* When a Republican candidate claims that he has "blue collar roots," should we believe him? Sometimes it pays to do a little digging.
Josh Mandel wrote a letter to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch. Here are some excerpts from the Mandel's Dispatch letter:
...I'm confident my experience and accomplishments in the state legislature, state
treasurer's office and Marine Corps, combined with my blue-collar roots and education from Ohio
State University, Case Western Reserve University Law School and life's school of hard knocks, have
put the tools on my belt for me to be a scrappy, hardworking and thoughtful U.S. senator on behalf
of Ohio's 11.5 million residents....
Does Josh Mandel really have "blue-collar roots" in Beachwood, Ohio? (Depending on how far back we go into a family's history, we all have "blue-collar roots.") Is Josh Mandel referring to his father or grandfather? My father helped build ships. My maternal grandfather was a bricklayer, and my fraternal grandfather was a carpenter.
Here are some facts about Josh Mandel----
- Mandel graduated from Beachwood High School in 1996.
- Beachwood, Ohio, is and always has been an affluent suburb of Cleveland. Beachwood is the home to Beachwood Place, a very upscale mall. We have visited Beachwood, Ohio, many, many times and the words "blue collar roots" have never come to mind in describing the area.
- Josh Mandel's father has been a practicing attorney since the mid-1970's. Do you know of any attorneys, past or present, that would be classified as "blue collar" workers?
- Mandel graduated from Ohio State in 2000, and went to law school at Case Western Reserve. He took the bar exam, but there is no record of him passing it.
- Mandel was elected to the Ohio House in 2006, took office in 2007, and ran for Ohio Treasurer in 2009.
- During his term in the Ohio House of Representatives, Mandel voted with his Republican colleagues 95% of the time. As I've written before, Mandel's legislative experience is weak, and barely in evidence. Republican Josh Mandel was the primary sponsor of only 4 bills while he served in the Ohio House of Representatives. In the 128th General Assembly, Mandel and Jay Goyal sponsored HB 123 (there are no recorded votes on HB 123) and HB 171 (HB 171 never came up for a vote). Both HB 123 and HB 171 were assigned to a committee, but nothing else happened to his legislation.
- Josh Mandel voted against making cockfighting a felony???
Cleveland:
....Cockfighting is now a fourth-degree
misdemeanor in Ohio. Penalty: No more than 30 days in jail, a fine no
greater than $250. In contrast, House Bill 108 would make cockfighting a
fifth-degree felony. Penalty: Up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to
$2,500. Second offenses would draw steeper penalties.....
.....Among
19 representatives voting "no" were Lyndhurst Republican Josh Mandel,
whose district includes Brecksville, Chagrin Falls, Independence, and
Solon -- not, you'd think, cockfighting capitals....
That is amazing. Now we know there are two Republicans who are for animal cruelty.
(1.) The Republican Party has Romney who put his dog in a kennel and then tied the kennel to the top of his car.
(2.) The Ohio Republican Party has Josh Mandel who voted against making cockfighting a felony.
- Mandel's activity in the 127th session, wasn't noteworthy either. Mandel only sponsored 2 bills, HB 151 (there was no vote on HB 151) and HB 644 (there was never a vote taken on HB 644). HB 151 and HB 644 never came before the entire Ohio House for a vote.
- Mandel wants us to count the minutes that he has spent as Ohio Treasurer as his experience???? Are you kidding me? Josh Mandel started his campaign for his next office just 80+ days after being sworn in as Treasurer. He has been absent from office while he has visited other states, all 88 counties in Ohio, and a country (the Bahamas) to collect campaign cash.
On the other hand, according to Govtrack, Sen. Sherrod Brown has sponsored many pieces of legislation while he has been in the U.S. Senate. You can see all 44 pages of Sen. Sherrod Brown's sponsored legislation at this link.
Josh Mandel's letter to the editor is pure fiction. Don't be fooled. Mandel is a puppet of the right wing that will take away women's rights, and support tax cuts for the rich. We cannot forget that Mandel was for SB 5. We need to keep Sherrod Brown in the Senate. Sherrod Brown has demonstrated his hard work for every group in Ohio and our veterans.
For those that know Josh Mandel, his claim of "...life's school of hard knocks..." is laughable and ridiculous. We thank him for his service as a Marine, but his accomplishments as an elected public official have been miniscule and overdone.
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Update: My 91 year old mother-in-law said the following about Josh Mandel's claim to "blue collar roots"----> "He is full of ____!" Leave it to my mother-in-law to tell it like it is.