 10 days to do that.

> Ohio Governor-elect, Ted Strickland, has promised some big changes in Ohio. Political appointees are already cleaning out their desks.

> Who will Ohio State play in the national championship in January? I'm glad it won't be Notre Dame. Brent Musburger could not stop praising Notre Dame's coach, Charlie Weis, or quarterback Brady Quinn. Give me a break! When Ohio State played Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, the Buckeyes beat them 34-20. Even then, the media talked about the offensive and defensive skills of Charlie Weis, and little about Ohio State. The TV cameras couldn't get enough of Brady Quinn and his sister. Enough already!!!

> This morning, NBC NEWS said it will now refer to the 'sectarian violence' in Iraq as a 'civil war' in their reports. Even though the White House has refused to use the term civil war, it has been apparent to all Americans that it is indeed a civil war. On this morning's Today Show, Retired General McCaffrey said that the violence is not just restricted to Baghdad but to all areas of Iraq.

Did someone hide some voting machines?

The counting continues at the Franklin County Board of Elections. The Kilroy for Congress site has this update:

Deborah Pryce’s lead over Mary Jo Kilroy grew by 181 votes yesterday in their still-undecided congressional race, a smaller gain than expected in the Republican strongholds of Madison and Union counties.

As many as 19,500 uncounted absentee and provisional ballots in Franklin County portions of the district will decide the race, one of six U.S. House contests nationwide where a winner is still uncertain three weeks after Election Day.

Franklin County officials said they’ll finish their official count Monday morning, a day before Ohio law requires them to certify results of the Nov. 7 election.

Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said about 500 provisional ballots have been rejected so far countywide because they were cast by people not registered to vote. It’s unknown how many of that number are from 15 th district precincts.

And this.....

This morning, relatively deep within a Columbus Dispatch article titled Pryce’s lead over Kilroy grows with 2 counties’ totals lies a item more newsworthy than the lead I think:

"But [Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matthew] Damschroder said one post-election discovery will add to Monday's official tally.

Votes from about 30 electronic machines in 12 county precincts weren't counted on election-night, he said, because poll workers didn't shut them down properly."

That would add another 1,800 or more votes countywide — and an unknown smaller number in the Pryce-Kilroy race — if those machines matched the average number of votes cast per machine across Franklin County....

Now isn't that a surprise???? Thirty voting machines were not included in the initial tally! Was someone trying to hide these machines? It isn't over yet! We remain hopeful that Democrat Kilroy will still win this.

Maybe Monday

According to the Columbus Dispatch, there is a good possibility that the final vote count for Ohio's 15th congressional district will be finished on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that the results will be available as promised.

Although Republican Deborah Pryce has declared victory, Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy has not conceded. I remain cautiously optimistic that Kilroy will win. Many people voted by absentee ballot because they volunteered at the polls and at get out the vote telephone drives. Keep thinking positive thoughts!

State Not Finished With Tom Noe

Republican fundraiser and rare coin dealer, Tom Noe, was just sentenced to 18 years in prison for various charges. However, the state of Ohio is not finished with him. Toledo's ABC station has this:
Ohio's attorney general asked a judge to restart a civil lawsuit against a former GOP fundraiser convicted of stealing from a state investment.

The lawsuit against Tom Noe, a politically connected coin dealer, seeks to recover at least $4 million that Attorney General Jim Petro says Noe took from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's investment for personal use.

The civil suit, filed in May 2005 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, was put on hold six months later as the criminal investigation unfolded. Noe was convicted on charges of theft, corrupt activity, money laundering, forgery and tampering with records and was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison.

"We are still looking to recover every penny he took from the bureau as well as the reasonable return the injured workers of Ohio should have seen on the bureau's investments he mismanaged," Petro said in a statement Tuesday.

Petro's motion asks Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Cain to lift the stay he placed on the civil lawsuit.

Petro's office isn't the only authority seeking repayment from Noe. A Lucas County Common Pleas Court judge also has scheduled a hearing Monday to consider what restitution Noe should pay for his criminal conviction.

Prosecutors say Noe should repay $13.7 million, slightly more than the $13.5 million that was misspent, according to a state audit. Noe's attorneys dispute those numbers.

While We Wait....

While we wait for the final vote tally from the November 7th election, we can ponder what a win for Mary Jo Kilroy or Deborah Pryce would mean for Ohio's 15th congressional district.

If Kilroy wins, Kilroy would be part of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. Being in the majority will have great benefits for the district. Although Kilroy might not be in a leadership position, her ability to get things done and great organizational skills will help make her a star in the House.

However, if Pryce is returned to the Congress, she will be a member of the minority Republican Party. She has resigned her leadership positions and her influence in power will be zero.

We should keep our fingers crossed that Kilroy will win once all the votes are counted.

Republican Fundraiser Going to Prison

*Ohio's favorite Republican fundraiser and coin collector, Tom Noe, is going to prison. WHIO-TV has the following information about Noe's sentence:
Former Republican fundraiser Tom Noe has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for embezzling from a state investment in rare coins.
The coin dealer was convicted last week of theft, corrupt activity and other charges in a scandal that contributed to the Republican Party's loss of the governor's office. Noe had faced at least 10 years in prison.
Noe declined to make a statement before his sentence was read Morning morning in a Toledo courtroom. He also will serve two years and three months in federal prison for pleading guilty earlier this year to funneling $45,000 to President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

*Yes, they are still counting those provisional ballots at the Franklin County Board of Elections. However, according to NBC4i, the results won't be known until November 27th for the 15th congressional district (Kilroy-D vs. Pryce-R).

*The Buckeyes have helped the business at the Columbus Dispatch. The newspapers have sold out all over the city so that Buckeye fans can get a copy of the Buckeye victory story! Everyone loves the Buckeyes!

Don't forget to vote TROY SMITH for the Heisman at the Nissan site: https://r.espn.go.com/espn/contests/theheismanvote/index

Buckeyes Beat M*

The Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 42-39! Yea, baby! We are very proud of Coach Tressel, the team, and coaching staff.

Visit the sites below to get a taste of the victory:

Eleven Warriors
Buckeye Battle Cry
Men of the Scarlet and GrayThe Buckeye Blog
The Dispatch: Slide Show
Photos from The O-zone

GO BUCKS

Even though the game has a 3:30pm kickoff, we'll be leaving early for the game.

GO BUCKS!

Ingraham and Keroack

>From Think Progress:

On election day, ThinkProgress posted audio of right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham urging her listeners to obstruct efforts to protect voting rights by jamming a free voter protection hotline.

Yesterday in a Senate Judiciary Commmittee hearing, Pat Leahy (D-VT) asked Wan Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, whether his department would be investigating Ingraham’s phone jamming. Kim said Ingraham’s actions sounded like a “voter fraud scheme,” but that they didn’t fall under his division’s responsibilities, which cover “voter access.”

See the video at Think Progress.

Laura Ingraham should be ashamed of herself. Hopefully, Leahy will be able to find the proper department to prosecute Ingraham.

>I heard about this next story on Al Franken's radio show today. From Raw Story:
President Bush will appoint an anti-birth control advocate of abstinence to oversee funding for reproductive clinics next Monday, RAW STORY has learned.
Dr. Keroack is a Board Certified OB/GYN who is pro-life, opposes birth control, and favors abstinence-only education.....

....Family planning advocates are critical of the decision.
"The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation’s family planning program," said Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards, "is striking proof that the Bush Administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation’s priorities."
She did not say what those priorities are, but a recent poll indicates that 53 percent of all adults are pro-choice...

Seriously, where does Bush find this backward-thinking people? Does he have a list with all of the dimwits on it?????

Nancy Pelosi, Speak of the House of Representatives

It has only taken a couple hundred years, but finally, we can say that we have a woman as the Speaker of the House. With Democrat Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House, she becomes a visible leader to our country and the world. Pelosi provides girls and women a reminder that they too can hold a position of power and leadership, with a lot of hard work.

In the weeks before the election, some people on the right said they could not imagine Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. My advice to those righties is this----

Nancy Pelosi will be the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE. Deal with it!

Provisional Ballots-The Continuing Story

You really have to give credit to Mary Jo Kilroy and Victoria Wulsin. Both women are Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives who refuse to concede to their Republican opponents from the November 7th election. Kilroy and Wulsin are waiting for the provisional ballots to be counted. Isn't that an interesting idea? Count every vote? So why are their Republican opponents against it? Here is the Dispatch article which talks about their efforts to count the provisional ballots:
With the outcome of her congressional race still not determined, Democrat Victoria Wulsin is urging supporters to make sure their provisional ballots were submitted properly.

Wulsin, who is trying to unseat Republican Jean Schmidt in the 2 nd Congressional District, trails by about 2,300 in the tally of ballots that have been counted.

But she contends there are about 8,600 uncounted ballots and she expects to win enough of them to overtake Schmidt.

Her effort is similar to one in central Ohio’s 15 th District, where Democratic challenger Mary Jo Kilroy has refused to concede to Republican incumbent Deborah Pryce.

Wulsin’s campaign and the Hamilton County Democratic Party are calling registered voters, encouraging those who voted provisionally to call their elections boards to make sure their ballots have the required information, such as the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

Provisional ballots were given to voters if there was a question about their residency or eligibility to vote.

"This race is so close, and almost 9,000 voters who spoke out on Election Day have yet to have their voices heard," Wulsin said in a statement.....

It isn't over yet.

Those Provisional Ballots

We still don't have an official winner in the November 7th election for the 15th congressional district. The counting of provisional ballots and absentee ballots will begin on Sunday, November 19th, after the Ohio State Buckeye game (Dispatch). However, even before the counting begins Republicans like Kenneth Blackwell and Matthew Damschroder are jockeying as to which ballots will be disqualified.

Blackwell and Damschroder will both do whatever they can to throw out those ballots that might add to the total of Democratic challenger, Mary Jo Kilroy. Blackwell is well-known as the individual who gave recent elections to the Bush-Cheney campaigns.

Damschroder, as this Dispatch article reports in 2005, was offered a $10,000 check from Diebold which he gave to the Republican Party. Here are some excerpts from that 2005 Dispatch article:

A contractor who represents Diebold Election Systems arrived at the office of Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matthew Damschroder with an open checkbook on the same day the county was opening bids for voter-registration software.

Pasquale "Pat" Gallina arrived unannounced, Damschroder said.

"I’m here to give you $10,000," the elections director recalls Gallina saying. "Who do I make it payable to?"

"Well, you’re certainly not going to make it out to me," Damschroder says he told Gallina. "But I’m sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a donation."

Gallina wrote the check, and Damschroder says he took it on Jan. 9, 2004. That weekend, Damschroder said, he mailed the check to the county party. Damschroder had been executive director of the party until June 2003, when he was appointed director of the elections board.

Diebold, the highest of four bidders, didn’t get the software contract, and Damschroder says he never recommended the company.

Gallina said yesterday that the $10,000 was his money and had nothing to do with Diebold. He said he’s always supported county Republican parties in areas where he lives....

>This 2005 article from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, explains what happened to Damschroder:

The Franklin County Board of Elections has suspended its elections director Matt Damschroder, for forwarding a $10,000 check from a Diebold representative to the Republican party. Damschroder was suspended without pay for 30 days, but not fired. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer has this story. He'll continue to work but will be docked approximately $11,000 for his ethical lapse.

As noted in Sunday's post, Damschroder admitted that Paschale Gallina, a consultant working for Diebold, gave him the check which he in turn forwarded to the county Republican Party -- something Damschroder now acknowledges was a mistake. The board's chair William Anthony, a Democrat, says that Damschroder has done a good job for the county and made an error in judgment, but didn't take a bribe.

Still unresolved is whether Gallina also gave $50,000 to Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's "political interests," and (possibly in return) worked out a deal with Blackwell's consultants on the price that Ohio would pay for Diebold voting machines. Blackwell's consultant, Norm Cummings, denies that any such conversations occurred. ES&S is reportedly seeking to take Cummings' deposition in its lawsuit against the Secretary of State.

A little money given here, a little money given there, and then the Republicans count the votes. How will the Mr. Damschroder and his Republicans count the votes this year in Franklin County's Board of Elections? How will Mr. Blackwell help disqualify some of the ballots?

Make Sure Your Provisional Ballot Counts

Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy needs your help if you voted by provisional ballot. The Dispatch has the information:

Just days after the balloting that left her 3,600 votes away from a seat in Congress, Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy has reactivated her campaign to sniff out a few thousand voters who could hold the key to the election.

Kilroy’s campaign called about 70,000 voters last weekend and aired television and radio ads asking people who cast provisional ballots to contact the campaign and county boards of elections to make sure their votes in the 15 th Congressional District are counted.....

....At least 95 percent of people who voted provisionally in Franklin County were able to provide a Social Security card or driver’s license number that can be used to establish residency, said Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matthew Damschroder.

Those voters don’t need to do anything because the board can verify their eligibility on its own, Damschroder said. However, the voters can call the board of elections next week to make sure their votes are counted.

The remaining 5 percent who did not provide Social Security or driver’s license information must provide documentation in person by Friday, Damschroder said.

Unofficial results — which do not include provisional or late absentee ballots — show Pryce with 50.88 percent of the vote and Kilroy with 49.11 percent. If the gap narrows to within 0.5 percent, the boards of elections in Franklin, Madison and Union counties would be required to recount ballots.....

Here is the information from the Kilroy for Congress website:

If you received a yellow receipt when you voted, you cast a Provisional Ballot
YOUR VOTE MAY NOT COUNT
Unless you take immediate action:
CALL (614) 462-3100 extension 5

Bush To Get Bail Out From Father

How many times has George H.W. Bush rescued his son, W, when he was in trouble? When George W. tried to avoid Viet Nam, his father got him in the Air National Guard. When George W. had problems because of a drunk driving charge, his father rescued him. There are probably other rescues made by the father, but we'll never know. However, we have become aware of the fact that President Bush is going to get a lot of help from his father, former President George H.W. Bush. Besides his father, W, will have the expertise of James Baker and a group of old Republicans from his father's administration. The purpose of getting all these people together is to find a way to save face and get us out of Iraq.

Isn't it amazing how Democratic Representative, Jack Murtha, a Marine, was right about what was going on in Iraq and the Republicans and the White House were completely wrong?????? Here is a You Tube video about Rep. Jack Murtha. By the way, that Patrick McHenry in the video, a Republican, was re-elected.

BREAKING NEWS: ABC7---A former GOP fundraiser was convicted Monday of embezzling from a rare-coin investment fund in a scandal that contributed to the rout of Ohio's Republican Party on Election Day. Tom Noe, a coin dealer and former Republican fundraiser, was convicted of 29 of the 40 counts against him, including theft, corrupt activity, money laundering, forgery and tampering with evidence.

The corrupt activity charge was the most serious, carrying a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.....

How nice.

Dispatch Article Seems to Cheer On Pryce

Here in Columbus, Ohio, all the votes from the November 7th election have still not been counted. With outstanding absentee ballots and provisional ballots to be counted the day after the Michigan game (Nov. 19th), it appears that the GOP and the Columbus Dispatch don't want all the votes counted. The Dispatch said they've done an "analysis" of the remaining ballots, and that, according to their "analysis," there is no way for Kilroy to win. Hey, Dispatch, here is what I think of your 'analysis.'

B******t.

Why don't they want the votes counted? Why doesn't Pryce want to honor the right of every citizen to have their vote counted? Why is she afraid? Is Pryce afraid of losing? Is the Dispatch afraid of losing a powerful friend in DC? The Dispatch and Pryce aren't counting the votes. Pryce and the Republicans at the Dispatch should stop the whining and just ......

.......wait to have the votes counted!

GO BUCKEYES!

Election Results for Ohio's 15th District Will Come AFTER OSU vs that team up north

Only in central Ohio would you have to wait to count votes because Ohio State football comes first. Those of you who live in other parts of the country may not understand this latest snag in counting votes in Franklin County. However, it appears that everything will just wait until after November 18th when Ohio State plays that team from up north. Here are some excerpts from the Dispatch article:

.....Elections workers will delay their final, official tally of Tuesday’s ballots — a total that could add more than 38,000 votes to unofficial results in some races — until Nov. 19, the day after state law lets them begin counting provisional ballots.

They said they don’t plan to open for business on Nov. 18, a Saturday, when Ohio State plays Michigan at Ohio Stadium. But they’ll issue final election results by Nov. 21, a week before the state requires them.

They could count nearly 18,000 absentee ballots now, but they said they’ll wait to avoid more unofficial numbers.

"Our goal is to accommodate our employees’ plans for both the OSU football game and Thanksgiving," said Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matthew Damschroder.

The decision to concede the day to college football will leave winners unknown a bit longer in four contests:

• In Ohio’s 15 th Congressional District, which includes 432 of 836 Franklin County precincts, incumbent Republican Deborah Pryce leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 3,536 votes, according to the secretary of state’s office. (Franklin County puts the margin at 2,835.)

.....A total of 17,766 absentee ballots that were returned Monday and Tuesday will remain uncounted until after the OSU-Michigan game, Damschroder said, correcting an elections board spokeswoman’s earlier comment that they’d be tallied by today.

Of that total, 9,137 were cast by residents of the congressional district in which Kilroy and Pryce competed.

A total of 20,679 provisional ballots cast at the polls Tuesday potentially will be counted on Nov. 19 as well, but state law dictates much of that delay. Provisional ballots are cast by people whose registration is in doubt; the law gives officials time to validate a would-be voter’s eligibility or toss the ballot out.

Of the provisional total, 9,469 ballots were cast in the Kilroy-Pryce congressional district, while 878 were cast in precincts split between that district and another.

In addition, Madison and Union counties have a total of 918 votes in the district that are yet to be counted....

....Attorneys for Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and voting-rights advocates who challenged new voter-identification rules before the election were back in federal court yesterday in Columbus negotiating rules for counting provisional ballots. They are to meet again today.

Pryce’s campaign, which declared victory on Wednesday, said it doesn’t mind Franklin County’s decision to sideline vote-counting while the Buckeyes take the field.

"That makes perfect sense to me," said spokesman George Rasley. "They’ve worked hard enough to get the day off."

During a boisterous rally at Ohio State University last night, Kilroy insisted that Pryce’s lead will evaporate once the provisional and absentee ballots are counted. She thinks that about a third of OSU students — a primarily Democratic constituency — voted provisionally.

Pryce "is wrong on the defining issues of our time," Kilroy told about 150 cheering supporters. "She is also wrong if she thinks she won this election."

Did you get that------our Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell will be in court to get a ruling on how to count provisional ballots. My advice is COUNT THEM ALL!!!!

Here is a posting from the Kilroy for Congress web page:
In unofficial figures released late yesterday by the Franklin County Board of Elections for the entire 15th District, the Upper Arlington Republican had 100,343 votes and Kilroy had 97,508.

About 21,000 provisional ballots and 20,000 absentee ballots cast in Franklin County and received Monday and Tuesday remain to be counted, with about half of those in the 15th District, according to Franklin County election officials.

Kilroy said those uncounted votes, particularly those in heavily Democratic precincts around Ohio State University, could tilt the balance her way. Kilroy edged Pryce in Franklin County in early returns.

"This race is still on," Kilroy said. "It's not decided yet."

Kilroy's campaign manager, Scott Kozar, was more optimistic: "When all the ballots are counted, Mary Jo Kilroy is going to Congress."

'No Retreat, No Surrender'

The Springsteen song, 'No Retreat, No Surrender,' reminds me a lot of Mary Jo Kilroy. Kilroy has refused to concede until every single vote is counted. The Dispatch has the story about the continuing ballot count for Ohio's 15th congressional district. Here are some excerpts from the Dispatch article:

With 20,000 ballots still uncounted and her lead just 2,835 votes, Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce yesterday declared victory over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in their hard-fought race for Congress.

But Kilroy and her campaign manager said Pryce is premature. They think the uncounted votes in Democratic-leaning Franklin County will be enough to overcome the deficit and send Kilroy to Congress.

In unofficial figures released late yesterday by the Franklin County Board of Elections for the entire 15 th District, the Upper Arlington Republican had 100,343 votes and Kilroy had 97,508. Pryce, a seven-term incumbent, gained her margin in Union and Madison counties.

About 21,000 provisional ballots and 20,000 absentee ballots cast in Franklin County and received Monday and Tuesday remain to be counted, with about half of those in the 15 th District, according to Franklin County election officials.

Kilroy said those uncounted votes, particularly those in heavily Democratic precincts around Ohio State University, could tilt the balance her way. Kilroy edged Pryce in Franklin County in early returns.

"This race is still on," Kilroy said. "It’s not decided yet."

Kilroy’s campaign manager, Scott Kozar, was more optimistic: "When all the ballots are counted, Mary Jo Kilroy is going to Congress."

There were few ballots left to count in rural Union and Madison counties. In Union County, only 436 provisional ballots are left to count. And in Madison County there are 472 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots.

Absentee ballots already are being counted, with those totals added on a rolling basis over the next day or so...

Mary Jo, you go girl!!!!

Kilroy fought a very tough battle against a Republican incumbent and she is not going to stop until every vote is counted. No matter what the final result, we should all admire Kilroy for her tenacity.

UPDATE:
10:09AM----I just found this article that claims that Deborah Pryce lost. From GOPUSA:
...John Sweeney (ACU Lifetime Rating: 77) in New York lost. Deborah Pryce (ACU Lifetime Rating: 79) in Ohio lost. Curt Weldon (ACU Lifetime Rating 70) in Pennsylvania lost....

Does the author know something we don't know????????

Ohio 15th----Still Counting

UPDATE: 5:08pm
10TV said that Mary Jo Kilroy will not concede. At this time, Pryce is ahead by only 3,600 votes and provisional ballots and some absentee ballots have NOT been counted. Many of the ballots are from the OSU area. Pryce said that if she were in Kilroy's position that she'd concede. Yeah, sure. Let the count and recount begin!!! We will not be denied a counting for every single ballot! Nuff said.


It is not over in Ohio's 15th congressional district. With 30,000 provisional ballots to be counted, we won't know for at least one week who won the 15th. Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy has not conceded. Pryce holds a lead of only 4,000 votes.

Here in Ohio, we are happy to have elected Democrats to our state's highest offices:
Ted Strickland, Governor
Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator
Marc Dann, Attorney General
Jennifer Brunner, Secretary of State
Richard Cordray, Ohio Treasurer
Zack Space, OH-18

I hope that Ted Strickland gets a big broom and cleans the state government.

In other news, Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker of the House. Yippeeeeeeeeeeee! With Democrats controlling the House of Representatives, we now set the agenda.

Breaking Election News

Because of the problems with voting machines in Cuyahoga County, a federal judge has ordered certain precincts in Cuyahoga County to remain open until 9pm. What a surprise!!!! Not!

Time to Throw the Bums Out

We have waited for this day and now we have the chance to change almost everything. Vote a straight Democratic ticket. If you live in Ohio, vote No on 4 and YES on 5.

Here is our review:
Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15)
---fully supports the failed policies of the Bush administration at home and in Iraq.
---says she is "willing" to have your sons and daughters stay in Iraq for another 4 years.
---said her best friend is pedophile and disgraced representative, Mark Foley.
---took money from PACs with ties to oil, gas, and pharmaceutical corporations.
---says that Ohio is on the "cusp" of an economic turnaround. Yeah, right? Is that why Ohio lost 200,000 jobs?
---has voted in lock step with DeLay, Boehner, Hastert, Ney, and the Republican leadership 99% of the time.
---has forgotten she represents the people of the 15th congressional district, not just the Republican Party.

It is time for change. Vote for Mary Jo Kilroy, Democrat for Congress.

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A great reminder about the failures and corruption of the Ohio Republicans who control our state government, is the embezzlement trial of Republican fundraiser, Tom Noe. According to the Toledo Blade:
...Prosecutors have said Noe took more than $2 million from the state coin funds he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and doctored records to cover the theft. He used the money, they said, to spend on his homes, past debt, and other personal items....
Ohio has lost so much because the Republicans lined their pockets while the jobs went away. It is time for change.
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I'll be following election results and post whatever I can here.

Same Old Stuff or New Direction

Election day provides us with a real chance to change direction. If voters choose to stay with the Republicans, we know what they'll give us: scandal, ethics problems, lobbyists dictating the writing of legislation, and a continuation of the fiasco in Iraq. As Chris Matthews said this morning on the Today Show, if Republicans keep control, President Bush will say something like 'thank you for supporting my policies.'

The only real choice is to vote for change and a new direction. By voting a straight Democratic ticket, you are saying to the President and the Republicans ------- ENOUGH!

*If you live in Ohio, you've seen the new ad by Republican Mike DeWine. The ad has someone named Vicki Almay who makes some accusations about what happened in Sherrod Brown's office in 1986. Almay and her husband are major contributors to DeWine's campaign (several thousand dollars). Voters should also know that the employee that Almay and DeWine refer to was exonerated. This ad just shows has down and dirty DeWine and the Republicans have become.

Check out the video from Crooks and Liars that shows Chris Matthews accuses DeWine of smearing Brown.

*Look at my previous post that shows the Ohio hometowns of our troops who have died in Iraq. Republican Deborah Pryce lives in Upper Arlington, Ohio, an upper income suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Not one person from Upper Arlington has died in Iraq. Think about it.

Can you imagine 4 more years of the Iraq War?

Yesterday I wrote about how Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) said she was "willing" to have U.S. forces remain in Iraq four more years (see post below). As of today, Ohio has lost 137 men and women in Iraq. The Washington Post has the full list of Ohioans who have died in Iraq. If people vote for Pryce, will this list of Ohio's dead double, or triple? According to the Post, here are the number of dead from each Ohio city:

• Akron (1)
• Alliance (1)
• Atwater (1)
• Austintown (1)
• Bellaire (1)
• Broadview Heights (2)
• Brooklyn (1)
• Canal Fulton (1)
• Canton (3)
• Cherry Fork (1)
• Chillicothe (2)
• Cincinnati (9)
• Clayton (1)
• Cleveland (6)
• Columbus (11)
• Crawford (1)
• Cuyahoga Falls (2)
• Danville (1)
• Defiance (1)
• Delaware (1)
• Dresden (1)
• Dublin (1)
• Elyria (2)
• Euclid (1)
• Fairborn (1)
• Fairfield (3)
• Fort Jefferson (1)
• Frankfort (1)
• Franklin (1)
• Gahanna (1)
• Galloway (2)

• Grove City (1)
• Hamilton (2)
• Howard (1)
• Huber Heights (2)
• Huron (1)
• Ironton (1)
• Lima (1)
• Logan (1)
• Mansfield (4)
• Marietta (1)
• Massillon (1)
• Medina (1)
• Mentor (1)
• Middleburg Heights (1)
• Middletown (2)
• Milford (1)
• Monroeville (1)
• Montgomery (1)
• Mount Vernon (2)
• Newcomerstown (1)
• Niles (1)
• North Royalton (1)
• Ohio City (1)
• Ottowa (1)
• Plain City (1)
• Pomeroy (1)
• Reynoldsburg (2)
• Ridgeway (1)
• Rossford (1)
• Sabina (1)
• Sandusky (1)

• Seven Hills (2)
• Shelby (1)
• Somerset (1)
• Somerville (1)
• South Euclid (1)
• Springfield (1)
• St. Clairsville (1)
• St. Louisville (1)
• Stow (1)
• Strongsville (1)
• Tallmadge (1)
• Thompson (1)
• Toledo (2)
• Toronto (1)
• Union (1)
• Vermilion (1)
• Wellston (1)
• West Chesterfield (1)
• West Jefferson (1)
• Westerville (1)
• Wheelersburg (1)
• Williamsburg (1)
• Williamsfield (1)
• Willoughby (1)
• Willowick (1)
• Wilmington (1)
• Wintersville (1)
• Worthington (2)
• Youngstown (2)
• Zanesville (2)

Are you willing to have Bush, Pryce, and the rest of the Republicans continue to fight the war in Iraq in the same way------ war without end? For change, we must vote for Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy and every single Democrat on election day.

Pryce Is Willing to Stay in Iraq for Up to 4 More Years

In a debate that Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH-15) had with her Democratic opponent, Mary Jo Kilroy, Pryce said the following (LINK):

"I’m willing to have U.S. troops in Iraq until we defeat terrorism in Iraq," said Pryce, who added that she hopes the troops can come home in less than four years. She talked of visiting Iraq and how the people "are liberated and they are happy in their freedom."

If you examine that statement, Pryce is willing to have your sons and daughters stay in Iraq for up to 4 years. That is very generous of her, don't you think? She is willing to let military families remain apart for another 4 years. Pryce is willing to have our money continue to pour into Iraq for another 4 years. Pryce is willing to have the military profiteers continue to make excessive profits for another 4 years.

Although Pryce might say today that what is happening in Iraq has no reflection on her, I would disagree. Her support of the war in Iraq has put our men and women in the military at risk every single minute they are in Iraq. It is time to tell Pryce and the Republicans to pack up their suitcases and go home. We simply cannot continue to have our service members in Iraq for another 4 years.

If you are tired of the scandals, lies, and the war, you know what you must do. If you want to change course, there is only one way-----
vote out the R's and vote for the D's (Democrats).

'Iraq is not a direct reflection on me'

Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce is hoping that we will all get amnesia before election day. Pryce hopes that we will forget that she said the following about the war in Iraq (Link):

On June 28, 2005, three years after the war started, Rep. Deborah Pryce told the Columbus Dispatch that "Iraq is now a beacon of freedom."
On October 24, 2003, Rep. Deborah Pryce said "I didn't see any chaos" in Iraq.

And, of course, who can forget those disastrous cuts that Pryce and the GOP made to benefits for our troops?

According to CNN:
Deborah Pryce distanced herself Thursday from the Iraq war, telling CNN Radio, "What's happening in Iraq is not a direct reflection on me."

...Pryce made the remark Tuesday in an interview at a Columbus, Ohio, factory. When pressed by CNN on whether her position as a House leader connected her to the volatile situation in Iraq, Pryce objected to the interruption of her remarks and said the interview was over....

"Thanks, I'm done," Pryce said. She expressed frustration and walked away saying, "Maybe we'll call you later when I'm feeling better."

In a statement issued to CNN later, Pryce finished her response, writing, "What's happening in Iraq is not a direct reflection on me."

"I voted to give the president the authority to use force in Iraq; that doesn't mean I'm always happy with what I see, but I can think of nothing worse for our troops or our prospects for success than having 435 members of Congress second-guessing our commanders," Pryce wrote....

"...Not a direct reflection on me.....?????"

Pryce voted for the war. Pryce has been a cheerleader for the administration's policies for the war. Pryce voted to cut medical benefits to our troops. Pryce voted to cut raises and bonuses for the troops. Pryce supports continuing the war until Bush pushes it off to the next President. Pryce and the Republicans are directly responsible for the mess in Iraq. They refused to have bills come to the floor that would involve oversight, or investigations of impropriety.

Here is my advice: If you want to continue the war in Iraq, continue the American bloodshed, continue the financial hardship the war has created for families and this country, vote for Pryce.

However, if you want to change course, VOTE FOR KILROY.

Pryce and the GOP Have Made Cuts for Vets

*A weekly newspaper here in central Ohio, The Suburban News, has had many recent letters to the editor voicing support and reservations about candidates. However, a letter written by a retired member of the U.S. Army explained how Republican Deborah Pryce (OH-15) has done more harm to our veterans. Here are some excerpts:

...She (Pryce) showed her true colors and demonstrated beyond reproof that issues affecting those who wear our nation's uniforms are secondary and a lower priority. The year 2003 is telling. Many believe Pryce put her "leadership rank" ahead of her commitment as an entrusted "representative," choosing power over service.

If you need more you only need to look at where Rep. Pryce stood when the House leadership unceremoniously dumped Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) from his position as chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee in January 2005. After four years of outstanding service as chairman and with two years remaining on his leadership position, Smith was dumped from the committee. Not only did Pryce support stripping Smith of his chairmanship, she was part of the high-ranking House leadership team that threw Smith off the committee on which he had served for more than 20 years. More than 10 veterans groups protested this acion, but to no avail.

What was Smith's sin? This expert on veterans' affairs put the legitimate needs of veterans and the uniformed military ahead of the cost-cutting, war-on-the-cheap agenda of the Hastert-DeLay-Pryce leadership team. The result was denial of billions of dollars for health care and other services for veterans, widows, and National Guard families.

Pryce's record is a dismal track of repeated refusal to co-sponsor meaningful veteran-friendly House legislation, votes against bringing bills to the floor for a vote, and slavish devoting to the Bush administration's practice of squeezing veterans programs. Only when public pressure has reached a crescendo, forcing the House to act, has Rep. Pryce supported veterans issues....


*To support the thesis that Pryce doesn't support vets, I've included excerpts from The Nation (1/11/2005):

Here's how House Republicans support the troops in a time of war: by demoting and embarrassing the leading advocate for soldiers on Capitol Hill.

The crackdown on GOP moderates continued last week as the House leadership ousted Representative Chris Smith as chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs for his tireless advocacy of veterans rights. Smith--like House Ethics Chairman Joel Hefley--did his job a little too well.

Smith served on the Vets Committee since arriving in Congress twenty-four years ago and became its chairman in 2001, angering the GOP top brass with his opposition to stingy VA budgets and ability to pass bills across bipartisan lines. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay--who wanted Smith punished two years ago--got his wish when House Speaker Dennis Hastert inserted GOP poodle Steve Buyer as Chairman and took the unprecedented step of throwing Smith off the Vets Committee. (Ironically, Smith is also a major figure in the anti-choice movement.)...

*The veterans organization, Veterans United, has included Deborah Pryce and 33 others as "Certified Veteran Unfriendly."

*USA Today has an article today about how troops with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) are being kicked out of the military, given less than honorable discharges, and denied medical benefits. Here is an excerpt:

...In Iraq, Marines who perform well in combat can be lauded for it. But if they develop PTSD, they can be punished for stress-related misconduct, kicked out of the military and denied treatment for their illness.

In recent months, the Marine Corps has begun investigating the matter, identifying 1,019 Marines who may fall into this group since the war in Iraq began. All served at least one year in the Marines and one tour overseas before being discharged for misconduct....

These examples show how the Republican Congress and Deborah Pryce have abandoned our troops and veterans. With the great possibility that more men and women will be suffering physical and mental problems as a result of combat, it is time that common sense and compassion rule in dealing with veterans affairs. Pryce and the GOP have failed. It is time for change.

A Vote for Jean Schmidt is A Vote for Nuclear Waste Dump in Ohio's 2nd District

If Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt (OH-2) wins on Tuesday, what is in the future for the citizens of her district? Schmidt thinks it would be a good thing to have a nuclear waste dump in her district. Think about it.