Swing State Ohio

It seems like Paul Hackett's visibility has increased since he "left politics." Here is a clip of him on the Daily Show this past week having a little fun with the whole situation.

Step 1: The executive branch intentionally breaks a law and violates the constitution by spying on american citizens.

Step 2: The legislature struggles to find a way to deal with this obvious infraction.

Step 3: An Ohio Senator takes a page straight from the Nixon/1984 playbook and introduces an absurd bill that violates the constitution and imposes penalties for those that question the president in the future.

What is step 4?

The King continues with his business of spying on citizens without a warrant, with no congressional oversight whatsoever?

Or...

The Democrats finally capitalize on an opportunity to show the American public that they truly are an opposition party. The bill is ridiculed, struck down overwhelmingly, bringing Senator Dewine's already damaged reputation down with it.

According to the ACLU this bill "must be rejected."

Read the bill and make the call.

Mike Dewine
D.C. Office
(202) 224-2315

Tell him that Ohioans are sick of rubber stamp representatives. Tell him he has lost your vote. Tell him we deserve better and we will demand it in November.

From Grandpaboy

What would you say to a group of Democrats who had a plan? What would you say if that plan had the enthusiastic endorsement of Howard "The Scream" Dean? What would you say to buying a case of beer, inviting over your neighbors, and calling it activism?

I was able to attend precinct captain training at ODP headquarters last night. They have launched a project to find someone in every neighborhood to work with their fellow Democrats. Currently, there are 150 wards with 920 precincts. Over a hundred of those precincts now have captains, but we need almost 800 more volunteers. With precinct captains in place, we can recruit block captains and create a tight community. This level of efficiency will free up 527s and campaigns to concentrate on areas that need the attention (i.e. outside of Franklin County).

In short, if you live within Franklin County, sign the hell up. If you don't have the time to volunteer as a precinct captain, chip in your $25 bucks for dues. Accurate databases help candidates win, and accurate databases cost money. That's money our local candidates don't have.

This is smart and good work they are doing in Franklin County. This is the type of infrastructure that needs to be created for Democrats to compete in Ohio. If you live in Franklin County, please consider this. If you know someone who lives in Franklin County, please let them know.

Democrats
Sherrod Brown
Bio
Website
Brown is a member of the far-Left Progressive Caucus in the House. He was a leading opponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He advocates Universal Healthcare. He voted against America’s incursion in Iraq. Brown has a 95 percent voting record from the progressive group Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).

(Source)

Republicans
Mike Dewine
Incumbent Senator Mike DeWine, by contrast, has served 12 years in the Senate, eight in the House, and four years as Ohio's Lieutenant Governor. The recent liberal drift of his voting record, however, makes DeWine seem to many critics to be so "moderate" or "centrist" as to be a RINO, a "Republican In Name Only," but too conservative to win liberal Democrat votes.

(Source)

Bill Pierce
Bio
Website
Teacher, Engineer, business owner, and proud father Bill Pierce has been gaining popularity in some parts of the state and among some conservative bloggers. Listen to the Meet the Bloggers Podcast.


Timeline

October 3
Hackett initially announced intentions to run. "Paul Hackett is running for U.S. Senate."

A Brown Spokeswoman tells the AP that Brown is "reviewing his initial decision not to run."

Kos weighs in, criticizes Brown. "He bows out, waits for Hackett to gear up, and then floats a trial balloon about getting back in?"

Zogby poll shows Hackett ahead of Dewine 44%-36%.

October 6th
Brown informally enters race.


October 7
Ad advisor to Hackett says "Sherrod Brown told the candidate three weeks ago that he was not entering the race, so the campaign was surprised at Sherrod's indecisiveness and change of heart."

October 23

Brown changes his large actblue blogads purchase to the Ohio General campaign fund. This is applauded by Atrios, Kos, and others. (Contribute to the ActBlue Ohio General Election Fund.)

October 24th
Hackett formally announces candidacy.

Click here to watch the announcement.

In an interview, Brown says "Paul is new enough to public office that he doesn't understand that no one is entitled to a Senate nomination."

Brown delays official announcement until November. "Speculation is that he wants to see whether Issue 4 passes Nov. 8."

November 23rd
Bill Pierce joins the Republican primary race.

January 19th
The Wall Street Journal releases an online Zogby poll, conducted in early January, has Brown beating DeWine 41.3% to 37%.

February 1st
Brown responds to the State of the Union Address.

February 16th
Hackett tells Mother Jones: “I felt like I got fucked by the Democratic Party because they enticed me in and then they pulled the rug out from beneath me. It sounds eerily familiar to sending in the military to Iraq, which was a misuse of the military, and then not giving them what they need to fight.”

February 17th
Hackett withdraws from the race. "For me, this is a second betrayal."

February 20th
Hackett accuses Brown campaign of "spreading rumors that Hackett acted inappropriately while serving in Iraq."

February 22nd
Ohio Democratic Party officially endorses Brown as well as other statewide candidates. State party chair Chris Redfern said, "These endorsed candidates reflect a powerful democratic slate that will offer the citizens of Ohio a new vision and direction that will focus on honesty in government, jobs, education and health care instead of the culture of corruption and one party rule that has plagued this state for the last 16 years."

February 23rd
Bush attends a Dewine fundraiser in a Cincinnati suburb.

March 12th
Nixguy implores the blogosphere to "Please someone point me to one, just one, grassroots blog that is flogging votes for Michael DeWine in this primary. I bet you can’t find one."

March 13th
Brown speaks with The American Prospect about the war, the 2006 elections, and other topics. read it or listen to it.

Ohio is perhaps the swingiest of the swing states in the crucial 2006 mid-term elections. The Republican controlled Congress is in more danger now than it has been since it came into power just 12 years ago. Aside from the balance of power in the legislature, the 2006 elections can provide much needed momentum for Democrats, especially in key swing states. There are perhaps 3 dozen contestable seats in the House of Representatives and as many as 7 or 8 in the Senate. While there are many contestable races in battleground states, at this time it appears as if a disproportionate number of them will be in the great state of Ohio. As it turns out, Ohio is also poised for several highly contested statewide races this November.

Jennifer Duffy of the non-partisan Cook Political Report, which analyzes national races had this to say about Ohio in 2006. "It’s become a very large symbol of how things all seem to hang in the balance. Democrats are hoping that winning here sets them a pretty clear path to 2008."

This is my humble attempt at blogging the 2006 congressional and statewide races in Ohio. As an inter-disciplinary studies major at Miami University I studied the role of information technology in the American electoral process. In the course of my studies I've come to the conclusion that the internet is the most effective tool currently available for engaging and motivating Americans. This site, in addition to being a resource for voters and democratic campaigns, offers me the opportunity to experiment with a combination of traditional and unconventional methods of presenting political information via the internet. Inspiration for this project comes from the likes of Markos Moulitsas, Tim Tagaris, Jerome Armstrong, Joe Trippi, Matt Stoller and everyone else harnessing the power of technology to advance progressive politics.