ProgressOhio

Not sure how we missed this one at the time . . .

'Squirrel' ferrets out partisan publicity

Response to conference by Dems denouncing negativity is simply silly

COLUMBUS: Nuts!

The squirrel spotted us.

He was big, like almost 6 feet tall, and bright orange and white, and had a long, full brownish tail that contrasted nicely with his coat.

Squirrels are basically tree rats.

This squirrel was a partisan actor in the presidential race — but he was able to slip away from the two reporters on his tail.

The rodent first appeared Monday morning at a news conference held by Gov. Ted Strickland, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Lorain, to denounce the negative tactics being used by the John McCain-for-president campaign.

As Strickland, Brown and Coleman spoke in serious tones about the waning days of the election, the squirrel bounced around and carried a sign that said, ''Don't let the Buckeye State become the ACORN state.''

ACORN is a community organizing group that Republicans accuse of perpetuating voter fraud in Ohio.

The Republicans are trying to link the fact that some people have written down fictitious names like Mickey Mouse and Jive Turkey when they signed voter registration petitions circulated by ACORN to a full-blown conspiracy that the organization is going to somehow steal the presidential election.

No one in his right mind believes Jive Turkey is going to be allowed to vote in Ohio.

Now, the Republicans could have sent someone to dispute the claims being made by Brown, Strickland and Coleman, but instead a grown man in a squirrel outfit showed up to denounce ACORN.

You know, squirrels don't seem to have a sense of irony.

The Nutty Squirrel Runs and Hides . . .

By the way, the squirrel was not alone. He had a handler, a man who identified himself as Jeff Minch from Austin, Texas.

Minch said he wasn't employed by the Republicans. He said he didn't have a job. He declined to say who sent him or the squirrel to the news conference. All he would say is he had moved to Ohio recently.

So we — a fellow reporter from the Dayton Daily News, Laura Bischoff, and myself — decided to follow Minch and the squirrel to their nest.

Bischoff started out on foot while I retrieved my minivan. She had followed Minch and the squirrel past the Statehouse when I picked her up, but with the traffic pushing us down the street, I drove past the pair and was forced to stop for a red light.

The squirrel spotted us. We turned the corner to double back, but they were gone, hidden somewhere between the left-leaning offices of Progress Ohio and the Ohio Republican Party headquarters.

We circled a few times around the block, but decided to quit because there was real work to do, not to mention the high cost of gasoline these days.

You know he wasn't coming here so one can guess where he was headed . . . must have been back to his office nest at ORP.