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DailyKos Commissions Ohio Poll

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:42:50 -0500

National blog DailyKos commissioned a poll (results here) featuring Strickland vs. Kasich and Brunner/Fisher against Portman. The results are very similar to the recent polls released by Quinnipiac and University of Cincinnati, but more data is always a good thing.

We'll take a look and post comments on the poll numbers in a later post.

Blinded By the Right

Brad Cromes — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:57:54 -0500

Side note: Anytime I can work in a Manfred Mann reference, I go home happy...

This is a post for my wife. See, each month a glossy new edition of Esquire magazine shows up in our mailbox, full of insights on politics, style, literature and cuisine that she finds more than a little pretentious and annoying (despite excellent writing by the likes of Tom Chiarella, A.J. Jacobs, and Cleveland's own Scott Raab). It wouldn't be a stretch to call it the greatest source of tension in our young marriage.

Thankfully, yesterday the remarkably unremarkable Tucker Carlson's article in Esquire finally gave us something to agree on from that publication: Jeb Bush has been blinded by the Right.

How else does one explain his insistence that his brother was more popular than Obama at this point in his term? (He wasn't; at this point in his first term, Bush's approval ratings were in the high 50s to low 60s, compared to Obama's in the mid to high 60s).

His disbelief in global warming? (Choice quote: "...science has been politicized." Evolution denial, apparently, no longer qualifies as "politicization").

His "I don't know" answer to whether or not Obama is a socialist? (Good to know McCarthyism is still alive and kicking).

His insistence that the only reason the Republicans failed to retake the White House was the "sin" of not advocating the Right's position well enough to win? (Hint: The real reason's first name rhymes with "gorge," and his second name rhymes with "push." As in, the gorge your brother pushed your party into).

Yes, most of what Jeb had to say was simple boilerplate conservatism. There's one piece of that, though, that he (and the rest of the Republican party) still deeply believe, and it's one that will doom them to a permanent minority if they don't recognize it soon: the fallacy of the "center-right country."

Much typeface has been dedicated to the debate over what Sarah Palin cringe-inducingly referred to as "the Real America" actually looks like. Since the Reagan Revolution (when I was negative 4 years old), it has been taken as an order of faith on the Right that America is a fundamentally Christian, socially and economically conservative place.

The Left, though issuing mild protest, has never articulated a sufficiently succinct and cogent response. So, every few weeks we get to hear about how America is "center-right," and how the Left wins elections not because it possesses a message that connects with the electorate but because it's better at demagoguery and sleight of hand.

Oy.

I'm not a statistician, but it doesn't require an advanced degree in mathematics to see that America (which probably most accurately can be called a "center-center" country right now) is actually moving left in most every measurable way. Barack Obama won election in November with 365 electoral votes, and 53% of the popular vote. Hispanics are projected to be 25% of the American population by 2050. Obama won five of the ten fastest growing U.S. states (Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, and Delaware) and was closer than expected in three others (Arizona, Georgia, and Texas). Tucker Carlson's own question to Jeb in this interview admitted 1/3 of young voters self-identify as Socialists. According to Gallup, the GOP has lost ground in nearly every demographic group (retaining 2001 levels of support only among frequent church-goers, and losing with even conservatives and seniors).

I could go on.

The point? All the statistical and anecdotal evidence points to a trend leftward. If ever the fallacy that America is a "center-right" nation was true, it certainly isn't any more. And the more the GOP listens to the Bushes and the Limbaughs (Jeb called him a "hugely important force in the conservative movement") rather than the Joe Scarboroughs and the Andrew Sullivans, the longer their time wandering in the desert will be.

Which is good for Democrats.

So, Jeb Bush, keep lettin' that socially conservative "silicone sister (with a manager, mister)" tell you ya got what it takes. The longer you (and your party) stay blinded by the Right, the less likely we'll have to look back on a day our collective "calliope crashed to the ground."

Even More Vintage Brunner : Learn Jennifer's Favorite State Park

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:14:52 -0500

It doesn't get any better than Classic Brunner. In this historic clip, seen here for the first time anywhere, we learn where Jennifer Brunner rode her bike as a college student.

(See folks, these questions weren't that tough, were they?) More later today...

Zing! Brunner Blasts Fisher on Pay Equity

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:02:33 -0500

Oh man, if the rest of the summer is like today, this race for the U.S. Senate is headed right to C-SPAN Classic. (Note to C-SPAN...you need a "Classic" channel too. This public affairs and book review stuff is pretty stale.) Anyway...

Jennifer Brunner today took the gloves off and threw a pair of haymakers across Lee Fisher's chin. First, Brunner called her opponent out for promoting his support of women voters. (Fisher announced earlier this week that he earned the support of ten female Ohio legislators.)

Brunner followed up that shot with a call on Fisher to abide by pay equity laws in his own department starting with the woman who assumed his old role as Director of Development for the state.

From the release (and the strongest language yet)...

“Fisher should fight for equal pay for women, starting with the woman who has taken his place as director of the Ohio Department of Development,” Brunner said.  

Earlier this year, Fisher left his post as director of the development department at a salary of $142,500 so he could campaign for the Senate. The Department of Development is responsible for the creation, retention and expansion of jobs in Ohio.  

When Fisher resigned, Mark Barbash was made interim director at an annual salary of $128,356. After tax and home foreclosure problems plagued Barbash, he was replaced by a second interim director, Lisa Patt-McDaniel, at a salary of $88,379.

Her salary remains unchanged even though Barbash returned to the department June 29 to a position subordinate to Patt-McDaniel at a salary that exceeds hers.

Uh, it gets better...

Brunner challenged Fisher to give more than lip service to pay equity for women and to use his continuing influence with the department to honor President Obama’s first act signed into law, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. Since leaving the department, Lee Fisher continues to assume visible responsibility for the agency’s public activities, allows his picture to be featured prominently on the department’s website, and carries out the public duties of an agency director, despite having ceded the position to Patt-McDaniel.

  At a recent dinner of the state’s Democratic Party faithful, Fisher borrowed one of Senator Sherrod Brown's oft-repeated speech quotes, admonishing attendees, “Don’t tell me what you believe. Tell me what you’ve done, and I’ll tell you what you believe.”

  “While Lee Fisher continues to take for credit for the activities of the state department responsible for adding jobs to our economy, he silently acquiesces to the obvious pay inequity for the woman who handles the day-to-day responsibilities that he and Mark Barbash once performed,’’ said Brunner. 

“Women across the country still earn just 78 cents for every dollar men earn, and for women of color, it is even less. Instead of zigzagging across the state to capture the limelight for Development Department achievements, Lee Fisher should be pushing for the woman who holds his old job to get a pay raise—she’s doing the work he used to do, and he’s showing up to take the credit,’’ stated Brunner. “I challenge Lee Fisher to fight for the basic principle that we are all created equal,” said Brunner.

Brunner's campaign may be struggling in the money race (and we'll know that soon enough), but her campaign is certainly not hurting in its ability to seize the ball and pivot whenever Lee makes a move. While the ballot will read Brunner v. Fisher, the last couple of days feel like Dettman v. Prado. This is a fantastic back-and-forth that shows both campaigns at their strongest and practicing their moves early as they both prepare to take on Rob Portman (or Tom Ganley) in 2010. Let's see if Fisher engages with something other than endorsements. If they do, we'll be ready. Get your ponchos out.

BREAKING : Fisher Lands Teamsters Endorsement

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:44:51 -0500

Another day, another significant endorsement for Lee Fisher as the Ohio Conference of Teamsters announced this morning that the organization of 75,000 members endorsed the Lt. Governor in his big to become the next U.S. Senator.

Yesterday, the United Auto Workers threw their support behind Fisher in a significant boost to the campaign.

From the release:

"Since he sponsored Ohio's collective bargaining agreement as a young state legislator, Lee Fisher has always fought for the hard-working men and women of our state,” said Roger Insprucker, President of the Ohio Conference of Teamsters. “In good times and in bad, Lee has stood with us--for fair wages, access to health care and the right to organize in our workplaces, Lee has been an outspoken advocate for middle class families. Lee will bring that same tenacity and tireless spirit to the Senate on behalf of all Ohioans."

One notable item from the release was this quote where Fisher (for the first time in our recollection) clearly states his support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Fisher supports the Employee Free Choice Act to ensure that workers can exercise their right to organize. Fisher knows that to rebuild our middle class we must keep good-paying jobs in Ohio and enforce labor and environmental standards in all future trade deals to provide American workers the same opportunities as their competitors abroad.

Stand by...we've got a Brunner release coming off the wire right now....

Vintage Brunner : Jennifer Correctly Names the Price of Unleaded

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:33:08 -0500

In this never before seen video from way back in March, Jennifer Brunner correctly guesses the price of unleaded (within 2 cents) and breaks news by revealing she drives her own truck.

You can't get footage like this any place else. More later...

Tweet the Budget ( aka #passthebudget ) : Day 6

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:57:16 -0500

$14 million a week. Gone. Thanks to the Ohio Republican Party and the GOP-led Senate.

Tell the Ohio Senate leaders to come back from their 4th of July vacations and yacht club fun, and pass a budget NOW!

Copy and paste (you know the drill) in Twitter:
Tell the Deadbeat @ohiogop Senators to refuse their paycheck unless they #passthebudget today. Why are we wasting a penny on these bums.

EXCLUSIVE : The Lost Brunner Interview Tapes

Anthony Fossaceca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:50:01 -0500

Several, several months ago, OhioDaily reached out to several individuals considering a run for the U.S. Senate and requested video interviews. The first to agree was Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones back in February.

The second one was this set of Jennifer Brunner from March 10.

During that same period of time, we had already been talking with the Fisher campaign about getting an interview on camera. We did one off-camera prior to his entry (see here) but now wanted to get him as an announced candidate.

After a week or so of coordinating, the Brunner campaign told me "be here at this time." I was, and we shot around a half hour of footage including some extra video you'll see in a moment.

In the period following the Brunner interview, we reached out several, several more times to try and schedule Lt. Governor Lee Fisher for the same type of interview, and without preconditions. So far, still no response from Team Fisher other than scheduling conflicts or "we'll let you know."

At the conclusion of our interview with Jennifer Brunner, we asked a series of relaxed, fun, rapid fire questions we hoped to use as a stand alone video piece once the Fisher interview was complete. The idea was to ask both the same questions and run the answers back-to-back to get a sense of how these candidates are unscripted and on topics other than politics. Since months and months and months have gone by, we decided to climb up to the attic and dust off these old Brunner clips for your entertainment.

Please note, the picture and sound quality are grainy and raw as these were taken a very, very long time ago. More clips later today, so please check back.

Tweet the Budget ( aka #passthebudget ) : Day 5

Anthony Fossaceca — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:34:55 -0500

In the time it took you to get out of bed, shower, drink a cup of coffee, drive to work, eat lunch, and pretend to look busy working, the Ohio GOP squandered $2 million.

That's $14 million a week.
For the second week in a row.

Tell the Ohio Senate leaders to come back from their 4th of July vacations and yacht club fun, and pass a budget NOW!

Copy and paste (you know the drill) in Twitter:
The @ohiogop needs to come back from vacation and #passthebudget now! Ohio is losing $2 million a day while these old men burn on the beach.

Troublemaker Brunner Not Following Orders

Anthony Fossaceca — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:36:15 -0500

This Jennifer Brunner chick is starting to become a problem. A fly in the ointment. A real pain in the ass.

Don't get me wrong. She's classy, smart and a real go-getter, but she apparently doesn't like to read. Or doesn't know how. You see, for months political writers in Ohio and Washington have been writing the same thing: "...if fundraising doesn't pick up, Brunner will be pressured to step aside to clear the way for Lee Fisher..."

Brunner apparently hasn't received the memo that this is the way things work around here.

The script goes something like this. Candidate A and supporters start sounding like they are "owed" the seat they're running for. They run around racking up endorsements and whispering in the ears of every reporter they can find. Candidate B digs in, raises some money (but not enough to dominate headlines), focuses on issues and policy, and earns everyone's respect. However, at some point, Candidate B is "pressured" to "do the right thing" and step aside "for the good of the party."

Now, that's a lot of "quotes." But you get the idea. This Brunner character doesn't seem to grasp the concept that it's "not her turn." (Ooops. "Sorry" about the quotes again.)

Yesterday, the Brunner campaign decided to reassert their position that Ohio's Secretary of State is in this race and not getting out. Ever. Not later, not after breakfast, never. Ever. And this is where the Fisher campaign starts losing its collective mind.

It has always been a foregone conclusion to some that Lee Fisher would outraise Jennifer Brunner during these first few cycles. At some point, Brunner would come to her senses, drop out of the race, give a nice speech, hug her dogs, endorse Lee Fisher, and we'd all be one happy family. Sound familiar?

BREAKING : Fisher Lands UAW Endorsement

Anthony Fossaceca — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:39:25 -0500

Hot off the OhioDaily wire (analysis and commentary later today)...

Ohio’s United Auto Workers (UAW), today endorsed Lt. Governor Lee Fisher for the U.S. Senate, calling him the best candidate to keep manufacturing jobs in Ohio. With more than 134,000 members, the UAW is one of Ohio’s largest unions and has workers at 291 facilities across the state.

UPDATE : Ohio Amber Alert Cancelled

Anthony Fossaceca — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:17:01 -0500

The earlier Amber Alert was cancelled. Children were found safe.

Tweet the Budget ( aka #passthebudget ) : Day 4

Anthony Fossaceca — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:14:00 -0500

Day Four of the "Tweet the Budget" campaign rages on today as the GOP-led Senate continues to deliberately drag Ohio into the abyss. Ohio GOP Chair Kevin DeWine summed it up perfectly when he declared in a Columbus Dispatch article over the weekend that this is the game plan. Do nothing and hope voters think it's Strickland's fault.

Today, we need you to help keep the pressure on. As you've been doing every day this week, please "tweet" your entire Twitter list with the following (or something like it):

"Please Retweet this! Ohio can't wait for the @ohiogop to grow up and stop playing childish games. Tell them to #passthebudget TODAY."

Of course, you can modify and amend it, but be sure to include @ohiogop and #passthebudget in your message so they get it loud and clear.

THEN, call Senate President Bill Harris and tell him to either pass the budget or offer an alternative. He'll be sitting by the phone (since he's not doing anything else today) at 419-281-2955

DEVELOPING : Women Legislators Line Up for Lee

Anthony Fossaceca — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:26:56 -0500

The Fisher for U.S. Senate campaign today announced the endorsement of ten female legislators including Sen. Sue Morano (District 13 – Lorain), Sen. Nina Turner (District 25 – Cleveland), Rep. Linda Bolon (District 1 – Columbiana), Rep. Barbara Boyd (District 9 – Cleveland), Rep. Edna Brown (District 48 – Toledo), Rep. Denise Driehaus (District 31- Cincinnati), Rep. Nancy Garland (District 20 – Gahanna), Rep. Marian Harris (District 19 – Columbus), Rep. Sandra Stabile Harwood (District 65 – Niles) and Rep. Connie Pillich (District 28 – Montgomery).

The endorsements are among the first pledged from the state legislature. Ohio Speaker Armond Budish pledged his support to longtime friend and neighbor on the day Fisher announced.

What's interesting about the bloc is the focus on the female representatives as an obvious counter to Jennifer Brunner's gender. (Either that or Lee has little or no support from elected men - which is unlikely.) This is something the Fisher campaign seems focused on confronting early as they rolled out a similar group of supporters months ago with their "Women for Fisher" event.

The campaigns will probably continue announcing endorsements leading up to the July 15th reporting date for the second quarter of the year, which ended June 30th. More as this develops...

Ohio Rookie Reps Get Air(wave) Cover

Anthony Fossaceca — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:49:49 -0500

Americans United for Change plans to take to the airwaves this week with ads praising first-term Representatives Mary Jo Kilroy, John Boccieri, and Steve Driehaus for their votes on the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Ads like these probably won't persuade anyone to directly support the Democratic candidates, but they can help maintain support ahead of likely GOP attack ads coming down the road this fall and into next year.

Here's a look at the Kilroy ad...

Governor Calls on State Senate to #passthebudget

Anthony Fossaceca — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:00:24 -0500

The Governor held a press event an hour ago to call on the GOP-led State Senate to get to work and finally give him a budget. Of course, this is unlikely to happen since we're a little over a year out from the 2010 elections and the Republicans are smelling blood. What they may not realize is that they blood they smell is their own.

Please be sure to email and tweet your friends and families today with a simple request:

Go on Twitter and tweet "Enough is enough! @ohiogop stop playing games and #passthebudget NOW!"

Meanwhile, here's the full text of the statement issued by the Governor earlier this morning.

I have always believed that government is at its best when all sides work together to find common sense solutions to the challenges we face.

I also believe that legitimate public policy disagreements are essential to the health of our democratic process, as they fuel the marketplace of ideas and require leaders to find middle ground. That’s what makes the deafening silence from Ohio’s Republican Senate leadership these past few weeks so troubling. The marketplace of ideas, and our very democratic process, breaks down when those elected to lead – to make hard choices and live with the consequences – simply refuse to do so.

Ohio businesses are struggling to get by and Ohioans continue to lose jobs because of the national recession. Ohio’s leadership needs to be doing all that it can do to help our businesses and workers through the recession – and to make sure that when the economy does recover, the state is positioned for job growth.

That’s why, seventeen days ago, I proposed a plan to preserve our safety net to the greatest extent possible while protecting Ohio businesses and workers from the tax increases that they simply cannot afford at this time.

Turner & Hooch

Brad Cromes — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:22:41 -0500

Apparently Congressman (and former Dayton Mayor) Mike Turner was hitting the sauce a bit harder than normal in celebration of our country's birthday this past weekend.

How else to explain this recent story, wherein he suggests a constitutional amendment to prevent government investment in the private sector?

Rep. Turner proposed the amendment to stop a government he feels is "creeping towards socialism" from repeating attempts to save GM, the banks, and other private institutions the Obama Administration (and the Bush Administration) deemed "too big to fail." His proposed amendment received 103 original co-sponsors.

As anyone who watched Saturday morning cartoons in the 1980s can tell you, a proposed constitutional amendment has some serious uphill climbing to do to make it into our law. (Would the same were true in Ohio...maybe then we'd stop seeing interest groups use our state's constitution like a beach ball to bat around passing issues...but, that's a topic for another post.)

What's disturbing about Turner's bill is not its likelihood of passage, but its complete blindness to how government and the private sector historically interact in America. Much of the wealth that exists in this country today is the by-product of investments made during Franklin Roosevelt's reorganization of the American banking system during the Great Depression. The thinker widely credited as the forbearer of the conservative movement in America, Alexander Hamilton, penned a Report on Public Credit while Secretary of the Treasury. That document suggested that the United States assume all state debts incurred during the Revolution, essentially making the federal government the "largest stockholder" in state governments.

Tweet the Budget ( aka #passthebudget ) : Day 3

Anthony Fossaceca — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:27:55 -0500

Day three of the "Tweet the Budget" campaign is underway. We're posting the same post this morning for those playing catch-up from the weekend...

David over at Buckeye State Blog has a nice recap of its origins...

Last night I was engaged in one of my favorite pastimes of telling Kevin Dewine off on Twitter, when Anthony over at Ohio Daily saw my messages and had an idea. He shot me a message with his plan and I loved it, thus the "Tweet the Budget" campaign was launched.

Basically, instead of my random sarcastic replies, we want to get as many people as possible to tweet Kevin DeWine and the Ohio Republican Party's account and let them know that your sick and tired of their partisan games.

It's pretty obvious that they are just holding things up to make Governor Strickland look bad, otherwise they would have presented another viable option by now.

We need some help to keep this moving along. Since yesterday (and by extention of the weekend, possibly today and tomorrow) was a holiday, the real push might not be seen until Monday or Tuesday. That's why your help is needed.

Here's what you can do.

IF YOU HAVE A Twitter account, pick one of these messages and copy and paste as a tweet (or status):

RT this message and send to your Twitter list!! Tell @KevinDewine & @ohiogop to DO SOMETHING and #passthebudget NOW!

Tell @KevinDewine & @ohiogop to DO SOMETHING and #passthebudget NOW! Then RT this message and send to your Twitter list!!

Hey @ohiogop! Stop playing poltical games and #passthebudget today!

Or, you can write your own tweet. Just be sure to include "@ohiogop" (to ensure they receive it) and "#passthebudget" so they not only get the action item, but we can see the progress of the movement.

The PD Digs a Deeper Hole

Anastasia Pantsios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:57:30 -0500

The Plain Dealer blundered last weekend by pushing its attorney David Marburger’s confusing — and probably illegal and unenforceable — “plan” for saving newspapers by embargoing news for 24 hours and collecting fees from websites that use their news. Using columnist Connie Schultz as their mouthpiece, the paper promoted the idea that “web aggregators” were stealing news from daily papers and could “save” newspapers by paying fees. But Schultz failed to locate any aggregators doing such wholesale theft and in the process making enough money to rescue the newspaper business.

Today, the paper compounded the blunder, wading hip-deep in doo-doo — flailing away at both those who have raised legitimate questions about their proposal and those who have used it to push other agendas. It not only let Schultz engage in an ill-advised pissing match with a couple of bloggers on something that’s entirely beside the point, but it’s brought out reinforcements: resident Luddite Ted Diadiun. Uh-oh.

Of course, Diadiun (does he even use e-mail yet?) can’t make it to the end of the second paragraph without referring (only half in jest, I’m sure) to “the Big Bad Web,” and suggesting that the Plain Dealer “recklessly gave away the news” when it “so eagerly dove into the Internet surf a decade ago.” As a former editor at a tiny Cleveland-based underground music monthly, U.S. Rocker (1989-1998), which “dove into the Internet surf” long before the PD, I can only shake my head. Actually, the PD doesn’t need to worry too much about recklessly giving away the news on its website; it’s virtually impossible to find anything there.

Who said this:

Anastasia Pantsios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:12:39 -0500

Last spring, during the presidential primary:

"Fair or unfair—and I do think that it's a more concentrated criticism that Hillary gets on so many fronts; I think that's unfortunate. But fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it, really. You have to plow through that and know what you're getting into. I say this with all due respect to Hillary Clinton and to her experience and to her passion for changing the status quo. But when I hear a statement like that coming from a women candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or a sharper microscope put on her, I think, man, that doesn't do us any good. Women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country, I don't think it bodes well for her, a statement like that. Because, again, fair or not fair it is there. I think it's reality and it's a given, people just accept that she's going to be under a sharper microscope. So be it. Work harder, prove to yourself to an even greater degree that you're capable, that you're going to be the best candidate. That's what she wants us to believe at this point. So it bothers me a little bit to hear her bring that attention to herself on that level."

Right — Sarah Palin. Now go back and watch the tape of her whiny, frantic, incoherent, attention-junkie press conference Friday, and laugh your ass off.

Really, Sarah? You believe this — "Work harder, prove to yourself to an even greater degree that you're capable, that you're going to be the best candidate."

It's almost impossible to mock this. It mocks itself.

Tweet the Budget ( aka #passthebudget ) : Day 2

Anthony Fossaceca — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:14:45 -0500

Day two of the "Tweet the Budget" campaign is underway. David over at Buckeye State Blog has a nice recap of its origins...

Last night I was engaged in one of my favorite pastimes of telling Kevin Dewine off on Twitter, when Anthony over at Ohio Daily saw my messages and had an idea. He shot me a message with his plan and I loved it, thus the "Tweet the Budget" campaign was launched.

Basically, instead of my random sarcastic replies, we want to get as many people as possible to tweet Kevin DeWine and the Ohio Republican Party's account and let them know that your sick and tired of their partisan games.

It's pretty obvious that they are just holding things up to make Governor Strickland look bad, otherwise they would have presented another viable option by now.

Here's what you can do.

IF YOU HAVE A Twitter account, pick one of these messages and copy and paste as a tweet (or status):

RT this message and send to your Twitter list!! Tell @KevinDewine & @ohiogop to DO SOMETHING and #passthebudget NOW!

Tell @KevinDewine & @ohiogop to DO SOMETHING and #passthebudget NOW! Then RT this message and send to your Twitter list!!

Hey @ohiogop! Stop playing poltical games and #passthebudget today!

OhioDaily : Follow Us on Twitter, Facebook, or Both

Anthony Fossaceca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:00:15 -0500

Get breaking news and progressive commentary from OhioDaily by following us on Twitter. Click here to start receiving our tweets.

Facebook user too? Join our group for daily and weekly recaps.

Tweet the Budget

Anthony Fossaceca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:53:37 -0500

Let's apply some pressure this weekend on the lazy GOP leadership to get to work and pass the state budget. You can do it quickly and spread the word at the same time by using Twitter. If you're on Twitter, copy and paste the following:

RT this message and send to your Twitter list!! Tell @KevinDewine & @ohiogop to DO SOMETHING and #passthebudget NOW!

as a "tweet" every day until the budget is passed. Then, follow the progress by seaching for the #passthebudget hash tag in Twitter. The message goes to all of your followers, plus copies go to State GOP Chair Kevin DeWine and the Ohio GOP account.

Ding Dong! Palin resigns!

Anastasia Pantsios — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:05:41 -0500

Oh my lord! What a way to start the holiday weekend. Sarah Palin has not only announced that she will NOT run for a second term as governor but also will resign in the midst of her current term, effective July 26.

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/142175

Watch her announcement if you can without tearing your hair out, and see if you can figure out her motivations or her intentions. Of course, there's a mountain of speculation, much of it centering on whether she's resigning to focus on running for president in 2012. But this seriously weakens her already weak case as to her preparation and qualifications for that job. And the fact that she dumped this on a Friday afternoon going into a holiday weekend suggests a serious attempt to minimize attention — some people won't hear about it until the get back from the cottage or the shore on Monday, and it will also be buried by the saturation coverage of Michael Jackson's funeral Tuesday.

As far as I can tell from watching the video though, it sounds like she's gone into her whiny victim "people aren't playing by Sarah's rules so Sarah is taking her marbles and going home" mode. And from the number of colliding sports metaphors she's using, it sounds like she's auditioning to go back to her original career goal: sportscaster.

Weekend Straw Poll : Which 2010 Statewide Dem Has Your Highest Approval Rating?

Anthony Fossaceca — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:44:16 -0500

* Kevin Boyce (Ohio Treasurer) * Jennifer Brunner (Ohio Secretary of State) * Richard Cordray (Ohio Attorney General) * Lee Fisher (Ohio Lt. Governor) * Ted Strickland (Ohio Governor)