For a concise, brief analysis of Blackwell's hopes in '06, examine Polipundit's analysis of the race.
Jason R. (comment #15) also has a good response, but underestimates Blackwell's contribution.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
The Toledo Blade reports that Ohio Attorney General Robert Petro has vowed to reform Ohio's state government by trimming 11,500 payroll employees. His proposal will streamline the overbloated government, which currently is composed of the "toos": too many departments, overlapping agencies, commissions, and boards. AG Petro plans to streamline the bearacratic system by placing the appropriate departments into nine meta-agencies: education, public safety, transportation, public health, resource protection, business coordination, etc... Making further flirtations with tax reform, he described the State Tax System as "Depression-era Economic Thinking."
This proposal is seen as an effort to launch his '06 gubernatorial bid against J. Kenneth Blackwell. SOS Blackwell graciously welcomed Petro "to the list of those who want to reduce the tax-burden on the working families of Ohio."
However, the Tolede Blade biased itself in favor of Petro and against Blackwell. They begin by admitting that indeed this is an effort to launch his guber bid, but its a "bold move" transcending petty "electioneering," even raising "issues that deserve to be debated." The Blade claims that this issue is clearly a "political gamble" for the AG, that will force candidates of both parties to reveal "some new ideas of their own".
SOS Blackwell, however, as a "wanabee governor... fresh from his mismanagement of the Ohio election system," has managed to "stand pat... [with] old ideas." SJB's plan will "not improve... the tax climate."
The Blade conveniently leaves out the Mr. Blackwell's tax refund, which occurs when gov't profit exeeds 14.99%, as well as the fact that Blackwell opposed the Taft machinery's tax-increase.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
A married couple who double-voted in the Ohio 2004 General Election havebeen found. They cast their absentee ballots prior to election day, and then on Nov. 2, the voted again. The Disctrict plans to challenge the vote count and demand the recount since the winner won by 1 vote, 3,171 to 3,170. The possible felony occured in the London City Schools, Madison County, which is located about 25 miles west of Columbus.
Fraud, Disenfranchisement, and Discrimination has been documented!!
Demand a recount post haste!!!
Calling Jesse Jackson!!
Calling Al Sharpton!!
Calling all Democrats!!
Recount!! Recount!!
Oh wait, further investigation has revealed the "winner" of the vote was an issue which would increase income tax levels for the London Schools disctrict, thereby raising 2.5 million dollars for the district. The couple who voted in the Cook County-Lyndon Johnson-Prendergast fashion were Wilbur France, 79, and his wife, Rebecca France, 76. They voted twice by accident because the elections board screwed up and told them that their ballots had never arrived. Nobody knows how the France's voted and under election law, they can refuse to tell.
Well then, who cares? The School District should exhibit magnanimity in defeat.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
In the Governors race the announced Democratic Opposition candidates are
1) Jerry Springer: T.V. Host of Daily Variety Show
2) Michael B. Coleman: Columbus Mayor
3) Ted Strikland: U.S. Representative from Lisbon (District 6 - all Eastern counties except for Trumbull & Ashtabula)
Springer cites his assets as name recognition; ability to finance campaign; and ability to raise money ($300,000 for other candidates). When told that people perceive him as nothing more than a T.V. clown, he responds by saying bring it on, this is not about me because the Democratic opposition can raise neither money, nor be successful.
It should be noted that the Republican establishment controls the Ohio state governor's house as well as the General Assembly, both Representative and Senator, by wide margins.
Things would seem to bode poorly for the Repbulicans around the corner with the approaching Death Star (Star Wars reference) of the rich discriminating against the poor, increase in taxes, and loss of high-paying, steady jobs.
Lately the Supreme Court has handed down 4 decisions, which state that Ohio's method of paying for public schools by an overreliance on property taxes has caused inequities between the rich and poor school districts. Furthermore the State has lost white collar jobs to Iowa (Hoover moves headquarters) and and blue collar jobs (Timkin ball-bearing plant in Canton closes).
So the Democratic mantra is:
a. Schools suck.
b. Jobs suck.
c. Taxes are up.
d. Vote for change.
However, Blackwells ace-in-the-hole is his independence from the RINO establishment. He protested then and now the increase in taxes and has laid out a proposal to fix the tax increase.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Now that the '04 Election Dust has settled, both the MSM and most other punditry have determined that, yes, George W. Bush has won re-election. Their next source of focus is whether or not W has a mandate, and whom will he appoint for all the various cabinet positions.
People have analyzed the state's results and determined that Kerry could have won Wisconsin, Iowa, and New Mexico, thus resulting in an electoral vote plurality, with a popular vote minority. But, then others reply, swich those lost votes to Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and/or Pennsylvania and Bush wins.
But wait a second, there is an easier solution to this whole electoral college mess. Do you realize that if nobody in Ohio had voted for George W. Bush, Senator John F. Kerry
would have received 60,578,024 popular votes and 272 electoral votes while Bush
would have received 58,325,373 popular votes and 266 electoral votes.
Oh, man. The agony of it all for the Dems. And Kerry came so close to winning.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
The left is at it again. A liberal website, not content enough to name Ohio SOS J. Kenneth Blackwell its GOP Hypocrite of the Week, has labelled Blackwell a Stalinist for the following reasons:
1) supressing the vote;
2) advocating the pro-marriage act,
3) wanting to murder gays
3) helping BC'04 win the Ohio election
4) demanding that all ballots be printed on 80 lb paper weight, (20 lb-weight is the standard for ink-jet/laser printer paper)
5) not being a Democrat, i.e., along with Justice Clarence Thomas, being a token black Republican for Karl Rove.
So for chosing the Republican side in an election and helping it win, the liberal left equates Blackwell with Joseph Stalin, a despot whose policies succeeded in killing more than 60 million Russian citizens!
Then, they acuse him of helping to enact a "Draconian marriage act." For those unfamiliar with Ancient/Classical Greek history, Draco was a sole ruler of Athens, Greece from 621-620 B.C., who decreed that anybody who broke even minor laws would die.
Umm, overstatement would be about the right description of such an action.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Ohio SOS J. Kenneth Blackwell threw his support behind Ohio's State Issue 1, the marriage protection act, and helped propel the issue to victory by a margin of 3,249,157 (yes) to 2,011,168 (No). In percentages 61.77% voted Yes and 38.23% voted No.
The ammendment to the State Constitution, Article XV: Section 11, now reads
"Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."
On Nov. 12, 2004 Ohio SOS J. Kenneth Blackwell expressed quiet confidence in his ability to collect citizen signatures in order to place a state constitutional ammendment on the 2005 ballot that would slow state spending and spending growth.
The ammendment would limit state fiscal policy in the following ways:
1) Spending Growth = inflation rate + adjustments for population growth;
2) Exceeding Growth Cap = 2/3 General Assembly vote + citizens' vote;
3) Taxpayer Refund = Budget surplusses > 15% of the budget.
Blackwell has fingered RINO (Republican In Name Only) spending habits as the reason for Governor Taft's tax increase.
In other important news Blackwell's Democratic opponent for the 2006 governorship could be the famous T.V. variety-show host and former Cincinnait mayor, Jerry Springer.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Ohio SOS Ken Blackwell has Olympic genes overflowing with Gold. Blackwell's maternal Great Uncle (his mother's uncle) William DeHart Hubbard won a 1924 (Paris, France) Olympic Gold Medal in the Long Jump. Hubbard preceded Jesse Owens [1936 Munich, Germany Games] as the first African American ever to achieve Olympic Gold.
For his athletic success, Hubbard also tied a post-olympic world record in the 100 yard dash, the city of Cincinnati, the Metro, and the Federal Transit Authority worked together to design, fund, and sculp a bronze, wall relief of the Olympian.
Hubbards niece and Blackwell's mother, Dana Blackwell 74, described the wall relief as
"unbelievable. I'm happy to have him commemorated in such a way that a lot of people will see it... This public recognition is a long time coming, but I can sort of understand why it's taken so long... Back when my kids were growing up, they told their friends about their great-uncle, and nobody believed them. Well, they'll believe them now!"
In a very didactic and delineatoric method, SOS Blackwell detailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer (the regions #1 newspaper: free plug, Ed ) the sound process of Ohio's 2004 General Election process. He declared
"Despite 27 separate lawsuits, hordes of special-interest group "swat teams" descending on polling places, and a circus of Michael Moore-inspired camera crews, our bipartisan election system - and the order, integrity and transparency integral to it - prevailed."
Yes, Michael Moore failed again; Democratic Lawyers failed again; but your average (read intelligent) Ohio voter followed orders, thus ignoring the election circus. The voters returned the ringmaster to the White House, while the power-drunk Clowns (Michael Moore etc...) were sent packing.
Blackwell claimed no perfection with regards to every aspect of the election system, but again gave credited for what went right to the Ohio voters. He explained,
"Elections are a human endeavor and, as such, can never be totally error-free. Yet every eligible voter had the opportunity to vote, using regular or provisional ballots. Was the process perfect? No. But it was perfectly inspiring - a testament to the strength and power of our democratic system, the commitment of American voters to have their voices heard, and the integrity of the process that encouraged participation and demanded fairness."
Blackwell complimented the strength, power, and commitment of all the Ohio voters.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Not satisfied with the 2004 Presidential election results for Ohio, the state's Democratic party has vowed to lose the race, that is, by less than what SOS Blackwell previously reported.
Dennis White, Ohio Dem Party chair projected ebulliant confidence that the Dems and John Kerry had indeed lost the race and looked forward to losing again in any recount lawsuit. White stated
“As Senator Kerry stated in his concession speech in Boston, we do not necessarily expect the results of the election to change, however, we believe it necessary to make sure everyone's vote is counted fairly and accurately.”To help the Ohioan Dems lose all the more officially (if that is possible), the Party is currently recruiting volunteers for the recount. Interested persons should visit the Dam Ohio website at the above link.
If you desire to know what SOS Blackwell thought about the '04 Presidential/General Election, then travel to Cincinnati's ABC affiliate: WCPO Channel 9.
Under the audio/video option, click on the link: Watch this 9News video.
The video player is RealPlayer and the online video supports a 56K modem download along with the faster brands.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
<
Thought for the day:
If William Jefferson Clinton was the first black president, would that
make SOS-elect Condeleeza Rice the first white president?
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
The unofficial results are in for the 2004 Presidential Race. The SOS has determined that out of the 7,979,639 registered voters, 5,574,476 voters and 155,428 provisional voters cast ballots resulting in a 69.86% turnout.
The actual percentage turnout, then, was 2.82% lower than SOS Blackwell's pre-election prediction of 72.68%.
President Bush recieved 2,796,147 votes, or 51.01% (+136,503), while
Senator Kerry received 2,659,644 votes, or 48.52%.
In the 2000 Presidential Election, official results determined that out of the 7,531,555 registered voters 4,800,009 voters cast ballot, thus resulting in a 63.73% turnout.
The then-Texas Governor Bush received 2,351,209 votes, or 50.0% (+165,019),
while then-Vice-President Gore received 2,186,190 or 46.5%.
In 2004 all the 3rd party candidates together got 25,993 votes or .47%.
In 2000 all the 3rd party candidates together got 167,598 votes or 3.49%.
All this data means that in 2004, approximately
448,004 new voters were registered, and
775,000 more votes were cast for President.
In 2000 the Democrats had 1,021,214 registered voters while
in 2000 the Republicans had 1,422,767 registered voters.
As info is made available, the EIC will report.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Citing the League of Women Voters and a bi-paritsan and two-chamber letter issued on March 3, 2003 from US Representatives Bob Ney (R) and Steny Hoyer (D) as well as US Senators Mitch McConell (R) and Chris Dodd (D), Blackwell stated
"In preparation for today's Controlling Board hearingon the approval and release of funds for new voting systems in compliance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, I wanted to prvide you with the latest information pertaining to voter-verified paper receipts. The clear concern of the sponsers is that ongoing debates over this issue will delay the timely implementation of HAVA... Now is the time to move forward. "Thus Blackwell urged that the Board drop its paper-trail requirement, so as to accomplish a timely implementation of HAVA 2002. Any further delay on the parts of the State Assembly and Controlling Board would hinder implementation of HAVA 2002. As a further note, this letter also reveals a power-play, for Dodge had received appointment to the Controlling Board Chair by Taft, a long-time budget foe and 1998 Republican Governor- nominee oppopnent of Blackwell's. The Senate Majority leader Doug White had also supported Dodge in her decision to act carefully before dispersing the HAVA funds.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Blogging will be light these next two weeks as this is the week before finals and then I have the week of finals.
Please return in two weeks
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
The 'crime' of Ohio SOS J. Kenneth Blackwell, which has so angered the left at his blatant bias is the fact that he functioned in a dual role as both co-chair of Bush/Cheney '04's Ohio campaign and Ohio Secretary of State.
For that effort, one website has dubbed SOS Blackwell "Evil GOP Bastard of the Month" and inducted him into their GOPHall of Shame. Condi Rice is the 2004 "honoree".
What they fail to see is that their hatred has so stirred up the local Ohioans, who think they have been disenfranchised, that these otherwise honorable citizens will march in protest against the voter suppression, storm the Ohio House of Representatives, engage in brawls with the police, and even get arrested.
This is further evidence of irrationality in action.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
As of November 22, 2004, Senators' John F. Kerry and John Edwards have allowed the Ohio recount madness to continue with an e-mail petition (linked to Google) that allows their supporters to e-mail Ken Blackwell and demand that provisional ballots be counted.
To be fair, the language of the e-mail petition makes it appear as if the e-mail drive took place before the Nov. 2 election. That is the opinion of this Editor.
However, their failure to remove the link allows misunderstanding supporters to flood SOS Blackwell's office with spam e-mail.
Kerry/Edwards should remove the e-mail petition so as to avoid all possible involvement.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
The Left-of-America has entered into its final irrational stages with its claims that SOS Blackwell is a murderer.
Yes, some sworn testimony caught on video now claims that J. Kenneth Blackwell made a lady stand in line for too long, thus making her unable to be home when her husband died. One of the lady's friends claimed that had the now-widow been home, she could have helped her husband. No cause of death was stated.
This is very sad for the lady, but Blackwell does not deserve to have such vitriol uttered against him. For example, after the hearings the sworn witnesses murmered that they would like to see a criminal indictment brought against SOS Blackwell.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
Phase 2 continues with the left's demand that Ohio SOS Blackwell recuse himself from the recount case in order to prevent any malfeasance, bias, or dishonesty from entering into the recount process.
The left fringe groups gather more mainstream support from Common Cause and the Daily Kos.
The generally even-handed Ralph Nader (left leaner) seemed to become a bit unhinged with his demand that Blackwell resign in disgrace because he had committed a "constitutional crime."
Even the University of New Mexico has offered its implicit, silent-partner support of the recount effort. hence a higher-learning institution has instead become an advocacy group.
(See also www.recountohio.org)
Some right leaning bloggers are engaging in a counter-recusing action. They want you to e-mail your support to J. Kenneth Blackwell.
This is utter maddness and the left refuses to get it. Having been twice defeated at the ballot box, the left pauses, regroups, and moves further left. They should stop now while they are ahead and move to the right. Keep fighting for Mr. Blackwell.
Please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief with any questions.
