Jon Keeling is going to go down as the Sun Tzu of Ohio Republican political strategist with today’s post.
First, let’s clarify a few things, this post is a trial balloon by the Kasich campaign. Jon Keeling has demonstrated that he doesn’t write a single thing without the Kasich campaign’s involvement. He even mentions in the post that this is what he’s hearing, so this isn’t just his personal opinion.
Second, nobody cares about who Kasich’s running mate will be. God bless lil’ AK Bulletsauce, but the image he tries to create of Republicans circling the block waiting for an audience with Kasich to kiss his ring as the masses of Ohioans gather around his campaign headquarters awaiting the first sign of a plume of white smoke to surface doesn’t exist.
I mean, it’s not like being on the Lt. Governor slot has exactly been a boon for Republicans. Just ask Tom Raga, Nancy Hollister, or Jannete Bradley… if you can locate them anymore.
Look, I’m about the most pro-Strickland guy in the world, and I’ve got to tell you that I’ve given virtually no thought to who Strickland is going to look to fill the void left by the departure of Lee Fisher. All I know is that I don’t think it’s going to be me, but I admit that I cannot confirm that.
Regardless, Ohioans aren’t losing sleep wondering who these guys are going to entrust with breaking tie votes in the State Senate that never occur.
- Former Canton Mayor Janet Creighton. Yes, nothing spells “popular” Republican like one that lost her last election over her support for President Bush only to join the Bush Administration. She told a mostly African-American audience at a mayoral debate that her Democratic opponent’s pledge to institute a zero tolerance for drug and property crimes as a way to clean up their neighborhood and make them feel safe was “racial profiling.” She, of course, lost despite being expected to be heavily favored for re-election. Yes, nothing says a break from the failed Republican Administrations of the past like a failed Mayoral candidate with ties to the Bush Administration. Genius, I.Q. Thinkysauce!
- Sen. Karen Gillmor- Who? Oh, the widow of former Congressman Paul Gillmore. Yeah, maybe having a woman on the ticket would make Kasich look more moderate and appeal to independents. Look how that worked out for McCain.
- Senator Jimmy Stewart- Guy has a great name, but given that he already passed on running against Congressman Zack Space, I don’t think he’s going to jump on the Kasich ticket. Regardless, Athens County wouldn’t be diluted one bit with Stewart of the ticket (which is why Stewart also rejected numerous attempt to draft him to run against Strickland for Congress), so it’s hard to see what Stewart adds from a geopolitical strategy. Still, it’s so Kapra-esque.
- Senator Mark Wagoner and Representative Matt Dolan. The fact that IE Crazysauce mentions Dolan’s family wealth would “self-finance his race” (maybe he doesn’t know as a Virginia resident that there is no such thing as a race for Lt. Governor? Amber, did you know that?) suggests that Kasich’s fundraising is still below expectations.
Regardless, it’s funny that for all the bluster IT Bloggersauce has manufactured over the tax freeze, one-third of his list are Republicans who voted for it. His list actually includes a greater proportion of Republicans who voted for the tax freeze than actually voted for the freeze itself. And he mentions their vote as a way to appeal to moderates and independents. So, in one fell swoop, Keeling actually concedes that the tax freeze is not the political liability he’s claiming. Either that, or it’s only a political asset when Republicans support it?
No, such a pick wouldn’t inherently make Kasich’s criticism of the tax freeze look entirely hypocritical, nor would Dolan’s speech on the floor of the House about politicians criticizing this freeze with no solution of their own provide Democrats fodder for oppo radio and television spots. Yeah, Dolan. That’s the ticket!
- State Auditor Mary Taylor….
Give me a minute. I need to change my pants from peeing I’ve been laughing so hard at the one.
No offense to the David Pepper folks, but it’s no secret that most pundits on both side of the aisle widely believe that Taylor is safe. As the only Republican to survive the 2006 massacre, Keeling offers no rationale why Taylor would give up a safe seat that would position her for further statewide politics already in order to run with Kasich.
Please, let it be Mary Taylor. David Pepper will win the State Auditor’s race, and when Strickland is re-elected, Democrats will control the Apportionment Board during redistricting. God, I would love to see Kasich snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like this. But I can’t believe the Ohio Democratic Party would be so lucky.
Keeling doesn’t even profess who the Republicans could use to replace Taylor because there is none as the Republican bench is so thin that after promising the State a new generation of Republican leaders, ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine has instead given 1990s retreads John Kasich, Rob Portman, and Mike DeWine.
I’m amazed Keeling didn’t include Ken Blackwell. They both share the same views, and don’t you know how Blackwell would do with the urban African-American vote?
Seriously, Jon, nobody care who Kasich gets to run on the campaign to get beat by Ted Strickland.
But thanks for the laughs!
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So, Eric caught a campaign intern for the Kasich campaign astroturfing in the comments on my post about Kasich today.
If that failure to hide his obvious bias wasn’t enough, the kid’s entire point seems to be that anyone with access to Google would realize that John Kasich is full of shit every time he claims credit for balancing the budget and the budget surpluses in the 1990s.
He’s right. It is amazingly easy to find ample data to show that John Kasich is full of shit, which is why the media should be reporting on it more.
EPIC FAIL, kid.
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It appears a real, actual, indictable felony may have occured when Bush ordered Harriet Miers to defy a congressional subpoena. Via TPM:
Invoking a privilege is one thing, but telling a person not to show up in response to a subpoena — if only to actually invoke the privilege — is quite another. It’s not just worse, it’s a felony under federal criminal law. See for yourself.
18 U.S.C. Sec. 1505 : … Whoever corruptly … influences, obstructs, or impedes … the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress … [s]hall be fined under this title, [or] imprisoned not more than 5 years … or both.
18 U.S.C. Sec. 1515(b) : As used in section 1505, the term “corruptly” means acting with an improper purpose, personally or by influencing another, including … withholding, [or] concealing … information.
In other words, George Bush could be imprisoned for up to five years for “corruptly impeding” a Congressional investigation by influencing another person to withhold or conceal information. Harriet Miers could have shown up and claimed Executive privilege, but George Bush does NOT have the authority to tell anyone to ignore a subpoena.
Yet another piece of evidence that this White House believes they are above the law.
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Unreal.
President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case Monday, stepping into a criminal case with heavy political overtones on grounds that the sentence was just too harsh.
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So, we here at PB have taken some heat for attacking Matt Naugle for his falsehoods and irrelevant personal attacks. I understand that some people think we are wasting our time, and to a certain extent, I understand that view.
But I also understand that the “most prominent right-wing blog in Ohio” has a responsibility – be a good citizen in the blogging community. Lying about the facts is not a part of good citizenship. Neither is attacking family members of politicians or bloggers. I think ignoring these attacks is a mistake. I believe that this kind of ugliness must be confronted to be defeated.
As Jerid points out, this stuff has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than trying to embarrass and attack uninvolved third parties. The Ohio GOP has attacked Jerid’s mom. RABid has attacked Jerid’s dad. RABid has attacked Jennifer Brunner’s son. This stuff is pandemic. And I can’t wrap my head around the idea that anyone would think this relevant or even ethical.
This pretty much confirms my earlier decision to never ever link to RABid again. I’d ignore them entirely, if there wasn’t significant evidence that Naugle is running an astroturf blog over there, and thus is doing this at the behest of the Ohio GOP.
UPDATE: I should add – I have never, not once ever, been even remotely curious in digging for skeletons amongst Naugle’s family and friends. His mother, or father, aren’t out there blogging, carrying water, and as such aren’t even relevant. For that matter, I’m not terribly interested in Naugle’s skeletons. Unless he’s practicing one thing and preaching another, I don’t much care about his private life.
But then again, I have facts, truth, justice, and ethical behavior on my side. When you are losing the fight, I guess you might feel the need to steep to some pretty ugly behavior.
UPDATE 2: the offending post has suddenly disappeared from RABid. *POOF* – just like an “enemy combatant”. Somebody – probably one of Matty’s “handlers” from the Ohio GOP – must have decided that was in poor taste (and it was). Matty didn’t even have the nerve to leave a placeholder post apologizing for posting something so completely out of line to begin with. Well, this post isn’t going away – Matty may have retracted the post, but that doesn’t change the fact that one of the “top” conservative blogs in Ohio thought it appropriate, even fleetingly, to put something like that out there. This post will remain on the internet forever, a testament to what vicious scumbags wingnuts are. Coultergeist is cut from the same cloth.
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From today’s Washington Post:
“This is the most incompetent White House I’ve seen since I came to Washington,” said one GOP senator. “The White House legislative liaison team is incompetent, pitiful, embarrassing. My colleagues can’t even tell you who the White House Senate liaison is. There is rank incompetence throughout the government. It’s the weakest Cabinet I’ve seen.” And remember, this is a Republican talking.
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I guess the PD talked to Phil last night. Nothing really new there, other than this last bit:
In the interview, de Vellis expressed pride in his creation.
“It changes the trajectory of my career,” he said.
What direction would that be? 45 degree angle downward with trailing flames? You are now one of two things: A loose cannon who has been busted doing underhanded things that harm your campaigns or a lackey who takes the fall. What are fall guys making nowadays?
Update: Never fear. Da Blogfatha is here to save the day! Does Jerome actually speak for all of MyDD by giving “Our statement…”? Neat. I seem to remember Phil pissing off the entire lefty blogosphere in Ohio with his crap. But “Phil’s a big reason why Sherrod Brown kicked ass in Ohio in 2006″ does sound better. I hear there is to be some training by the blogpac peeps coming soon. I, for one, CANNOT WAIT!
Guess this as good a time as any since we are walking down memory lane:
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