The Observation Deck

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion of this yet.

Ron Paul also won in Texas, so it was a good day for the marginal presidential candidates.

There wasn't much to discuss, IMHO. Cimperman's campaign was a joke.

Kucinich got half the vote ... a pretty hollow victory. To me it means there was a real opportunity for one individual to oppose him with a real campaign, but no one mounted it. Cimperman's relatively lame effort still got 35%.

Cimperman got tons of money from the corporate set, seemed pretty well organized and had the PD campaigning for him.

I hardly think that qualifies as a "joke" or "lame".

Cimperman's campaign was one giant attack ad on Kucinich. All style, no substance.

David Lay wrote:Cimperman's campaign was one giant attack ad on Kucinich. All style, no substance.

Meanwhile the Congressman worked to clear up the backlog of Veteran claims(with others) successfully, and worked to retain water right for citizens.


I would have hoped that Miss Ferris would have done better than Cimperman.


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:Meanwhile the Congressman worked to clear up the backlog of Veteran claims(with others) successfully, and worked to retain water right for citizens.

Agreed. While Cimperman was attacking, Dennis was busy getting things done.

Kucinich's victory is obviously due to Ivor's article in the LO.

the Plain Dealer endorsement can't seem to overcome the power of civic journalism.

Paul Schrimpf wrote:Kucinich got half the vote ... a pretty hollow victory. To me it means there was a real opportunity for one individual to oppose him with a real campaign, but no one mounted it. Cimperman's relatively lame effort still got 35%.

How is that hollow? Our sitting President got the same (or less) and it was a "mandate of the people." There is also no guarantee that everyone that voted for one of the other candidates would have thrown in with Cimperman (or any other single non-Kucinich candidate). Cimperman turned a lot of Democrats off (count me among them) and I don't think he was the best candidate to take on Dennis. You can't fight a rabid self-promoter with another one.

Considering I feel the same way about our sitting president's victory, I think we are in "violent agreement."

Cimperman frittered away an opportunity with mindless attack.

Paul and Phil

You had one candidate powered by the very group that are licking their chops at predatory lending outcomes, and the other actually fighting the practice.

You had one that has always sided with the "residents" of his district, and another paid completely for by the developers of that district.

This stuff is so clear.

Had there been more developers than residents Cimperman might have had a chance.

"You can't fight a rabid self-promoter with another one." I think rabid self promoter would be all politicians.


FWIW


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well, hopefully Dennis has noted that there is some discontent in his district, and perhaps he'll spend some more time focusing on affairs back here. Yes, the war is an important issue, and I'm glad he's a voice against it ... but the fact is, I think more people are concerned about losing their jobs or their homes than the war ... it's harkens back to how Bill Clinton won election in 1992; he had a slogan in his war room saying "It's the economy, stupid." I think the same thing is true today ... it's the economy. And as much as it'd probably be nice to have a federal Department of Transcendental Meditation, or have Bonnie Raitt come up with a new national anthem, what we still need is Dennis focusing on doing whatever he can with his bully pulpit and government experience to "bring home the bacon" for his district, and address the economic issues. Yes, he has a skilled staff back here who help constituents with their needs ... as any good congressman does (some of the other Ohio congresspeople have extremely diligent staffs who also accomplish the same thing, so it's not just him), but ultimately we need him focused on fighting for us. He IS a fighter, and always has been. But he needs to quit worrying about the national stage, because we REALLY need someone working for us.

So I hope this election was a wake-up in that regard, and that in a few days we don't see an announcement that he's resuming his presidential campaign, or starting to lay the groundwork for a 2012 presidential campaign. It's one thing to claim in ads that he saved steel mills and jobs ... that was then, this is now ... there's jobs going left and right, factories closing, houses being foreclosed ... we need him to focus on that. Focus on here. Focus on us.

After all, that's what being a "public servant" is all about. Harry S Truman said it best when he said that as president, he was the "hired hand" of Americans. They hired him to do a job, and he was working for them.

Too many of our politicians forget that nowadays. Hopefully Dennis has not.

My last word on this is that by perpetually running for president, there are vast opportunity costs to the district. I realize that I will disagree on this with many people on this board, but it really steams me. I don't need a list of accomplishments. He simply can't be a full time rep doing what he's doing.

Given where he started when he first ran, half the Dems in this district voted for "anybody but Dennis." That's limping in.

CD

If I may be so bold as to answer this. I spend a lot of time covering the Congressman for reasons outside the Observer.

The single biggest problem in this district and the USA is the war. It has ruined this country and area financially.

The seconded biggest problem right now is predatory lending, that is stripping people of their dreams and retirement.

Then jobs, fresh water, food, health care, veteran care.

I can assure you that the Congressman is either working on it or leading the charge.

Do not believe the hype.


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When I actually see proof of his "leading the charge" I'll actually believe it. All I've seen is election-year rhetoric. I want actual proof. I want to see him holding hearings about the foreclosure issue, I want to see him bringing whatever influence he has to bear on the problems in our local economy. Cleveland should not be one of the poorest cities in the nation. We need our politicians addressing that issue, so that our economy can be strengthened and this region can continue to attract new people and jobs. He needs to be out there leading this charge, not just claim it. The presidential campaign is over, so it's time for him to focus on the 10th district, first and foremost.