Ohio 18th Congressional District

HANGING CHADS

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:31:52 EST

For two days now, heavy tanker trucks have been rumbling up and down my rural road, hauling pig manure from a nearby feed lot to juice up farm fields to the west. The ground shakes, the air smells, we can't wait for the transfer to be complete. This must be what it's like on Pennsylvania Avenue as the Bush administration gets set to vacate back to Texas.

Now that's the change we need!

Other random thoughts two days after the election:

A lot has been said about how Barack Obama's election should revive the nation's reputation in the eyes of the world. But let's also realize that Ohio stands a little taller since Tuesday night. Ohio, the state which provided the industry, the leadership and the manpower to make America great, has been blamed now for eight years for helping put George Bush over the top in 2000 and then sealing the deal for another four years in 2004. But on Tuesday night, it only became apparent that Obama was on the victory road when Ohio turned blue shortly after 9 p.m. Ok, NO MORE OHIO JOKES.
As we noted yesterday, however, Licking County hasn't yet gotten the word that a new day is dawning. According to preliminary totals at the LC Board of Elections, Barack with 41 percent ran slightly better than John Kerry, who got 37.8 percent in 2004. On the other hand, Democratic Congressman Zack Space in his winning re-election effort lost ground in Licking County, gaining 54.7 percent of the vote here as compared to 60.3 percent in 2006. Meanwhile, the vote here for Licking County's other congressman, Republican Pat Tiberi, remained virtually unchanged, 66.6 percent in 2008 as compared to 66.1 percent in 2006.
This is not to fault the work of Obama organizers in Licking County. I really appreciated how hard they were working on Halloween Eve when the only trick-or-treater that showed up at our rural McKean Township door was an Obama volunteer collecting names! We NEVER get trick-or-treaters out here in the country, and we certainly have never seen Democratic canvassers before, especially those for a presidential campaign.
If you enjoyed the recent book about blue-collar politics, Deer Hunting with Jesus, you'll want to enjoy this follow-up in the Washington Post about how the denizens of Winchester, Va., approached this week's election. See it at : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110101841.html?referrer=emailarticle

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS ELECTION

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:18:39 EST

Tuesday's election marked an historic shift for the nation but -- unfortunately -- just more of the same for Licking County.

The whoops and shouts were loud and sustained last night at the local Democratic election party at the Center Pub in Newark as, shortly after 9 p.m., Ohio was declared for Obama, making his eventual nationwide victory look inevitable. Hours later, the Obama victory was sweetened by Democratic gains in the U.S. House and Senate, the election of Richard Cordray as state attorney general and the flipping of the Ohio House to a 51-48 Democratic majority.

But in Licking County, it was another wipe-out for the Democrats. Only freshman State Rep. Dan Dodd and freshman 18th District Congressman Zack Space survived the night as Republicans took over all three seats on the Licking County commission and a field of Democratic newcomers and judicial candidates went down to defeat, often by large margins.

The Space and Dodd victories were significant since both legislators wore GOP bulls-eyes on their backs, having won two years ago in districts normally safe for the Republicans.

In many ways, however, last night resembled the 2006 elections where Democrats made great gains at the Ohio Statehouse and in Congress but failed to dent traditional GOP control in local races.

The Blue team, however, showed potential for the future in backing thoughtful new candidates such as Doug Moreland for county commissioner, Don Hill for state representative and David Robinson for the U.S. House (12th District). We can only hope that they -- and others -- stay in the fight and come back benefitting from this experience to challenge again in 2010.

Also a big plus was that behind the ballot box, the big winner of the night was Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who has, since her election in 2006, has withstood a withering attack from Statehouse Republicans intent on making her "too controversial" for re-election in 2010. Two headlines in this morning's Dispatch tell the story:

VOTING PROBLEMS? NOT IN OHIO (pp. A1)

FRAUD ALLEGATIONS FEW DESPITE TURNOUT (pp. A5)

The attacks on Brunner are all about controlling which party gets to gerrymander state and federal legislative district redistricting after the 2010 census. As Dispatch senior editor Joe Hallett wrote back in 2006:

"For decades, Ohio has used a system that awards gerrymandering power every 10 years to the political party that wins two of the three races for governor, secretary of state and state auditor. That power has been abused by both parties, most recently Republicans, who has ensured their legislative majorities by virtually eliminating competitive elections."

As of now, Democrats control the governor's office and secretary of state's office, while Republicans hold the auditor's office. With Gov. Ted Strickland still riding high in the polls, Republicans have decided to try and unseat Brunner, a relative unknown, by linking her to what has now proven to be the phony issue of voter fraud.

We were reminded again last night that the Ohio GOP's congressional Maginot Line held firm once again thanks to gerrymandering. The 12th District Republican, the lackluster Pat Tiberi, converted his massive financial advantage as an incumbent to defeat Robinson with only minimal deployment of TV advertising and direct mail. And in Franklin County, it appears that gerrymandering once again defeated Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy from overcoming GOP majorities in rural Union and Madison counties.

In the 2006 congressional elections, Ohio sent 11 Republicans and 7 Democrats to the U.S. House, even though the total combined vote for Democratic congressional candidates here was 1.97 million as compared to 1.78 million for the Republicans.

So while we can cheer Barack Obama's historic victory, it remains true that all politics is local and on both the local and state level, Democrats still have much work to do.

ANOTHER SPLIT DECISION

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:49:03 EDT

Round 3 of the Presidential campaign debate series played out like round 15 in a heavyweight prizefighter match, as Republican John McCain threw a last-minute flurry of jabs, a knockout punch being his only hope against Democrat Barack Obama who was winning on points.

Okay, the boxing analogy is a cliche. The Dispatch preview on Wednesday was headlined, "Last Round," featuring a graphic showing two robots in a ring. George Will, on ABC-TV last night following the "fight," concluded Obama won by letting his opponent punch himself into exhaustion, Mohammed Ali's old game. But cliche or not, the boxing analogy works.

Throughout the 90-minute Hofstra University debate, McCain was the puncher, landing a few good ones to be sure but never really denting Obama's calm composure, the thing about Obama that many voters find most attractive in these acidic and troubled times. As in the long primary campaign against Hillary Clinton, Obama has overcome the "fighter" by demonstrating confidence and maturity and intelligence, the traits of a real leader.

Bottom line: good fight, John, but it looks like Barack will wear the Belt.

(Before getting into the "blow by blow," let's not forget the warm-up act Wednesday afternoon featuring vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and Gov. Strickland at OSU-Newark's Adena Arena. For the record, several thousand partisans crammed into the "Home of the Titans" to hear the Delaware Democrat give his usual stump speech as part of a sweep across central and southern Ohio. If you thought you heard anything new being said, you haven't been listening.)

Obama's Best Moment: His dismissal of the McCain-Palin campaign attacks against him for "palling around" with 1960s radical William Ayers and Obama's so-called links to ACORN, the voter recruitment campaign under fire for falsified voter registrations. Obama explained calmly that he was 8-years-old when Ayers, now a university professor, was on his youthful rampage and that his only relation with ACORN was in the past, as an attorney for a client. "This says more about your campaign than it does about me," he told McCain.

McCain's Best Moment: Responding to the Obama campaigns repeated attempts to tie him hand-and-foot to the Bush administration, McCain said, "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

Obama's Worst Moment: Asked to cite specific spending cuts he would recommend as president, Obama came up only with one: a $15 billion saving by ending subsidies to insurance companies. McCain, by contrast, said he'd support an across-the-board spending freeze, cuts in defense budgets, elimination of pork-barrel earmark appropriations.

McCain's Worst Moment: His stumbling over the "woman" issue. First he praised running mate Sarah Palin as a "role model for women" despite growing evidence that the bloom is off that rose with most voters, including women. And then, after Obama said he voted as a state legislator against a bill outlawing partial-birth abortions because it didn't provide exceptions to protect the health of the mother, McCain said that whole "health of the mother" issue was overblown. "They've stretched the meaning of health-of-the-mother," said McCain. "That can mean anything."

Double Fudge: Both Obama and McCain said they'd choose future Supreme Court justices strictly on the basis of merit, without making abortion a litmus test. Then McCain added, "I don't believe anybody who supports Roe vs. Wade would have those qualifications." And Obama said he'd expect his choice to be a judge who not only understands the law but the real environment in which people live.

Pandering To The Base: McCain didn't bring up Ayres and ACORN, moderator Bob Schieffer did. But once these punching bags were in play, the Republican took full opportunity, while accusing Obama of running a dirty campaign. And Obama, during their discussion on energy, twice referred to the need to rebuilt the auto industry through loan guarantees and more fuel-efficient cars. Did you catch that, Ohio and Michigan?

Absentee Winner: Joe the Plumber, of course, the common man from Ohio extolled on numerous occasions by McCain throughout the debate. Even as I write this at minutes before Midnight, there are hundreds of reporters nationwide trying to track down this poor guy for an interview. Maybe McCain should have picked a plumber rather than a Palin as his running mate.

McCain's passive aggression

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:24:07 EDT

What is John McCain's problem?

That was my reaction to tonight's first presidential debate in Mississippi. It wasn't really about the policy or even the political language - that was pretty predictable on both sides. It was about body language.

For nearly two hours, McCain ignored Barack Obama, having a conversation with moderator Jim Lehrer, even when Lehrer urged him to respond directly to the Democratic candidate. Obama talked directly to McCain, referring to his opponent as "John." McCain, grinding his teeth in a tight smile, never looked at Obama and always referred to "Senator Obama" as though Obama was not sharing the stage.

It struck me as a clear case of passive aggression on the part of McCain, which made my teeth grind. By passive aggression, I mean avoiding direct confrontation with those who disagree with you, preferring to smirk and stonewall and diminish another's abilities.

Why would McCain act so dismissive?

He's the guy who supposedly wanted a series of 10 town hall forums with Obama, and has frequently complained about being dissed on that by his Democratic opponent. Is this how he'd behave in a casual format?

McCain is a guy who says he'd be a President who could conduct his office in a bi-partisan manner. And yet, he wouldn't even look at his Democratic counterpart in this election race, or recognize his presence. That seems a poor way to demonstrate bi-partisan tendencies.

McCain didn't blow his top, to be sure, but he did come across as an angry old guy who bottles it all up to the point of not even acknowledging an opposing point of view. At one point, in an otherwise predictable argument over meeting with foreign leaders, McCain said he'd meet "anybody" with proper pre-conditions. But now we have to believe that if a President McCain sat down with Putin or the leaders of China, Korea or Iran, he wouldn't look them in the eye.

We all knew McCain doesn't like Obama. A quick, chilly handshake at the end of the evening didn't change that. But who thought that McCain's resentment about this younger and more articulate rival would result in a debate freeze-out rather than a boil

ANSWER ME THIS

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:34:57 EDT

In this era of pervasive and mass communications, 24-hour news cycle and instant replay, why can't I get these questions answered?:

1/ Is 12th District Congressman Pat Tiberi running unopposed this year? In a Sunday editorial, the Dispatch endorsed Tiberi for a fifth term, without ever mentioning his opponent, Democrat David Robinson. Admittedly, Robinson has been ignored all along by the media since his surprise primary win last March, but when did he become a MSM non-person? And, if against all odds, Robinson wins on Nov. 4, some poor late-night political reporter is going to have to scramble to find out who this guy is!

2/ Given John McCain's marital and health history, it's perhaps understandable why wife Cindy always posts herself one step behind her man at every public event. How are they going to keep her from being at John's shoulder at Friday night's presidential debate? (If Cindy gets to back-seat drive, so does Michelle).

3/ Again, in the Dispatch, confusion reigns when in results from the latest Ohio Newspaper Poll, it's reported that John McCain leads Barack Obama 48-42 percent among surveyed voters although, by a margin of 46-39%, these same respondents think Obama "best understands the problems facing Ohio." So do a good many Ohioans worry more about Georgia (the country, not the state) than they do about Ohio? So much for this election being all about the economy.

4/ But really, why would either one of these guys still want to go to work at the White House next January? As soon as they're sworn in, the country will expect them to resolve two sticky wars, put everybody back to work, bring down gasoline prices, rebuild New Orleans (and now South Texas) and get Congress to reform the health care and financial regulatory systems. And do it without any money, since that giant sucking sound you just heard was Wall Street swallowing up what precious little is left in the U.S. Treasury. Don't you think at times that Barack feels like placing that 3 a.m. call to Hillary saying, "Hey, if you still want the nomination, it's yours!"

5/Where have all the campaign bumper stickers gone? I've seen more Obama stickers on cars than I see Obama signs on lawns, and visa versa for McCain. (And I've seen one Kerry 04 sticker gamely hanging on to prime bumper space, even though the owner had second thoughts and tore off the "Edwards" side). No doubt many people (and some local governments) think it's too early to plunge into the pre-election sign wars, but -- hey -- early voting starts on Sept. 30!

6/ Which leads me to wonder, why don't we just save ourselves the pain (and campaigns the cost) of another seven weeks of campaign ads and just open the polls and have everybody vote on Sept. 30? With the storm clean-up and the economic crisis and the upcoming holiday season, don't we already have enough on our plate for October? And really, anybody who's clueless about the candidates and issues on Sept. 30 will probably be just as clueless come Nov. 4.

So, what's your question?

Pro-Bull

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:36:10 EDT

Why is it that those who claim NOT to be politicians often sound more like politicians than do the pros?

Listen, for example, to Mt. Vernon cattle rancher Fred Dailey, a Republican, explaining his credentials to replace Congressman Zack Space, D-Dover, in the 18th District:

"I'm pro-family, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-worker, pro-business, pro-family farmer, pro-defense and pro-American." (Columbus Dispatch, 9/9/08)

Okay. We can accept that. Wouldn't want a Congressman who was anti-family.

But where does Dailey stand on apple pie?

Can we trust this guy?

"Pro-defense," he does explain, means that if he's elected to Congress, he'd defer such questions as war and peace to the military, "freed of political concerns." Not exactly the way our democracy is set up under the Constitution.

But to be accurate here, Dailey isn't just another happy GOP warrior. According to the article, he's anti-taxes, anti-big government, anti-federal spending, anti-estate taxes and anti-earmarks.

That last item is interesting because I can remember Rep. Space's predecessor, Republican Bob Ney, coming to Mt. Vernon only two years ago to argue strongly in favor of earmarked home-town appropriations in front of an audience of local officials.

But that was when the Republicans still controlled the Congress (and thus the flow of earmarked goodies). And before Ney was indicted, convicted and jailed for getting too greedy at the trough

Obama on Community Organizing

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:29:28 EDT

It seems I wasn't the only viewer who took strong exception to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's dismissal of Barack Obama's service as a Chicago community organizer…and of the value of community organizing in general.. during her speech in St. Paul Wednesday night (see yesterday's Community News posting, Gov. Palin: This Is How Democracy Works!)
The Chicago Tribune (see today's Dispatch, A4) quotes Obama as saying he finds Palin's remark "curious."
Appearing in Lancaster, Pa., he explained:

"I would argue that dong work in the community to try and create jobs, to bring people together, to rejuvenate communities that would have fallen on hard times, to set up job-training programs to areas that have been hard hit when the steel plants closed, that that's relevant only in understanding where I'm coming from, who I believe in, who I'm fighting for and why I'm in this race."

Also curious was the fact that McCain, in the wind-up of his speech last night, urged all Americans to get involved in their communities and in the political process to bring about change. One way to do that, of course, is community organizing, regardless of your party.
Palin, on the other hand, seemed to assume that community organizing only referred to Tammany Hall-type recruiting of the urban poor. And she calls herself a reformer!

McCain was more partisan when, in his speech yesterday, he went after Obama by saying "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."
The Republican audience cheered lustily at this, perhaps forgetting that in 2000 and 2004 their party was just as eager to support a Republican standard-bearer who claimed his mandate from God.

News You May Have Missed

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:24:59 EDT

You may assume that because you sat up late watching John McCain's speech last night, you don't need to read about the GOP convention in today's paper.

You would be wrong.

Yes, today's Dispatch main convention stories predictably swoon over McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, without adding anything you don't know already. But that's to be expected, given the Dispatch's Republican leanings and - perhaps more importantly - the habit of journalists to put at least first-day priority on stenographic rather than analytical coverage.

Still, we have to learn how to read newspapers the way the Russians do: look for the small items at the bottom of the column, and for what is NOT being reported.

Let's look at what's buried first:

---(Page A8) Former 12th District congressman John Kasich, once widely viewed as a responsible budget hawk, is now trying to kick-start his fledgling gubernatorial campaign by joining the loonies in the Ohio General Assembly pushing for repeal of the state income tax. This is overkill, says former Bush budget director Robb Portman of Cincinnati (also eyeing a gubernatorial run) who prefers tax "reform." As the Dispatch's Joe Hallett points out, "replacing the $9.1 billion generated by the income tax would not be easy. The 5.5 percent state sales tax would have to leap to around 12 percent to raise a similar amount."

---(A6) While all eyes were on St. Paul, Vice President Dick Cheney is setting the stage for the showdown with Russia by "insisting" that the former Soviet republic of Georgia be admitted to NATO. The last paragraph of this AP story discloses that "U.S. officials have said it is likely that more military assistance will be forthcoming at some point to help the badly routed Georgian forces rebuild again."

Maybe this is what John McCain meant when he predicted there would be more wars even if Iraq and Afghanistan are pacified.

Now consider what's missing from today's edition:

---No mention of the demonstrations last night during McCain's speech by anti-war veterans who raised signs criticizing the nominee's position on veterans benefits. They were shown briefly on television several times but didn't get any ink, at least in the Dispatch.
---Even more curious is why the Dispatch on its editorial page has been mum on the Sarah Palin nomination, at least up until now. Maybe the newspaper just wanted to wait and make sure she was, in fact, nominated at the convention and will publish its Valentine this weekend. But ever since Bush was elected, the Dispatch has been critical of the influence of the Christian Right on the Republican Party, and of Bush for catering to the fanatic fringe.

GOV. PALIN: THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS!

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:26:37 EDT

I'm not crazy enough, as a 67-year-old grandfather, to put my toe into the political whirlpool stirred up by Sarah Palin about the responsibilities of motherhood. But there was one thing she said last night having nothing to do with parenting which really stuck in my craw:

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibilities."

In this, of course, Palin as John McCain's pit bull and running mate was comparing -- to her advantage -- her tenure as one-time mayor of the small Alaskan town of Wasilla to Obama's work in the late 1980s as a community organizer in Chicago. (He was director of the Developing Communities Project, a South Side church-based community organization. According to Daily Kos, DCP under Obama grew from one to 13 staff members and a budget of $400,000 a year, with a focus on tenants' rights, job training and college preparatory tutoring.)

Now, Obama is a big boy and certainly capable of responding to this and other political buckshot sprayed his way this week by Palin and other GOP convention speakers. But somebody needs to also defend "community organizers" who do great work for little or no pay to keep people and communities from sinking into ruin and despair, especially in these hard times.

And it's personal, because my father was a union community organizer in northeast Ohio and across the Midwest in the early 1930s during a period when you could get beaten or killed for promoting worker rights.

Just who are these community organizers that Palin dismisses so casually?

Aside from labor organizers like my dad, Martin Luther King comes to mind in terms of civil rights as does Susan B. Anthony. Probably the most famous community organizer in history was Jesus, something which probably hasn't occurred to Palin and her fellow maxi-Christians.

And what do these "community organizers" do?

They light fires under small town mayors and governors like Palin and even Presidents to do the jobs they were hired to do. You see, governor, mayors do have "actual responsibilities" but they don't always live up to them. And when the politicians and bureaucrats fail to take responsibility, it's up to us, as volunteers and community organizers, to pressure them or depose them.

When Palin put these activists down, I immediately thought of the famous Chicago writer, Studs Terkel, who spent much of his life profiling the courage and tenacity of everyday people in dire situations and the community organizers who fought for them against often impossible odds.

In his 2003 book, Hope Dies Last, Terkel quotes Roberta Lynch, a Chicago labor organizer, about her role:

"It's about action," she said. "You feel that things can happen, the possibility, the hope. You feel ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Something comes along unexpectely, something no one could have predicted...people can surprise you."

And here's how Elaine Jones of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund explains in the same book (pp 144) why we need community organizers, even if we have mayors and governors and judges and presidents:

"Now the basic question is, how much can the law alone do? I still believe in the power of law. We can't ignore the courts. We have to fight. But you have to have community pressure and involvement . There must be public pressure to make people respond. There has to be mobilization. Grassroots....I believe the system can change, but it's only if those of us who understand these issues stay involved in them. That's the only way change comes."

ZACK SPACE'S ENERGY CRISIS

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:09:01 EDT

Freshman Congressman Zack Space thought for a while today that his campaign for re-election might literally crash and burn in a Fairfield County farm field.

As Space told the story during a Newark fundraiser this evening, he was flying with his committee chairman, Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson, from Zanesville to Lancaster in Peterson's Beechcraft Bonanza when the single-engine aircraft suddenly lost all electric power.

Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was in Ohio to support Space in his bid for a second term as congressman for Ohio's sprawling 18th District, which covers 16 eastern Ohio counties. The Dover Democrat is a member of the agriculture committee, so the two lawmakers were spending the day visiting farms across the district.

Space admits to a life-long phobia about flying, and so he admits the malfunction gave him plenty to think about other than politics. "I began wondering if I could survive jumping out of the plane into some body of water," he said at the fundraiser.

Peterson, however, seemed less concern. The problem with the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza was a bad alternator, which had gone out several times before, Peterson said. Despite the power outage, the Minnesotan landed the plane without incident in Lancaster.

"We were never in any danger," Peterson said.

The two congressmen last night told supporters that energy is the number one issue now facing Congress.

And as Space now knows, when you're out of power, you're in for a white-knuckle landing.

No, They're NOT All the Same

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:26:37 EDT

If you're like me, you've been to a family reunion this summer where -- after the chicken and potato salad have been attacked, and the kids dispatched to the playground -- the talk inevitably turns to presidential politics.

Up until this year, at least in my extended family, this usually meant spirited disagreement when the Red Herd finds out there's a Blue Bull amongst them (that would be me).

But this year, the discussion was more disturbing -- and depressing.

"Who do you like for President?," asked one of the old Red Bulls, a guy who I know for a fact thinks Bush is too liberal.

"Definitely, Obama," I replied, girding for battle.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," replied Red Bull. "But it doesn't make any difference, does it? They're all crooked."

And we went back to watching the Olympics on televison.

Later, talking with a cousin who I suspect is cautiously non-political, the same question was asked.

"Obama," I said. "I like the way he's getting the young people involved."

Oh, yeah, I guess," she replied. "But it doesn't really make any difference who's elected, does it. They're all the same."

Now this "they're-all-the-same" approach may be a good way to avoid offense at a family reunion, but it does reflect an increasingly common attitude which is a cancer on our democracy.

So with my sweet cousin, I decided to keep the conversation going.

"No, actually, it does make a difference," I said. "What would have happened if Lincoln hadn't been elected...or FDR? Don't you think the history of this country would have been a lot different, for the worse?"

At the Open House last night celebrating the opening of the new offices of the Licking County Democratic Party, Congressman Zack Space, D-Dover, was also taking about the upcoming election from the historical perspective.

"This is going to be the most important election since 1932, and one can make the argument that there's been no more important election cycle since the Civil War," he told the volunteers and candidates who crowded into their new Church St. command center.

The news this morning, by the way, is that Space's predecessor, former Republican Congressman Bob Ney, will be released from federal custody on Saturday after being incarcerated for corruption in connection with the Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Space has spent the last two years in Congress and in Ohio working hard to improve the economy of his sprawling Southeastern Ohio district. Ney was convicted after getting swept up in the Washington pay-to-play game with lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. So are Space and Ney equally corrupt because they're both politicians?

And did it make any difference that 18th District voters, seeing how they had been duped, decided to shuck off their traditional allegiance to the Grand Old Party in 2006 and vote instead for a conservative but progressive Democrat like Space?

No, they're not all corrupt and they're not all the same, and we shouldn't let people -- even those we love, at family reunions -- get away with such a cynical dismissal of the whole political process. This is not a time to remain silent about your candidate or your hope for a better future.

Zack Space and middle of the road politics

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:34:30 EDT

Can Congressman Zack Space, by staying in the middle of the road, avoid being run over in the highly-partisan national energy debate?

Or does he risk becoming road kill?

Space, D-Dover, has sought to defuse the issue of Alaskan and off-shore drilling by criticizing both parties in Congress for failure to act on skyrocketing oil prices. At the Licking County JFK Breakfast last Saturday, he said he favors a comprehensive study of all options, including drilling but also including conservation measures, development of alternative fuels and energy sources and tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Today, the Dispatch caught up with that story, quoting Space as saying,

"I am frustrated by the lack of debate, by the lack of candid discussion, by the inability of leadership in both parties to cut through all the political nonsense, roll up their sleeves and get down to work and come up with a solution that makes America stronger."

Meanwhile, of course, Republicans continue to howl in chorus to drill, drill, drill, despite the potential environmental cost, even though every expert in the field agrees that that wouldn't produce any increase in oil supplies for decades, and even then wouldn't have much impact of world oil prices.

Seeking to return Space's 18th District to Republican control, challenger Fred Dailey of Mt. Vernon is furiously waving the oily rag, accusing Space of "liberal lip-service...with his support of so-called energy legislation that does nothing to lower gas prices or help America become energy independent."

http://www.daileyforcongress.com/newsDetails.cfm?i=25

The Dispatch interprets the congressman's even-handedness as an attempt by Space and some other Democrats "to distance themselves from their leaders" on the drilling issue.

Isn't it just possible, however, that Space, as a first-termer, just brings a fresh perspective to Congress' partisanship-as-usual way of doing business? Shouldn't the guy get some credit for calling out party leaders on both sides of the aisle for grossly simplifying the very complicated set of energy problems facing America?

Our resident poet, Hummingbird, has faulted Zack in the past for supporting legislation that weakens protection for wild mustangs. But on this issue, she thinks the congressman is smart to stay clear of the herd:

GALLOPING TO THE FINISH

There is a young politician //

stumping his Buckeye Partition. //

His name is Zack Space -- //

He's top of the race. //

Despite GOP derision. //

-- A Political Pepper Spray (TM) by Hummingbird

SPACE UNHAPPY WITH CONGRESS ON ENERGY

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:46:36 EDT

Congress needs to stop playing politics with energy, U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, told Licking County Democrats this morning.

And in saying all energy options should be on the table, Space didn't spare members of his own party from criticism.

"I'm not proud that my party has engaged just as much as have Republicans in political rhetoric on these issues," he said. "The politicians need to be fair and square and honest with the energy problem, and far too many have not been."

Space has introduced legislation to help working families offset gasoline costs through tax credits, and has voted to support legislation requiring oil companies to start exploiting the 68 million acres of onshore and offshore oil leases they have already been granted by the federal government.

In a column on his congressional web site this month, he also endorses various oil conservation measures in the short term and the development of "advanced energy sources" in the long term.

http://space.house.gov/?sectionid=24&parentid=8§iontree=8,24&itemid=465

In his re-election bid, the 18th District congressman has come under heavy attack from Republicans and conservative groups for not supporting approval of new offshore drilling leases and for opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

But Space said today that he thinks Congress should put all energy options, including new drilling in Alaska and offshore, "on the table" for study. Drafters of any new national energy plan, however, must also consider the other options, such as stronger energy conservation programs, the development of alternative fuels or tapping into the Strategic Oil Reserve.

OBAMA

Space, who as a superdelegate remained uncommitted during the Democratic primaries, also said he now strongly supports Barack Obama for the nomination in August.

"Barack is the nominee," he said. "If you're a supporter of Hillary Clinton, you need to come over to Barack's side.

"This guy has the ability to change the perception the rest of the world has of this nation," he continued.

America's leadership role in the world has been badly eroded during President Bush's tenure in office, he said.

"Two years ago, I thought it would take decades to restore it. But now I think Barack will restore it the first day he takes office."

"Not only do I feel better about him after talking to him. I feel better about myself."

OBAMA MEETING IN NEWARK

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:45:44 EDT

As Barack Obama was conferring with military commanders in Iraq yesterday, his local campaign team was asking equally earnest questions of some two-dozen supporters in Newark.

What are your views, asked campaign volunteer Mark Johns, on energy independence, health care, the economy, the Iraq war and need for government ethics reform? Responses were to be wedged into a two-hour session last night at the Newark Public Library.

"There are a thousand topics we can talk about," Johns said, "but unfortunately the library closes at 9."

This month, according to the event invitation, "Sen. Obama's campaign is asking that people from all across American hold Platform Meetings to talk about what issues are most important to them and what should be at the heart of the Democratic platform for change."

Because of time constraints, the agenda last night was limited, following a quick show of hands, to the energy crisis and the economy.

It must be said that nothing remarkably new came out of the discussion. The consensus of the group appeared to be that all these issues are heavily intertwined, that energy issues, for example, cannot be isolated from environmental ones or the state of the economy.

Participants agreed the nation's economic turmoil results from a lack of government regulation, from greedy corporations and overpaid CEOs, from Bush's ill-conceived tax cuts and the resulting abandonment of the balanced budget. We're experiencing a period of "neo-Hooverism," said one speaker.

While these viewpoints were hardly surprising, the fact that a Presidential candidate is asking everyday citizens to contribute more than campaign cash is a new wrinkle in American politics, at least at the national level. People seem to like this "national town meeting" idea, and hope that it will become a permanent feature of the Obama presidency, assuming he's elected.

Of course, the election is now the first priority. Those attending last night included many volunteers already active in local Democratic politics, as well as a number of independents and even a few disenchanted Republicans.

Of course, local organizers stressed that local volunteers will be critical to Obama's success in November.

"Ohio is the tip of the spear," said Johns, who organized the first grassroots Obama group in Newark back in February. "And in Ohio, it's central Ohio that's the key. And it's not Franklin County (that will decide it), it's the counties surrounding Franklin County."

Johns, as well as staff field organizer Brian Clark and volunteer Chris Keck, are team leaders here under the direction of regional staff director Lauren Durham. The Obama team can be reached through the Licking County Democratic Headquarters (349-8273).

NUMBERS GAMES

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:11:17 EDT

Politics is a numbers game, but which numbers really count these days?

In Ohio's 12th District, 4-term Republican incumbent Pat Tiberi is easily winning the money race, having raised nearly $1.4 million in campaign contributions so far this year, including $246,000 in the second quarter alone.

By comparison, in reports to the Federal Elections Commission, Democratic challenger David Robinson has raised $80,254 this election cycle, which includes $52,371 in the second quarter. (Disclosure: that includes $200 from LICOPAC).

No surprise there. As the Dispatch reports today,

"Quarterly congressional campaign finance reports due yesterday provide a reminder of why it is usually an uphill battle to beat an incumbent lawmaker: They raise tons of campaign cash."

Robinson himself has told volunteers he expects to be heavily outspent by Tiberi, who draws major support from utilities, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions and national Republican PACs. His hopes lie in outworking Tiberi at the grassroots -- and on cashing in the 12th District numbers in terms of 12th District voter demographics.

According to a Robinson fact sheet:

---George Bush beat John Kerry in the district by only 2.8 percent back in 2004.
---Democratic Governor Ted Strickland won the 12th with a 58.4 percent margin in 2006.
---Republicans registered only 18 percent of primary registered voters in the district in March, as compared to 30 percent Democratic and 52 percent independent.
---Robinson won his primary race in March, gaining 51 percent in a 3-way race, despite the fact that he was not the party-endorsed candidate.

Despite his modest bank account, Robinson spent early and heavily on the tools of the trade -- campaign buttons and stickers and signs and a high quality video and web site (www.robinson2008.com ) operation. And there are now signs he's putting more emphasis on fund raising, although it may be too late to impress the dollar-fixated Democratic sugar daddies in Washington and Columbus (ie, DCCC, DNC, ODP).

In part, Robinson is hoping that the Obama tide raises all Democratic boats, even the small ones.

"I'm not a career politician, so we're creating our campaign from scratch," Robinson said back in April. "We are confident that we will have the resources to put our ideas and plans before every voter for the general election."

Meanwhile, in the 18th District, Republican challenger Fred Dailey must be praying for a McCain tide because his small craft needs a boost as well in its bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Zack Space.

Space, despite swearing off all gifts from lobbyists, raised $322,147 during the second quarter, easily outdistancing Dailey, a former state agriculture director, who brought in $116,000 over the same period.

According to the Dispatch, this gives Space a 10-1 dollar advantage over Dailey for the entire 2007-2008 election cycle.

It wasn't too long ago that national Republicans announced they intended to make Space their number one target in 2008, on the belief that his victory two years ago in a normally Republican district was a fluke, resulting only from the lobbying scandal which engulfed former Republican incumbent Bob Ney.

Only in this case, the "target" decided to fire back, and now seems headed for an easy re-election win.

New Americans Forum Next Wednesday

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:28:14 EDT

July 3, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NEW AMERICANS TELL THEIR STORIES

The voices - and experiences - of Columbus' new ethnic residents will be heard on Wednesday, July 9, during the New Americans Forum to acquaint officeholders and candidates with the concerns of recent immigrants.

The event, at 6:30 p.m. at the IBEW Local 683 Union Hall, 23 W. 2nd Ave., will bring together members of Columbus' Hispanic and Somali communities with some two-dozen candidates for federal, state and local office.

Since the 1400's, immigrants have come to America to find their dreams or to escape treachery, war and starvation. They have not always been greeted warmly or well.

Columbus, for the most part, has been a welcoming community. Still, many newcomers experience lengthy bureaucratic delays in qualifying for citizenship. They also have to navigate their way through unfamiliar institutions, such as the schools, the courts and local permit and licensing agencies.

And in an election year, new Americans - like all citizens - can get confused by constantly changing voting requirements and procedures.

At the same time, politicians today face many opposing opinions as to how to address immigration and immigrants in the post 9/11 era.

The new Americans are courted by politicians "but there's not much awareness there," said one Somali community leader. "And after the election, they don't come back."

The New Americans Forum is being sponsored by the Central Ohio Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations to encourage dialogue between officeholders, candidates and new ethnic residents. Following panel discussions, a representative of the Ohio Secretary of State's office will clarify voting procedures and information will be shared about the Ohio Democratic Party's Neighborhood Leader Program.

The Coalition is a coordinating group for more than 20 Democratic and independent clubs and PACs in Franklin, Licking, Delaware and Perry counties.

For more information, contact:
Judy Kress, 614-268-2823, or
David Lore, 740-967-5227
Central Ohio Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations
http://coalitiondemscentralohio.org

HIT THE ROAD, MARC

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:50:51 EDT

Marc Dann was out of sight at last night's Licking County JJ Dinner, but certainly not out of mind.

The sexual harassment scandal threatening Dann's job as Ohio attorney general forced his withdrawal as keynote speaker at the annual Jefferson-Jackson bash sponsored by the Licking County Democratic Club. This not only left a gaping hole to be filled in the evening's agenda, but also threatened to roll back the Democratic tide which swept Ohio politics in 2006.

Marc Dann, said State Rep. Dan Dodd, D-Hebron, has managed to overshadow the gains achieved by Gov. Ted Strickland and other Democratic officeholders over the past 16 months.

"What he has been accused of is very serious, and he has cast a dark cloud over everything we've accomplished," said Dodd.

Dodd this week was one of three House Democratic attorneys appointed by Minority Leader Joyce Beatty to investigate possible use of the impeachment process to remove Dann. Dodd left no doubt where he stands in regard to the attorney general's future.

Democrats won in 2006, Dodd said, because they promised to clean up the corruption which piled up during years of Republican rule.

"They brought shame to our state and we ran with a promise to clean that up, and that's what we'll do whether it involves Republicans or Democrats," he said. "If we don't, our clocks will be cleaned in November" when control of the Ohio House is on the line.

RUNNINGS WITH THE BIG DOGS

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:40:26 EDT

What a difference incumbency makes!

By the spring of 2006, Democratic congressional candidate Zach Space had raised $77,194 to win the 18th District primary en route to his successful election that November to the open seat vacated by Republican Bob Ney.

Now, two years later, Rep. Space, seeking to retain that seat, has reported first quarter contributions of nearly $1.5 million, with a net of nearly $1 million cash-on-hand.

That's about as much as Space raised and spent during all of 2006 to initially win the office. His 2006 race gained significant post-primary help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). (By the time he took office, in January 2007, Space's checking account had been drained to less than $28,000 with debts in excess of $56,000, according to the Dispatch.)

Given that Democrats are determined to hold the 18th, and Republicans have vowed to reclaim it (calling Space "an accidental congressman" given Ney's imprisonment on corruption charges), one can only assume the cost of victory in the 18th will rise significantly this year.

Space, knowing he was targeted for extinction in 2008 by the GOP the day he took office, never got the chance to sit back down in Washington and slack off his fund-raising efforts.

"I never thought I'd have a million in the bank," the Dover attorney said last week during a fund-raiser in Newark. "But I think it's necessary."

So-called independent (527) groups raised over $4 million two years ago in an attempt to defeat him, Space said, "and if they did it once, they can do it again."

Incumbents seek to discourage challengers (and their challenger's potential supporters) by flashing a significant bankroll in their early election-year reports to the FEC. Without a significant war chest going into the race, Space said, "it will be like sharks smelling blood in the water--if my fundraising is anemic, they'd be all over me."

This is not to criticize Space, who LICOPAC endorses in his race against Republican challenger Fred Dailey of Mt. Vernon. The freshman congressman is just following the rules of the game as he found them, even though he recognizes the money game seriously erodes public trust in the process as well as the time legislators can actually spend legislating.

In 2006, Space ran on an anti-corruption plank, vowing not to accept campaign contributions from lobbyists.

In his latest filing with the FEC, the congressman reported contributions of $644,428 from individuals and $817,760 from political action committees. All PACs are not lobbyists, but still it's obvious that Zach now needs organized support from unions and other heavy-hitters in the Democratic camp.

"Eventually, I'd like to help take the money out of the process," he said last week.

But with seemingly little support for public financing of elections, that's as likely in the near term as finding a substitute for oil.

When one looks at the FEC first-quarter reports, it's striking how incumbents of different parties have more in common with one another than they do with challengers from their own party.

In the neighboring 12th District, for example, four-term congressman Pat Tiberi, R-Delaware, reported $1.5 million in contributions - again, mostly from PACs - with $757,719 on hand going into the defense of his seat against Democratic challenger David Robinson of Columbus.

Robinson and Dailey both face tremendous odds in their bids to dislodge the incumbents.

Dailey, a former state agriculture director, reported first-quarter contributions of $113,000, but that includes $40,000 of his own money.

"... unless Dailey comes up with a lot more campaign cash pretty soon, it's difficult to see how he can compete against the well-funded Space in the 16-county, multiple-media market district," the Dispatch said on April 16.

Robinson, a newcomer to politics, reported first-quarter contributions of $27,382 (most of that from individuals) but only $7,611 cash-on-hand.

"Following our primary win, we've been strategically getting our campaign structure in place," said Robinson in a prepared statement.

"I'm not a career politician, so we're creating our campaign from scratch. But we're right on plan. We are confident that we will have the resources to put our ideas and plans before every voter for the general election," Robinson said.

As Ohio Goes, So Goes.....????

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:16:48 EDT

(from WWW.LICOPAC.ORG)

"Columbus, Ohio: Did Hillary Clinton's come-from-behind win in the March 4 Ohio Democratic Primary signal a seismic shift in the presidential campaign or the erosion of Ohio's standing as the "heart of it all" in national politics?

Is it still true, in other words, that "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation?"

A panel of distinguished central Ohio journalists and political observers will take up this question during an April 9 forum sponsored by the Central Ohio Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations. Speakers are:

 Darrel Rowland, public affairs editor of the Columbus Dispatch.
 Bill Cohen, veteran Statehouse reporter for WOSU-Radio.
 Sandy Theis, media consultant and former Cleveland Plain Dealer bureau chief.
 Brian Rothenberg, founder and executive director, ProgressOhio.org
 Moderator Bob Ruth, retired investigative reporter for the Dispatch.

The program beings at 7 p.m. at the IBEW 683 Hall, 23 W. Second Ave. Attending will be representatives from Coalition grassroots clubs, PACs and organizations as well as a number of federal, state and local candidates.

For more information, see http://coalitiondemscentralohio.org

Man in the Middle

Gray Hunter, Licking County Pro-Active Citizens — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:23:45 EST

Republicans may have a hard time painting 18th District congressman Zack Space as a liberal zealot, given a new ranking of members by the conservative National Journal.

In a Friday news release, Space boasts of his placement smack dab in the middle of the ideological pack.

"WASHINGTON, DC - Reaffirming his position as one of the most moderate and independent Members of Congress, National Journal today published rankings that place Congressman Zack Space's (OH-18) voting record almost dead-center. Of the 435 Members of Congress, there are 212 more "liberal" and 218 more "conservative," placing him squarely in the middle of the ideological spectrum.

"My constituents do not need statistics to prove what they already know - I am their independent voice in Congress," Space said. "I pride myself in working for the best interests of my district - not a political party - and I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish this Congress."

"In the 18th Congressional District, people are not looking for a Democrat or a Republican, and they are not looking for an ideologue. They want a moderate, independent, Ohioan who will fight for them every day. I am proud to do that, and I am proud of this ranking," Space continued.

See the release at:

http://space.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20&parentid=8&sectiontree=8,20&itemid=398

As a Zack supporter, this leaves me with mixed emotions. While I'm always happy to deny the GOP a talking point, it's kind of difficult to keep cheering on the guy sticking to the safe middle.

With all due respect, Zack, I'm not looking for a moderate independent in the 18th -- I want a Democrat!