Ohio (Blackwell) Letter Seeks Illegal Contributions

[rawstory]

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state's chief elections officer, accused of mishandling the presidential vote in Ohio, sent a fund-raising letter for his own 2006 gubernatorial campaign that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions.

A pledge card with the letter from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who co-chaired the Bush-Cheney election campaign in Ohio, said "corporate & personal checks are welcome."

Corporate donations are illegal in Ohio.

His spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said Saturday that any corporate donations would be returned.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=511&u=/ap/20050108/ap_on_el_gu/ohio_election_chief&printer=1

###

I hope the mods will forgive me for including this, since I know we're not a LBN source, but the context is important: Raw Story actually was the first to produce the letter (and the contribution card) which can be seen here: http://rawstory.rawprint.com/105/blackwell_campaign_letter_105.php . Important also is that Blackwell brags about delivering Ohio in the letter.

We gave the letter to the House Judiciary Committee, which included it in their packet to the Senate. The letter was blown up and displayed on the Senate floor by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) during the two-hour discussion contesting Ohio's electoral votes.

It's amazing to see the AP pick up this letter, but quite usual for them not to credit the source. Update 2: AP says they won't credit us, largely in part because we're not an AP member and the Columbus Dispatch is...Ugh...What else is new.

[nashville_brook]

1. ahhhh... you might edit this with a line between the link and your comment

i was amazed at first when i read this and saw raw story credited.

[impeachthescoundrel]

2. Link isn't working

[rawstory]

3. fixed link, sorry

http://rawstory.rawprint.com/105/blackwell_campaign_letter_105.php

[impeachthescoundrel]

9. Thank you rawstory

[merh]

4. A Secretary of State that does not know his state laws and that

asks for money in violation of the state laws is the guy that called the election for the weed! Doesn't that tell the world anything?

I hope the State AG has that letter.

Thanks for the post and breaking this story.

[dkofos]

18. Now Now

He knows the law.
He just doesn't give a shit.
He is above the law.
HE WILL BE THE NEXT GOV OF OHIO.
He knows its in the bag already

[mia]

5. rated it up!

[cosmicdot]

6. currently at 1.60 with 33 votes n/m

[drm604]

7. On Yahoo this article currently has an ave. rating of 1.70 with 34 votes.

You all know what to do.

On Edit: It's dropping rapidly and is now at 1.50 with 58 votes. Looks like it's being Freeped.

[Florida_Geek]

8. AP link on NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Ohio-Election-Chief.html?oref=login

[JoMama49]

10. I just rated this article - it only has a 1.55 rating - we need to

keep rating it up and kick this thread!

[sherilocks]

32. The Washington Post is also running the story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59572-2005Jan8.html?referrer%3Demail&sub=AR

Raw Story, great work. Too bad you're not getting the credit due you on this. That stinks.

[Clark2008]

11. I hope you're still here.

I wanted to ask you if it wasn't illegal for Blackwell to use official state stationary to send out letters seeking campaign contributions to begin with.

I don't know the laws in Ohio.

[drm604]

12. Kick

It's headed back up. Keep rating it up!

[rodeodance]

14. what rewards from Washington do you think await him?

[drm604]

28. The Anti-Law Party will give this lawbreaker protection from the law

up until the point where protecting him does them more harm than good. Let's hope that point is reached.

[rawstory]

17. It's not official state stationery

It's a mockup. People do that type of shit all the time, or so I understand. So long as it isn't the 'official' stationery. I think that's what they call diluting the law...

[impeachthescoundrel]

13. It has a

1.87 now. 74 votes.

God I love this!!!!

[TeeYiYi]

15. 1.88. nt

TYY

[Demit]

16. 1.96 w/131 votes

[Hey Nineteen]

20. now 1.96 with 181 votes! we're keeping up n/t

[Petrushka]

23. 2.6 --- 362 votes (eom)

[Cha]

19. Thanks for this, rawstory! Gives us

more ammunition to work for the demise of kennyboy blackwell's political demise.

They are so flagrantly blatant in their disregard for the law..I keep waiting for the first shoe to drop!

[Vidar]

21. Thanks rawstory. Above the law, it's worked for him so far.

[acmavm]

22. The freeps are working overtime. 5:11 p.m. CST:

You have given the news article Ohio Letter Seeks Illegal Contributions a rating of 5.
Its current average rating is 2.56 with 321 vote(s).

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. You're right - amazing to see MSM pick this up from "tinfoilhatters"

They wouldn't have done it before the Jan 6 Stand. I see this as an encouraging sign -- perhaps the smokescreen is beginning to clear a bit.

The MSM arrogance and condescension about giving credit for this story where it is due is interesting too. The progressive sites of the internet have been portrayed as gathering places where left wing extremist wackos air their varioius "conspiracy theories." Totally without merit, of course. This makes it chancy to then claim one of these "conspiracy theory" sites as a legitimate site for a --* respectful pause here* -- REAL news carrier. Naturally they covered that part up.

But although it must be extremely irritating to see your work credited to another, it's progress that they didn't cover up the story itself. Creeping fog lift? I hope so.

[goforit]

25. Ohio?....IMPEACH his ass!!!....It's time to be rabid w/people like this.

[mulethree]

26. Hmm and he has LoParo answering campaign inquiries?

Carlo LoParo, director of media and voter services for the Ohio Secretary of State's office

[Laurab]

27. 2.95, 453

:kick:

[senegal1]

29. 11:19 CST 2.95 with 456 votes

[Hey Nineteen]

30. 2.95, 460 votes - looks like we're more tenacious than the freepers n/t

[drm604]

31. It seems to have stabilized. Keep rating it up!

Lets hit 5!

[0007]

33. This is beyond the pale. Only a hand full of us indeed care

that the criminal justice system is working in favor of everything that is wrong with America.

[athenap]

34. Here's your meme for the day...

"Republicans are soft on crime."

Go forth. Repeat at will. Cite Blackwell *every single chance you get.*

[IndyOp]

35. 2.95 with 480 votes; Sunday 10:28 am

On edit (addition):

Rawstory: The more good you do in the world -- honest, practical, helping your fellow human beings -- the less credit you will receive. The people who get a lot of credit, most of the time, have to invest a lot of time making sure they get credit.

Still, if we can help you fight to get credit so that more people will take good alternative news sources seriously, let us know! I am bracing for the battle for Free Speech on the Internet -- and the more people who value alternative news sources on the net, the better.

:kick: