Ohio Governor's Race To Get Interesting And Not In The Polls

[Jim O'Bryan]

Stay tuned, breaking news at noon.

Funny how things pop up.


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[Jim O'Bryan]

According to Westlake Police, a report was logged nearly two years ago, of a not married
couple in a compromising position in a car in a parking lot, the couple was Ed FitzGerald,
and someone not married to County Executive Ed FitzGerald.

The police confirmed there was not a report made but there is a log entry and an audio tape of the entire incident.

Stay tuned!


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[Jim O'Bryan]

I would like to remind EVERYONE, that a police call is not proof of guilt, or law breaking.

Often what one sees is different from what another one sees and reports. At the same time
there is a ton of depth to this story.

Stay tuned, and please give all the benefit of any doubt.

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[Bill Call]

Stay tuned, and please give all the benefit of any doubt.

Ed Fitzgerald was a good Mayor and is a good man.

I'm not voting for him for policy reasons.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Stay tuned, and please give all the benefit of any doubt.

Ed Fitzgerald was a good Mayor and is a good man.

I'm not voting for him for policy reasons.

Bill

At 5am I got this call, and have been working all morning on it. Not to hurt Ed in any way but
to try to stay in front of the story and the rumors. As we all know, Ed built his career on
honesty and hard work. I find the story a little hard to believe and we held back until Westlake
Police confirmed the story, and the audio.

At the same time, it is hard to believe that a person who loves his family so much, and has
always had one eye on Senate and the White House would do anything that would tarnish himself
and make that road harder. I remember the day Ed showed me a picture of Bobby Kennedy
walking to the White House, and him saying, "Someday I will finish his walk," with such
passion it was hard to doubt him. He was also very blunt and honest about damn near
everything we have ever talked about. Brutally honest, on everything from him not running
for re-election from day one of him as mayor, to his assessment of other things in Lakewood.

This would be totally out of character for him.

Then, we have the person calling in, what did they see, what did the police see and report
or not report? I have heard the release will be pretty deep, and I have to think the PD did
a certain amount of homework before taking this on.

As I talk with Republicans, they are "Good!!!!" when I talk with Democrats they are "Who
cares about his past or private life?" Me, my heart goes out to the families if it is true.

We shall see.

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[Michael Deneen]

To paraphrase an old joke (I think from Dennis Miller, back when there was a rumor that Bush 41 was cheating):

This story is a cynical attempt to humanize Ed FitzGerald!

[Bill Call]

Stay tuned, and please give all the benefit of any doubt.

Ed Fitzgerald was a good Mayor and is a good man.

I'm not voting for him for policy reasons.

Bill

At 5am I got this call, and have been working all morning on it. Not to hurt Ed in any way but
to try to stay in front of the story and the rumors.

It's a legitimate news story and I have no problem with the post. This isn't the first time I've heard it.

[Jim O'Bryan]

County Executive Ed FitzGerald categorically denies wrongdoing of any kind associated with this report. He says that he was with a campaign worker discussing campaign-related issues.

He is currently organizing a press conference to be held at the president of the Fraternal Order of Police's office at noon to make his own statement.

I have felt from the beginning that this story was out of character for Ed FitzGerald and am glad to see that he will be speaking for himself.

[Jim O'Bryan]

UPDATE:

County Executive Ed FitzGerald's press conference will be held with the original responding Westlake police officer who will back up FitzGerald's claim that there was no wrongdoing of any kind associated with this report.

[Jon Eckerle]

Another attempt to generate slime. Thank you Lakewood Observer for acknowledging its presence, but not stepping in the slime. Also for getting it over with quickly. Public office is target practice for the internet vigilante. Based on the nature of this story and the posted comments. The policy of having people post with real names and own their comments, is working. I guarantee you that gutter is full on sites that do not have this policy. Thank you for dancing on the edge of the knife of informing but giving Ed the benefit of the doubt.

[Grace O'Malley]

The devil is in the details.

What time of day/night did this incident occur? Was a call made or did the officer come upon them? What does the full report say? If nothing was observed, would there even be a need for a police report?

I'd like to know more. His statement that he was meeting with an aide to discuss his campaign sounds like a typical response. Obviously, you don't need to meet with an aide to discuss your campaign when we all have phones or you could talk about your work at an office. Sounds fishy but I'll wait to see more.

[Grace O'Malley]

It's in the PD now. But Jim, did he say it was a campaign worker because now he says it was a friend from Ireland. And it was 4:30 in the morning and the guy who called the police saw movement in the car and thought they were having sex.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[Peter Grossetti]

If I remember correctly, Monica Lewinski was merely taking dictation from Bill Clinton.

[Jim O'Bryan]

....

COLUMBUS - Ed FitzGerald will hold a press conference at 2:30 PM today at the FOP State Headquarters in Columbus, 222 E. Town Street. Interested media should RSVP to lauren.hitt@edfitzgerald.org.


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[Jim O'Bryan]

From the Ed FitzGerald for Governor Offices...

COLUMBUS - Ed and Shannon FitzGerald released the following joint statement today:
“We are extremely disappointed at the personal attacks being levied against our family. And equally upset that our friends in Ireland are being unjustly dragged into this negative campaign. We are confident that this attack will be exposed for what it is – untrue and opportunistic – and, hope that we can quickly move onto the the discussion of what is best for Ohio’s families. We’re extremely proud of our family, and the support system we’ve provided to one another for the last 23 years. No matter what happens in this campaign or in November, that will never change.”

AND...

COLUMBUS – Peter Hynes and Joanne Grehan, members of the 2012 Irish Delegation to Ohio released the following statement:

“We would like to say at the outset that we are deeply shocked and extremely saddened to learn that an effort is being made to construe an innocuous incident in October 2012 as something completely different.

The facts of the situation are actually very simple. Joanne Grehan, traveled to Cleveland in October 2012 as part of an Irish trade delegation from County Mayo. At the end of the day, Ed FitzGerald was driving Joanne back to her hotel, at the delegation’s request. After being separated from their party, Joanne and Ed stopped the car to map the actual route to the hotel. The vehicle was approached by a police patrol car which stopped, checked that all was in order and then left. Ed and Joanne then continued on to the hotel where Ed dropped her off.

We are outraged and disgusted to find our names being drawn into what is clearly a controversy fabricated with political motivation and we confirm that there is absolutely no basis for the unfounded speculation and nasty innuendo which surrounds reporting of this incident.”

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