More Republican Seat's Falling Into Contention

The Washington Post is reporting that more GOP seats are up in the air then initially thought. This opens up more of a possibility that Democrats will be able to take the 15 seats they need to gain control of the house.

Facing the most difficult political environment since they took control of Congress in 1994, Republicans begin the final two months of the midterm campaign in growing danger of losing the House while fighting to preserve at best a slim majority in the Senate, according to strategists and officials in both parties.

Over the summer, the political battlefield has expanded well beyond the roughly 20 GOP House seats originally thought to be vulnerable. Now some Republicans concede there may be almost twice as many districts from which Democrats could wrest the 15 additional seats they need to take control.

--Washington Post

Also the article brought up Ohio's 18th district as an example of how open seats are sometimes harder for a party to take this year.

"These Republican incumbents are really wearing a crown of thorns right now for people's anxiety and anger about Washington," he said. "The environment favors us, but in open seats you don't have a Republican incumbent you can attach these [frustrations] to."

One example is Ohio's 18th District, where Rep. Robert W. Ney (R) had appeared headed for defeat because of his connection to the scandal involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Now that Ney has stepped aside, Republicans are more confident of holding the seat.

Hillary May Not Run For President

There seems to whispers spreading throughout the rumor mill that Hillary Clinton may not run for President. Honestly I'm really hoping that she won't. I have nothing major against her but I doubt she could win in 2008 for a variety of reasons:

1. She's a woman, some people still can't seem get past that.
   
2. Her last name is Clinton. Republicans have done a thorough job of smearing her husband over lying about his affair while ignoring the fact that Bush lied us into war.
   
3. She's a political newcomer. Yes we may have been hearing her name for the last 14 years but she's only served one term in the Senate, the only elected position she's ever held.
   
4. Her support for the war in Iraq will draw fire from anti-war groups. If she changes positions on the war Republicans will claim she goes back and forth on issues and is weak on terror (though Iraq had nothing to do with terror).

I'd vote for her but I'd much prefer Al Gore for '08. He's already proved he can win an election, we just need to make sure that election stands this time around.

Columbus Gubernatorial Debate In Trouble?

I found this story among many others on an "Around Town" page of the Marietta Times.

COLUMBUS — The two leading candidates for Ohio governor haven’t been able to agree on a moderator for a debate in Columbus next month, leaving it in doubt.

The Ohio Association of Broadcasters has pulled its sponsorship of the debate, which was to be broadcast statewide Oct. 16. The event, focusing on all topics, was scheduled as the candidates’ fourth and final debate before the Nov. 7 election.

The only moderator the campaigns of Democrat Ted Strickland and Republican Ken Blackwell could agree on was Jim Lehrer, anchor of PBS’ “NewsHour,” but he wasn’t available, said Christine Merritt, executive vice president of the broadcasters’ association.

The association, which wanted a national broadcaster to moderate, had arranged for 25 television and 60 radio stations to broadcast the debate live from the Statehouse atrium, Merritt said.

Blackwell, the secretary of state, still wants to debate Strickland in Columbus with another sponsor, spokesman Carlo LoParo said. Strickland also is committed to four debates, said Keith Dailey, spokesman for the congressman.

The candidates released their debate schedule last week, beginning with a Tuesday meeting in Youngstown that has an open agenda. A Cleveland debate on Sept. 20 is to focus on education, and an Oct. 4 debate in Cincinnati will be about the economy.

The schedule was decided after a tug-of-war between the candidates over the particulars of the debates. Blackwell originally wanted a sequence of early summer debates. Strickland proposed spreading the events out and selecting what he called more independent hosts.

Attempt Suicide And Get Expelled

Colleges all over the country are adopting policies to expel suicidal students. Colleges argue that it sends a message. Critics say that it stops students from seeking out the help they need.

George Washington University is being sued by a former student who was barred from campus and threatened with expulsion after checking himself in to a hospital for depression.

The student, Jordan Nott, said he never tried to kill himself, but had been thinking about it because of the suicide death of a close friend, also a George Washington student. -- MSNBC

These policies are being implemented at more and more schools to protect them from legal liability.

What Message Are Our Troops Sending To Us?

All too often I hear Republicans criticizing any kind of anti-war effort by using some line about what kind of message it sends to the troops. Personally I find it shocking that we let these people get away with it. A wound in the war of rhetoric is cured by a public apology and a few months of good behavior and casualties simply move on to the private sector where they manage to line their own pockets even more. There is no excuse a politician using soldiers to shield bad policy and past mistakes.

Equally appalling is the fact that we've completely ignored any message that the troops may be trying to send to us. If mainstream media were to be believed, the army is just one giant united force without a single detractor. This is obviously not true. Michael Moore has published an entire book of letters criticizing the war written by soldiers and their families. In fact a group that provides free books to soldiers overseas claims that Michael Moore is one of the most requested non-fiction authors.

I'm not saying that all the troops in Iraq feel that way about the President just that, despite appearances, there are some over there.

Student Data Shared With FBI

The Department of Education has been sharing data on students seeking financial aid with the FBI. I guess the Bush Administration finally realized that anyone with an education would be more likely to hate them. Sorry about that, I know it's a cheap shot and completely unwarranted but I just couldn't resist. Call it a Coulter moment.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the past five years an office in the Education Department has scanned through its databases of millions of students' federal financial aid and college enrollment records in search of terrorist names supplied by the FBI.

The effort, dubbed "Project Strike Back," was created by the Education Department's Office of Inspector General after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to expand the office's mission to include counterterrorism.

At the time, investigators believed some funding for the 9/11 attacks came from identity theft and fraud, criminal activity the Education Department had experience investigating, according to an internal memo obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

"This program was one of many around the country used by the FBI to identify people of potential interest," said FBI spokeswoman Cathy Milhoan.

The department's central database stores information on all of the roughly 14 million students who apply for financial aid each year, even after they have repaid the loans. -- CNN

The War on Rumsfeld

Democrats are preparing to launch a no confidence vote against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld later this month. Democrats hope to use this to dispel the notion that they are soft on terror by showing the shortcomings of the current administration.

Read More

Will Blackwell Run His Own Election?

On Election Day 2004 many Ohioans, myself included, turned on the news to see reports of long lines at polling places, new voting machines breaking down, and allegations were disproportionately allocated to favor Republican areas and we wondered "Are we the next Florida?". Would Ohio be the butt of jokes on late shows for the months to come? Suddenly those old Florida jokes didn't seem so funny.

In Ohio, like in Florida, the Secretary of State sought out their 15 minutes of fame by telling everyone that the election had in fact gone off without a hitch and that everyone had been given an equal chance to vote. Both Secretaries of State just happened to be Republicans. Both Secretaries just happened to be state campaign heads for Bush and Cheney. How could both Katherine Harris and Ken Blackwell of Ohio oversee both the election and the Bush campaign in their states without any conflict of interest? Perhaps the answer is that they couldn't.

After the 2004 election Rep. Jim Conyers (D-MI) conducted an investigation into the Ohio election and found numerous examples of irregularities and voter disenfranchisement. During this investigation Conyers repeatedly tried to contact Blackwell to interview him and to share his findings. Blackwell never responded.

Now it's 2006, Blackwell is still Ohio's Secretary of State and Ohio is gearing up for another election. Once again Blackwell has a conflict of interests, though now it's much more personal. This time around Blackwell himself is the Republican candidate for Governor. If questions arise about the election this time can we count on Blackwell to recuse himself or to conduct a fair and balanced investigation?

I've Added A Legal Notice

I've decided to add a legal notice to the footer pertaining to any material submitted to this blog (things like comments and multimedia emailed in (pictures, sound bytes, video, etc...)). This does not affect use of material from the blog, which is protected under a Creative Commons copyright (meaning feel free to copy anything you want, just be sure to link back).

There is really no reason for adding this right now but who can possibly know what the future holds. All I know is that I really enjoy keeping this blog and that since I started it I've become more informed about what's going on in this country than ever before, which in itself is enough of a reason to keep this blog going.

Basically all this means is that if you happen to find a formula that would produce cold fusion then you may not want to post that formula here.

The Notice

By submitting information to Left of Ohio you grant Left of Ohio a perpetual, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, distribute, and otherwise exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to that information at its sole discretion, including storing it on servers and incorporating it in other works in any media now known or later developed.

If you do not wish to grant Left of Ohio these rights, it is suggested that you do not submit information to this website.

Propaganda Is A Booming Business

The Pentagon is offering a $20 million, two year contract for a company to monitor US news sources coverage of Iraq and evaluate how stories are covered, Contractors are supposed to then suggest a few public relations events per month such as news conferences or speeches.

U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.

The contract calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing their tone as part of a program to provide "public relations products" that would improve coverage of the military command's performance, according to a statement of work attached to the proposal.

-- Washington Post

US Seeking Sanctions Against Iran

With a UN deadline now passed it seems that the Bush Administration is actively pushing for sanctions to be levied against Iran. UN ambassador John Bolten did say, however, than any new sanctions would probably would come after European meetings scheduled to take place next week.

How long before we start hearing about Iran - al-Qaeda connections?

Article at the Washington Post.

Two Reasons Why I Doubt We Send Troops To Iran

• With the US currently fighting the two front "War on Terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan the army is spread too thin to start another offensive while maintaining a presence in the US in case of emergencies. I'm sure it could be worked out but the risks of it backfiring are too great.


• With almost 2/3 of America holding an unfavorable view of the war in Iraq and Republicans trying to distance themselves from the President congress would be committing political suicide by approving an Iranian offensive. Without Congressional approval the President can't conduct troop movements lasting more than 60 days.

C-Span And CQPolitics Launch New Site

CQPolitics and C-Span have launched Campaign Network to cover the election. There's really not much else to say as the site seems to be just a collection of content from various sources, not anything new yet.

Allen Says Virginians Don't Care About "Macaca" Remark

Senator George Allen (R-VA) said on Fox yesterday that Virginians don't care about his Macaca remark and that it was only an issue for the media. Does he not realize that if people don't care the media moves on to something that will attract more viewers. Anyways a poll disproves his claims.

A News-7 SurveyUSA poll found that a majority of Virginians (56%) had heard about Senator George Allen's remarks to a campaign volunteer for his opponent, Jim Webb.

Of the 309 people who were familiar with the story, two-thirds (67%) thought it was inappropriate for Sen. Allen to refer to the college student of Indian descent as "Macaca," -- WDBJ 7

Source: Think Progress

Byrd May Also Be Holding Up Pork Bill

I kind of saw this one coming. It seems that Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) may also be holding up the spending transparency database bill.

Blogger's from both sides of the political fence had been calling Senators all over the country trying to find out which one had placed a secret hold on the bill, keeping it from being voted on by the whole Senate. Yesterdays announcement by a spokesman for Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) stating that he had placed a hold on the bill had seemed to be the end of the issue. Today, however, there have been reports that pork king Byrd may also be in on it.

Byrd has long been criticized for his misuse of tax money. Hell half the state of West Virginia is named after him. Everywhere you look there's Robert C. Byrd highway or Robert C. Byrd High School. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy and hope he is reelected this fall. I just criticize his use of Government money.

Things Named For Robert Byrd

• Robert C. Byrd Academic and Technology Center at Marshall University, Huntington
  
• Robert C. Byrd Addition to the Lodge at Oglebay Park, Wheeling
  
• Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System part of the Appalachian Development Highway System
  
• Robert C. Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown
  
• Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center at Marshall University, Huntington
  
• Robert C. Byrd Bridge, between Huntington and Chesapeake, Ohio
  
• Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Laboratory of West Virginia University, Morgantown
  
• Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University, Shepherdstown
  
• Robert C. Byrd Center for Pharmacy Education at the University of Charleston, Charleston
  
• Robert C. Byrd Clinical Addition to Veteran's Hospital, Huntington
  
• Robert C. Byrd Community Center, Pine Grove
  
• Robert C. Byrd Conference Center at Davis and Elkins College, Elkins
  
• Robert C. Byrd Drive, from Beckley to Sophia (Byrd's hometown)
  
• Robert C. Byrd Expressway, U.S. Highway 22, near Weirton
  
• Robert C. Byrd Federal Building & Courthouse, Beckley
  
• Robert C. Byrd Federal Building & Courthouse, Charleston
  
• Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, Green Bank
  
• Robert C. Byrd Hardwood Technologies Center, Princeton
  
• Robert C. Byrd Health and Wellness Center of Bethany College, Bethany
  
• Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University, Morgantown
  
• Robert C. Byrd High School, Clarksburg
  
• Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex, Rocket Center
  
  
  
  • Erma Ora Byrd Conference & Learning Center
  
  
• Robert C. Byrd Industrial Park, Moorefield
  
• Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing; Huntington, Charleston, Bridgeport & Rocket Center
  
• Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center (and Parking Garage), Wheeling
  
• Robert C. Byrd Library & Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center at Mountain State University, Beckley
  
• Robert C. Byrd Locks & Dam, Gallipolis Ferry
  
• Robert C. Byrd Metals Fabrication Center, Rocket Center
  
• Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center, Bridgeport
  
• Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling
  
• Robert C. Byrd Rural Health Center at Marshall University, Huntington
  
• Robert C. Byrd Science and Technology Center at Shepherd University, Shepherdstown
  
• Robert C. Byrd Technology Center at Alderson-Broaddus College, Philippi
  
• Robert C. Byrd United Technical Center
  
• Robert C. Byrd Visitor Center at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry
  
• (For Byrd's Wife) Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling

--list from Wikipedia

Ohio Election Calendar of Events

I've been putting together a calendar showing important dates pertaining to the Ohio election. I just started on it tonight so it's pretty sparse. If there are any dates not appearing on here feel free to leave them in a comment or email them to me at david@leftofohio.com. Also feel free to use and share this calendar in any way you see fit.

You can find the calendar here.

Ohio 18th District Republican Special Election 2 Weeks Away

Two weeks from tomorrow one of five candidates will be selected to take Bob Ney's place as Republican candidate for Ohio's 18th Congressional district. There were originally 8 candidates but a few have dropped out. The remaining candidates are listed below.

• Ray Feikert (Millersburg)


• James Brodbelt Harris (Zanesville)


• Ralph Applegate (Columbus)


• Jerry Firman (Coshocton)


• Joy Padgett (Coschocton)
  

Add the special election to your

How Did We Never Hear of This?

The following is an excerpt from "What Went Wrong In Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election". This is the first I had heard of exactly what went on in Warren County, Ohio though I had heard that irregularities were reported there.

II. election day

A. COUNTY-SPECIFIC ISSUES

1. Warren County—Counting in Secret Because of a Terrorist Threat?

FACTS

On election night, Warren County, a traditional Republican stronghold, locked down its administration building and barred reporters from observing the counting. When that decision was questioned, County officials claimed they were responding to a terrorist threat that ranked a “10” on a scale of 1 to 10, and that this information was received from an FBI agent. Despite repeated requests, County officials have declined to name that agent, and the FBI has stated that it had no information about a terror threat in Warren County.

Warren County officials have given conflicting accounts
of when the decision was made to lock down the building. The County Commissioner has stated that the decision to lock down the building was made during an October 28 closed-door meeting, but e-mailed memos—dated October 25 and 26—indicate that preparations for the lockdown were already underway. Statements also describe how ballots were left unguarded and unprotected in a warehouse on Election Day, and were hastily moved after county officials received complaints.

It is important to view the lockdown in the context of the aberrant results in Warren County. An analyst who has received all the vote data for 2000 and 2004 by precinct in several Ohio counties, did a detailed analysis of the increase in votes for President Bush by precinct, and the Bush-Kerry margin in Warren County. The analyst revealed that Warren County first did a lockdown to count the votes, then apparently did another lockdown to recount the votes later, resulting in an even greater Bush margin and very unusual new patterns.

Moreover, in the 2000 presidential election, the Democratic presidential candidate, Al Gore, stopped running television commercials and pulled resources out of Ohio weeks before the election. He won 28% of the vote in Warren County. In 2004, the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, fiercely contested Ohio, and independent groups also put considerable resources into getting out the Democratic vote. Moreover, unlike in 2000, independent candidate Ralph Nader was not on the Ohio ballot in 2004. Yet the tallies show John Kerry receiving exactly the same percentage, 28%, in Warren County as Gore received in 2000.

In support of his assertion that there was no wrongdoing in Warren County, Secretary Blackwell has mentioned Jeff Ruppert, a Democratic election observer in Warren County, who has said he observed nothing inappropriate at the County administration building. While we have no reason to doubt Mr. Ruppert’s account of what he actually observed, a complete review of his statements shows there were a number of problems at the Warren County Administration Building. At the outset, Mr. Ruppert acknowledges that he was subject to the lockout and had to present identification even to be admitted to the building. Once he gained admission, Mr. Ruppert said he did “have concerns over how provisional ballots were handled at polling places—which he said seemed to be inconsistent.” He also pointed to a number of areas he observed that were centers of activity: ballots being transferred from vehicles, precinct captains with ballots in elevators, and ballots being stored. But, clearly, it would have been impossible for Mr. Ruppert to observe all of these activities at the same time. Finally, considering that he left before the ballot count was completed, it is inaccurate to state with certainty that there were no problems in Warren County.

Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters posed to him by Ranking Member Conyers and eleven other Members of the Judiciary Committee on December 2, 2004.

Snowglobes Banned From Planes

The Daily Nightly, the NBC blog about the nightly news with Brian Williams, has a post up about one employees efforts to find a Boston Red Sox snowglobe as a souvenir for his Yankee loving boss's snowglobe collection.

The post can be found here.

Confirmed: Ted Stevens Behind Secret Hold

Ted Stevens seems to have decided that the saying "no publicity is bad publicity" were words to live by. An spokesman just confirmed that Stevens was indeed to masked Senator that both the left and right sides of the blogosphere (that's just such a stupid word) have been working tirelessly to root out. More can be found in an earlier post.

Source: TPMmuckraker via the Huffington Post

Feed Address Change

The Feedburner RSS url for this site has been changed from "http://feeds.feedburner.com/PoliticalRamblings" to "http://feeds.feedburner.com/leftohio".

If you're subscribed to the regular Blogger Atom feed than this change won't effect you.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Screws Up

A recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer included the following paragraphs about Nathan Estruth who seemingly is just another Republican that came out to a Democratic rally to see if would feel good about voting Democratic this year.

In a county that proudly paints itself political red, where about 70 percent of voters backed President Bush in 2004, Nathan Estruth showed up at a park Saturday morning to hear the blue people.

In particular, he wanted to listen to Ted Strickland, the Democratic candidate for governor who, with U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, was headlining a three-day bus tour promoting the party's statewide ticket in some of Ohio's most Republican counties.

Estruth, a father of four who typically votes Republican, milled in the back of a partisan crowd of about 100, one of just a handful of people not wearing a shirt promoting a Democratic candidate. At the urging of a friend, he came to give the Democrats, who have been out of power in Ohio for more than a decade, a chance to win his vote...

...After the 40-minute rally, Estruth said he was not ready to vote Democratic. He was put off, he said, by their harsh rhetoric.

"I wanted to see if he was an executive with clear plans for fixing the state," he said about Strickland. "What I got was partisan talk. He confirmed my worst fears."

Nathan Estruth is not your typical Republican, in fact he's president of the pro-Blackwell group "Common Sense Ohio" that has been running attack ad's throughout the state.

Sources:

• DailyKos


• Buckeye State Blog

Bill To Nowhere

Did Ted "the Internet is a series of tubes" Stevens place the secret hold on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act? It's starting to look that way. Let's go through this issue in meat terms for a second.

First off he had the pork with his infamous "bridge to nowhere" serving a small Alaska town. Second he had a beef with Senator Coburn, a bill sponsor, over his unsuccessful efforts to block funding of the bridge. Stevens has a history of being vindictive. With more and more Senators (95 so far) denying that they placed the hold the suspects, like the roads of the Internet, grow more and more few (a bushism). Stevens' office has refused to comment on the hold causing many to wonder if he may just be to chicken to come forward. Sure there's a chance it wasn't him but it just looks to fishy to me.

Okay I apologize for that last paragraph but I just had to do it. You can find more on the topic at TPMmuckraker. I'm also putting a short clip of Stevens' "series of tubes" remark below. Enjoy.

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Sounds of Hypocrisy

Just thought I'd share this little audio clip from the Presidents 8/21/06 question and answer session with the press. It won't take long to load, my 56k connection (I live in a very rural area) breezed through it in under 10 seconds.


powered by ODEO

It's Been A Strange Day

If today were a Friday it would definitely be a freaky Friday but I guess we'll have to settle for freaky Tuesday instead.

First off a CNN broadcast of a President Bush speech was interrupted when a sound man forgot to turn off an anchor Kyra Phillips's microphone causing her bathroom conversation to be broadcast live on national TV. (Video posted to YouTube by Wonkette)

Then a man posing as a high-ranking federal housing official spoke after both Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin at a conference saying that the Government had completely reversed it's emergency housing policy. The man left before security was able to find him. A number he had left at the conference reached a man who claimed that the hoax was just one of many that a group had carried out.

Finally I saw today that a Youngstown rally for Gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland was to feature a live concert by the musical group Boyz II Men.

I've found it to be an all around amusing news day.

How Ohio Governor Candidates Are Tackling The Iraq Issue

My local news stations site has a good article up about what the two major candidates for Ohio Governor feel about the war in Iraq and what's best for Ohio's soldiers.

The article can be found here.

McCarthy Meet Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld Meet McCarthy

Boy this foot-in-mouth disease is really spreading quickly. First Ted Stevens and his internets and tubes made waves throughout the web. Then George Allen made journalists pull out reference books of all types with the "Macaca" remark. More recently Katherine Harris and Joe Biden showed a lack of intelligence with their religion and race comments respectively. Now it seems that Donald Rumsfeld wants a piece of the action.

Yes my friends Rumsfeld has accused all of us that oppose the Iraq war and domestic warrant-less wiretaps are only trying to support "a new type of Fascism" and that we seem to be afflicted with "moral or intellectual confusion" when it comes to deciding just what is a threat to us.

Could this be signs of desperation as Rumsfeld seeks to hold on to his job. If the Democrats win at least a good portion of the House this fall it may prompt some Republicans to try and distance themselves from Bush's Iraq policy. Since Rumsfeld is responsible for that policy he would appear to be the prime target if that situation arose. I wonder how many times he stopped to wipe the sweat of his brow while delivering these harshly worded attacks?

Story can be found at the Washington Post.

As a special treat, the photo above shows Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in 1983.

Mark My Words: Hell Will Freeze Over Before Wilson Loses Ohio's 6th District

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert believes that Ohio's 6th Congressional District could fall into Republican hands as current Congressman Ted Strickland leaves the position to pursue a bid for Governor.

I live in the 6th District and I highly doubt that the Rupublican candidate stands a chance. First off Democrat Charlie Wilson won (bey a good margin) a write in campaign in the primary, showing that a vast majority of the party is behind him. The 6th district also covers a lot of traditionally democratic ground. Sure stranger things have happened but a Republican victory would be a major upset.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert says the Ohio 6th Congressional District is among only a dozen or so competitive races for open House seats in the country.

Hastert campaigned Friday for state Rep. Chuck Blasdel of East Liverpool, the Republican nominee in the 6th District race, raising about $50,000 at an event at the Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield. About 80 people attended the event.

"This is an important race for us," Hastert said during a press conference at Mahoning County Republican headquarters on U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.

Republicans have to protect incumbents running for re-election and make sure they retain seats being vacated by party members, he said. But it's also important to pick up open seats currently held by Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the Lisbon Democrat who currently holds the 6th seat, isn't running for re-election. He is the Democratic nominee for governor. -- Vindy.com

BREAKING: John Mark Karr Case Dropped

The case against John Mark Karr has been dropped after DNA tests didn't match DNA samples found at the 1996 crime scene. Karr had been accused of killing 6 year old JonBenet Ramsey 10 years ago and had confessed to the crime. Several inconsistencies arose from the confession prompting many to believe that he didn't commit the crime but was just obsessed with the case.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado prosecutors will not charge schoolteacher John Mark Karr with the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey after tests showed his DNA does not match DNA found in her underwear, Karr's attorney said on CNN.

"The warrant on Mr Karr has been dropped by the district attorney. They're not proceeding with this case," Karr's lawyer, Seth Temin, said on CNN.

Story here.

Biden Makes A Statement Of "Macaca" Proportions

Joe Biden (D-DE) just had to go and open his mouth. On the defensive about how well he would do in the South in a 2008 presidential campaign Biden made the statement "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state".

Could he at least have stopped to think before he spoke? I'm sure he didn't mean it the way it sounds but on the heels of the George Allen controversy such comments are bound to be looked over with much more scrutiny then usual. Even worse this could make Democrats look like hypocrites over their denouncement of Allen's "macaca" remark.

John Mark Karr's DNA Doesn't Match Crime Scene Samples

Reuters is reporting that JonBenet Ramsey murder suspects DNA doesn't match up with samples found at the crime scene a decade ago. I doubt that this will surprise many people as it now seems that Karr may be insane or at least obsessed with the JonBenet case.

The Reuters article can be found here.

The Left And Right Join Forces To Find A Senators Secret

It's not unusual for both sides of the political fence to get fired up over something but it is unusual for both sides to take the same stance. Sure it's not unheard of, but it's not an everyday thing.

This time the uniting issue is an effort to expose just who it was that placed a secret hold on a bill that had bipartisan support. In fact the bill had received a unanimous go ahead vote in it's committee. The bill would set up a website to allow easy access to information about federal contracts and grants, but as long as it's under this secret hold it is unable to appear before the full Senate for a vote.

Just before the August recess, the Senate was set to vote on a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would create a public, searchable database of all federal grants and contracts. Envisioned as a Google-like website, it would provide free, immediate access the information, which can be alarmingly difficult to obtain.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed the measure July 27th, and S.2590 seemed to be speeding on its way to full Senate passage when, in the dark of night, an unknown Senator placed a "secret hold" on the bill. According to Senate rules, the bill will never come to a vote as long as the hold continues.

So who's the culprit?

-- TPMmuckraker

Liberal Book Club: "What Went Wrong in Ohio"

The first installment of "Liberal Book Club" features "What Went Wrong in Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election". As it is a committee report there is no real author though there is an introduction by Gore Vidal.

Synopsis

The book covers irregularities and voting issues during the 2004 Ohio Presidential election.

Review

I confess that I have yet to read this book, though I have bought it and it is in my reading list. A review will be posted after I read it.

Product Information

• List Price: $10.95


• Author: Congressman John Conyers, Anita Miller (Editor), Gore Vidal (Introduction)


• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers


• Publication Date: May 2005


• Pages: 142


• Format: Paperback


• ISBN: 089733535X

New Segment: Liberal Book Club

Today I'll be starting a new feature titled "Liberal Book Club". This is basically going to be an irregularly published segment spotlighting books that I've found interesting and recommend to others or that didn't live up to the hype surrounding them.

These books will not always be new and will not always be liberal, or even political for that matter. I also hope to branch out to feature books on topics like technology or history that might also appeal to someone with a progressive mindset.

Bin Laden Is Not A Wanted Man Over 9/11

The Justice Department has decided to not go after charges related to 9/11, instead opting for charges related to the African embassy bombing of '98 for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

So let me get this straight, this guy launches the biggest attack on the United States and we don't even care to file charges against him for it? Let's just stop and look at just some of the facts for a minute.

• We went after him in Afghanistan but then immediately shifted the focus to an unrelated war in Iraq.


• The CIA has reportedly shut down it's Bin Laden unit.


• The President strongly opposed a 9/11 commission and stopped a non government commission from being formed.


• When the Government commission did release a report the President had several pages censored or removed.


• Most of the commission's recommendations have gone ignored in the years since it's report was released.


• Many officials have stated that Bin Laden isn't a threat anymore as we have weakened his organization.

Does anyone in Washington really even care anymore? I've got to say that it really doesn't look like it.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a longtime and prominent member of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list, which notes his role as the suspected mastermind of the deadly U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998.

But another more infamous date -- Sept. 11, 2001 -- is nowhere to be found on the same FBI notice.

The curious omission underscores the Justice Department's decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden for approving al-Qaeda's most notorious and successful terrorist attack. The notice says bin Laden is "a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world" but does not provide details.

-- Washington Post

Why Even Bother Covering Ohio When Ohio 2006 Has The Bar Set So High?

Once again I'm singing the praises of the Ohio 2006 blog. This site is my main source for everything Ohio election related with so many vary informative articles. Again if you live in or near Ohio I urge you to check this blog out, it should be considered required reading for all Democrats in the state.

This morning when I opened my feed reader to get the day started I noticed that they already had several new posts. Rather than just re-writing what they already had reported so well and linking back to them I've just decided to do the fair thing and just link to the stories themselves and send people there for the content.

• Ohio Governor Debates Scheduled


• Zogby / Wall Street Journal Poll Has Dems Leading Gov, Senate Races

And they have one more that I usually wouldn't have mentioned but I involved a name that I've recently come across. The story is about Ted Strickland scheduling a meeting with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). While down at the beach I bought a book titled "What Went Wrong In Ohio: The Conyers Report on the 2004 Presidential Election" (ISBN 0-89733-535-X). I've yet to read it but judging by the table of contents it's going to be pretty interesting and disgusting to read.

Even Iraqis Want Us Out Of Iraq

Polls are showing that even Iraqis want the US to pull troops out. This really surprised me. If 2 out of 3 Americans and a majority of Iraqis don't want us there then why are we there?

Sources:

• University of Michigan - Full poll results
  
• Democrats.com

Update: 8/28/06 11:02 P.M.

The University of Michigan poll omitted the results of the question "Do you support or oppose the presence of coalition forces in Iraq?" which this post refers to. The chart showing the results of that question is below.

Connecticut May Become A Four Way Race

The Connecticut race has just gotten a lot less simple for Democratic candidate Ned Lamont. It seems that a Green Party candidate has joined the running seeking to get the anti-war vote that was partly responsible for Lamont's victory over incumbent Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary. Lieberman is running as an independent in the general election and has managed to get the support of many Republican voters. Polls have Lieberman leading Lamont despite his loss in the primary.

More news on the Green Party candidate can be found here.

Ann Coulter Once Again Puts The "Dumb" in "Dumb Blonde"

Ann Coulter is once again saying stupid things that really aren't all that true in her relentless support of the Republican party. Recently on Fox she claimed that “As for catching Osama, it’s irrelevant. Things are going swimmingly in Afghanistan”. Then after the host criticizes that comment she gets up and leaves in the middle of the segment. Way to roll with the punches Ann, great job indeed.

You can watch the video and read more here.

Hezbollah Leader Says He Regrets Ordering Kidnapping

MSNBC is reporting that on a TV interview Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah would not have ordered the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers if he had known that it would cause the armed conflict that it did.

“We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he said in an interview with Lebanon’s New TV station.

Nasrallah also said the United Nations and Italy already had initiated “contacts” about beginning negotiations on a prisoner swap.

Israeli officials have been refusing to comment on the record about the prospects of a prisoner exchange, citing the extreme sensitivity of the issue.

But military officials said earlier this month that Israel is holding 13 Hezbollah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas that it could swap for the two captive soldiers, but would not include any Palestinian prisoners in such a deal.

“The Israelis have acknowledged that this (issue) is headed for negotiations and a (prisoners) exchange,” he said. “Contacts recently began for negotiations.”

-- MSNBC

How Quickly Things Change These Days

So when I left for the beach I thought I had been traveling a miniscule distance in a 12 planet solar system. It was a change from the 9 planet system I had lived in just days before but I was adapting, I almost even brought myself to accept Xena: The Warrior Planet (AKA 2003 UB313) on equal ground with Saturn and Jupiter. By the end of the week this 12 planet system was thrown out the window in favor and thus I would be coming home in a slightly larger trip in proportion to the trip down though I would be traveling in a system with 4 less planets.

So what happened to poor old Pluto? Do a majority of scientists hate the lovable yellow dog of Mickey Mouse? Or perhaps maybe they aren't a fan of Greek mythology. Perhaps it was just a small faction of scientists that feel that Pluto doesn't deserve planet-hood. After all the condemning vote came on the final day of a 10 day conference on the topic after most of the attendees left. In fact of the around 10,000 astronomers that attended only 424 were left to make the final vote. Having that few people vote is more pathetic then it would be to have just the 13 original colonies vote for a President of the entire United States.

It seems a safe bet that this vote won't stand for long with some astronomers already denouncing the decision but for now Pluto will be labeled a "Dwarf-Planet". Sure it may just be a giant floating ice cube but I think that Pluto deserves better. Perhaps we should hold a vote about what we should call those 424 people who decided to speak for thousands? I'm recommending that they be reduced to "Dwarf-Voters", what do you think? I mean seriously an election held with less than 5% of the eligible members does not a consensus make.

Forgot To Mention The Name Change

I completely forgot to mention that I changed the name of this blog from "Political Ramblings" to "Left of Ohio". The name reflects that I am to the left of most of the sate. Well that and the fact that leftohio.blogspot.com was the first domain I tried that wasn't taken and was short enough to be remembered. I should also mention that leftohio is the same domain this blog has always had.

This change happened last Saturday before I left.

Katharine Harris Puts Her Foot In It

And by "it" I mean her mouth.

Many of you remember Kathrine Harris as the attention and make up loving Secretary of State of Florida during the 2000 election, but now in her bid for a US Senate seat she seems to be forgetting to think before she speaks. She's been saying things like "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin" and that Separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told" and that it's "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers".

To look at it in a positive light I know have a great example to use to show people why I think that the Religious Right is the stupidest voting group in history.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws." The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage. -- ABC

Rumsfeld Talk To Alaska Soldiers Families After Suddenly Extending Their Tour

A while back some Alaskan soldiers in Iraq that learned their tour had been extended at least 4 more months while about to board planes home, and in some cases upon landing in Alaska. Recently Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with families of these soldiers for a brief question and answer session.

''It is something we don't want to do,'' Rumsfeld told several hundred family members at Fort Wainwright, home of the 172nd Stryker Brigade. The unit's deployment to Iraq was extended by up to four months to bolster U.S. firepower in the Baghdad area.

''But in this case we had to.''

Reporters were not permitted to cover the meeting, which lasted about an hour. But a wife who videotaped the event showed it to reporters.

During his flight to Fairbanks, Rumsfeld said he saw no reason for the soldiers or their families to be angry at him.

''These people are all volunteers," he said. "They all signed up. They all are there doing what they're doing because they want to do it.''

A newly formed Alaska chapter of the Military Families Speak Out group said it would make a public call for the Bush administration to bring home the 172nd and all other U.S. troops. It quoted Jennifer Davis of Anchorage, whose husband is a member of the 172nd.

''I am totally frustrated, disappointed and heartbroken,'' she said. ''Just when I thought we were going to be able to resume a 'normal' life and when I thought the nightmare was over, the nightmare was extended.'' -- Chicago Sun-Times

Fox News Reporters Released Unharmed

Two Fox News correspondents that were kidnapped in Gaza on 8/14 were released today. They are said to be in good condition. They had been kidnapped by a group calling themselves the "Holy Jihad Brigades" who had demanded that the US release Muslim prisoners in exchange for the safe release of the news crew. The US refused their demands and the deadline the group set had expired.

More at AllHeadlineNews.com