The Observation Deck

Observers,

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's chief election officer, is working hard in Lakewood.

Blackwell, who failed to take a stand and caste a deciding vote in the Cuyahoga County Elections Board controversy, needs a big showing in Lakewood to win the 2006 governor's race.

Blackwell, a former democrat turned republican has a strategy that is an increasingly common one ...pander to the lowest common denominator, play to people's fears and blame, blame, blame the democrats for anything he can think of....he will claim he will limit "runaway" government spending and he won't support any tax increases.

His Tax Expenditure Limitation Amendment (T.E.L.) would limit government spending to a 3% increase per year. On the surface, it sounds interesting, until you calculate double digit increases in employee health care costs, double digit increases in fuel and heating costs, significant increases in asphalt costs (petroleum based), and other essential costs of governmental operations.

After analysis of the Blackwell T.E.L., the bi-partisan Mayors and Managers of Cuyahoga County unanimously voted to oppose the amendment. Senators Voinovich and DeWine, both Republicans came out against it. Because of the draconian effects it would have on public schools and libraries, many of these important institutions opposed the T.E.L. as well. Our City Council voted a resolution 6-1 in opposition to T.E.L.

The Republican controlled state legislature was so inundated by calls and letters by cities, schools, libraries and others who are in opposition to the Blackwell T.E.L., that they have changed Ohio's election law to allow the T.E.L. committee to remove the issue from the November ballot.

Locally, a small faction of the Republican Party had Blackwell come to town last year. I was forwarded a copy of an in invitation to a recent fundraiser held by this group. There were some interesting names associated with this group which continues to promote Blackwell and his pandering Blackwell message...no tax increases while at the same time loudly identifying thinly documented claims of government waste.

The decline in resources, economic growth and support we have experienced in Columbus over the past several years has affected all Ohio cities, including Lakewood.

More than ever we need leadership in Columbus that is honest and straight forward, that doesn't pander to people's fears and will provide essential resources to move our communities forward.

As a community leader, it is important that I take a stand on significant issues facing Lakewood. There is no secret that I am a supporter of Congressman Ted Strickland and former Attorney General Lee Fisher.

It was very heartening to see over 150 enthusiastic supporters attended a last minute Strickland/Fisher rally at Horace Mann Middle School last week. Lakewood is wise to the Blackwell political game.


TJG

Your Honor:

Though Lakewood may be wise to the Blackwell political game, as you suggest, the game will be forcefully played on Election Day. Indeed there are ominous signs the state has fallen into a chaotic and costly electoral hole of no return.

Andrew Gumbel’s “Ohio's Coming Electoral Meltdown,â€Â

Major George

It would seem that Strickland has Blackwell covered. As mentioned at the rally even with the religious right, they can see the different between a Methodist minister and one who claims to go to church.

But it will come down to the machines. I find it crazy that our election board is now asking all of us to file absentee ballots that they have no control over the election process, and cannot verify the honesty of the machines.

That they are asking Wu to step down, as so many mistakes were found that can never be rectified.

How dare the right even use the term America, Freedom and democracy.

.

Hooray! Go Blackwell!!!!!11

Mr. Warren, thanks for the great link. Having read that and the Kennedy article in the Rolling Stone on the 2004 Election debacle in Ohio, I have to wonder how Blackwell is even on the ballot, let alone not even in jail! Both articles are full to bursting with data, examples, and facts that in a full picture show a man clearly partisan, clearly untrustworthy and clearly paving the way for an easy victory for himself this Fall. Who cares if he is behind Strickland by more and more of a healthy margin? If he wins, how can anyone truly trust the results!?

I clearly don't want a Republican to win the Governorship. We have had enough troubled Republican leadership in this state and country that will take a long time to clean up from. But Blackwell is like letting the fox, after raiding the henhouse, decide how the henhouse is going to be run from this point onward.

On the other hand, maybe Blackwell is the Republicans own worst enemy. The linked article noted, "Blackwell has largely escaped the stench of corruption dragging down the rest of the state party, thanks to his reputation as a maverick and a lone operator" but being out of sight during Taft's fumbles still can't compete with the Nation and Rolling Stone articles that paint him in a far more serious light. Taft's criminal activities, dealing with other criminals and mismanagement were just stupid compared to rigging the Presidential and possibly all future elections in Ohio, if the article and Mr. Warren are to be believed. Hopefully Blackwell will be the albatross around the Republican necks in Ohio.

But my larger question remains: why hasn't Blackwell been taken to task for his activities in 2004 and leading up to this current election? How is it that no part of the governement is saying, "hey, the guy that gets to count the votes is running for the most powerful position in the state...hmmm...does that seem right?" All the handwringing and jawing about it astounds me that somebody hasn't asked Blackwell to step down from his post while he spends time campaigning for his position. It boggles my mind.

You want to know what boggles my mind?
Why would the Mayor author such a divisive and unnecessary post?
There have been many discussions on the Lakewood blogs about the evils of partisan politics.
This isn't a Democrat town, it is a town with the majority being Independents.
Personally, I choose to focus my attention on my own party. As the President of the Lakewood Republican Organization it is my responsibility to educate voters in Lakewood about the Republican candidates. And I will continue to do so.
It is good to know that our local schools are available to, I assume...rent, for rallies for candidates.

Colleen,

The answer to your question is simple. The Mayor isn't running the day to day operations of the City. Therefore, he has lots of time to make silly posts on the Observer and Buzz.

To clarify for the Mayor, Ken Blackwell did very well in Lakewood in the primary and the event you speak of was attended by nearly as many as you claim showed at the Horace Mann event. This in a "Democratic" town.

Mayor, if you wanna go toe to toe on Ken Blackwell, I will be happy to debate you in a public forum. You defend your candidate and I will defend mine.

In the meantime, let's focus on getting city services in order and leave the partisan bantering to Colleen Wing (President of the Lakewood GOP) and Ed FitzGerald (President of the Lakewood Democratic Club)

Ryan Patrick Demro wrote:
The answer to your question is simple. The Mayor isn't running the day to day operations of the City. Therefore, he has lots of time to make silly posts on the Observer and Buzz.

Ryan

With the Observer doubling hits every month and last month going over 1.4 million hits a month, and over 300,000 page views. I hardly see it as a waste expecially since we know that a majority of the over 1,000 people that have worked on the paper are registered voters and are active in Lakewood. I applaud the mayor for the small amount of time he spends keeping Lakewood residents informed through this board. I also applaud Dottie Buckon, Chief Malley, The Law Department, Tony Beno, Ed Fitzgerald, Pat Carrol, and EVERY COUNCIL person that has signed on to this board and have written for the paper.

It seems obvious to me that the Mayor has always been willing to sit down and have serious discussions with serious people. While I do not always agree I have never know the mayor to be unwilling to explain his views to voters and residents.

Now if you want to sell me on Blackwell have at it. But complaining about Mayor Tom George a lifelong democrat backing democrats and not liking the way Blackwell would take the state seems pretty normal to me.



.

Mayor, if you wanna go toe to toe on Ken Blackwell, I will be happy to debate you in a public forum. You defend your candidate and I will defend mine.

The Lakewood Observation Deck is a public forum. Just a reminder. It is as open and accessible as any public space, moreso in some ways. Whether or not Mayor George should have the time to post on this site is one thing but the question about Blackwell is out there. I would love to hear Colleen or Ryan tell us why Blackwell would be good for this state when Republicans at the State and Federal level have done nothing positive for Ohio and one could argue have done things downright destructive to our sinking state. Blackwell's shining jewel of a plan, the TEL idea, is feared by a lot of people, Democrat and Republican alike.

But more importantly, I want to know why the Colleens and Ryans of the State aren't also calling for Blackwell to step down from his post as he finds time in HIS job to run for Governor. If Mayor George is given a backhanded slap for taking time to post in a public forum (set up for such discussion) then why isn't Blackwell held to the same standard? And why is he given a pass to stay in a job that is directly responsible for setting up fair elections and counting the votes that could make him governor? That is giving the key to the henhouse right to the Fox. If a Democrat were in the same position, would he get such a pass by Republicans in the State? I seriously doubt it. Get me over those hurdles and I would love to hear more about why Blackwell is going to be good for this State but right now, I am not ready for that. There are too many moral and ethical questions on the table to get to that point.

and why, when the the tax returns of other candidates are being made public does Blackwell take a pass? I guess if there's no disclosure, then its really hard to "follow the money"

Jeff

I think my point was missed.

I think a huge problem in partisan politics is that leaders within parties spend too much time worry about what the other party is doing. People want to debate me all the time about partisan issues and it just isn't my thing.

Ask any active Republican and they will tell you that I have been openly critical of some of the actions of our Boob...oops I meant... Bob of a Governor. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that you "spank" your own children. But I believe in the ideals of the Republican party and I only work for candidates that I think will make a real difference.

I respect the fact that other people see things differently than I do and if you think Ken Blackwell is crook then don't vote for him. I'll still wake up tomorrow and keep on working toward lower taxes for small business owners. I am also a firm believer in balance within government. Anytime either side gets too much it just makes them lazy and disrespectful. You use Ohio as the example and I use Cuyahoga County

Back to the original issue, I would just prefer to engage in this banter with all of you and not my Mayor. It makes me sick to my stomach that someone I voted for can disrespect me that much by saying that I don't have a right to share our city with a Statewide elected official that may be our next Governor because he is a Republican.

My favorite part about this is that there is a whole discussion on another thread about diversity in Lakewood. Which I always find funny...Diversity translates into...I would like a diverse population of people who agree with me.

So the bigger debate is this: does a person in an elected position lose the right to discuss politics outside his office door? If you say no, then I guess the discussion ends there. But Mayor George posted this on a Saturday morning according to the thread ticker. While I know the job is "technically" 24/7 as emergencies crop up, events are scheduled, etc. but let's be fair. It wasn't like he was using City time to post this.

And maybe I read his post wrong, but I haven't seen a part in it where he said no one could share time with Blackwell in the city. He was simply saying that he doesn't see Blackwell as a good bet for Lakewood. Again, whether or not we agree on Mayor's commenting on candidates for Governor is one thing. But beyond that, he was speaking both as a concerned Mayor but also concerned Citizen. Do you have to give up one right to be another?

I think a huge problem in partisan politics is that leaders within parties spend too much time worry about what the other party is doing.

This makes no sense to me. Are you saying if Democrats controlled everything at the State level you would say nothing about your concerns because that is "the other party?" I spend time worrying about Republicans at the State level because that is ALL that is at the state level! Partisan politics isn't about the other guy, it is about pandering to a base. The Republicans do it better than the Democrats and that is that. Democrats lack an easy go-to topic that the Republicans do. I know you are probably an honest Republican who really does believe in lower taxes and less government but lets be honest...that isn't what won the Presidency and it won't be what wins the Governorship. Gays, Guns and God is what wins the average Republican heart and mind and Blackwell will be preaching to the choir. Democrats have nothing that visceral.

Democrats can make good arguments about why TEL is bad but do you think the average Joe Citizen will care? If politicians thought this, Congress wouldn't be spending time on Flag Burning, Gay Marriage, and Stem Cell research and Blackwell wouldn't be trying to gather the flock of churches to his cause. If actual governance was important, we would be in a much better place but it isn't. Getting in and making only those that voted for you happy is all that matters and that is a sad State. The other 48% can just stick it. THAT is politics and Republicans, who own just about every important office in the State and Nation, have that on their plate as they can't blame anyone else any more.

So ignore Mayor George if you like (though I think THAT is more insulting than him sharing his political opinion on a Saturday morning) but others in this thread have brought up good questions. Discuss!


Phil

First, there is no reason for Blackwell to step down during this election. In fact, he is following a precedent set by SHERROD BROWN, who did not step down as Secretary of State when he sought re-election to that post.

Second, the votes are counted by LOCAL BOARDS OF ELECTIONS. You have to assume that Ken could creep down into all 88 counties and convince the BIPARTISAN boards of elections to rig the vote. This is the same hogwash people try to play when they say that the '04 election was rigged. If it was rigged by Ken, then 176 very partisan Democrats sat idly by or were complicit to his alleged scheme.

Jim, as far as the Observer goes, I was not making any slight in that direction. When I write "silly posts," I meant ones that contain false information, have a partisan bent, and do not have to do directly with Lakewood. All of those points can certainly be argued, but I think that the Bob Taft of Lakewood should spend more of his time trying to figure out how to keep the parks clean, the graffiti off the streets, and how to fight Lakewood's increasingly rugged street culture.

Ryan,

Little wonder so many Republicans are voting Democrat this fall.

Maybe you can outline how Blackwell's programs will help Lakewood?

Mayor Tom George

First, there is no reason for Blackwell to step down during this election. In fact, he is following a precedent set by SHERROD BROWN, who did not step down as Secretary of State when he sought re-election to that post.

I am sad to see the "...but the Democrats!" argument being used here. I heard plenty of cries of "...but Clinton!" to allow any other nastiness at the Federal level. That is playground arguments. I didn't know Sherrod Brown did this but at the same time, I wasn't worried about Sherrod selling out the State elections. You may not believe the Blackwell influence on the 2004 elections and if you can sleep at night doing that, fine. His office sets policy for all 88 Counties and his policies saw that thousands of ballots were not counted, thousands of registrations were thrown out and so on. Sure, he didn't "creep" into each board of election and he didn't need to. He did fine from his home office.

That said, two wrongs seldom make a right. The fact that Brown didn't step down was wrong. The fact that Blackwell isn't stepping down is also wrong. Political rhetoric often degrades to playground levels in Congress (I have seen enough C-Span clips to prove this...from both sides of the aisle) but it shouldn't here. Brown's refusal to step down is a stupid argument that could have easily been started with "I'm rubber, you're glue..."