Ohio is not a very red state

[ProSense]

Ohio is a very politically corrupt state.

Suppress the African American vote and all the tricks, then Bush winds up getting 16% of the African American vote in the state (5% above the national average of 11%). Now when most of the most of the high-profile members of the party are embroiled in scandal, it's look we are not wingnuts:

Ohio GOP leader slams anti-gay bill

Jen Christensen, PlanetOut Network
Wed Feb 15, 6:05 PM ET


SUMMARY: Ohio's Republican House speaker, himself an adoptee, slams his colleagues' proposal to ban gay adoptions and predicts it will fail.

The anti-gay adoption and foster care bill introduced by 10 Republicans last week in Ohio is unlikely to see a vote, according to leaders in the state House of Representatives.


House Bill 515 would prevent foster care children and adoptive children from being placed in the home of a gay, bisexual or transgender person.


The little press the bill has gotten is largely negative. The Cincinnati Enquirer, one of Ohio's largest newspapers, ran an editorial Wednesday calling the legislation "discriminatory," "demeaning" and "illogical," particularly since it would restrict the number of parents possible for kids who need homes.


Ohio has about 22,000 children in foster care. About 3,000 await adoption, according to 2004 figures from the state.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/po/20060215/co_po/ohiogopleaderslamsantigaybill

Education
Ohio Board of Ed Delivers Blow to Intelligent Design Movement
by Greg Allen

Morning Edition, February 15, 2006 · The Intelligent Design movement suffered a setback Tuesday when the Ohio Board of Education voted to eliminate science standards that encouraged teachers to present the theory of evolution more critically.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5206911&ft=1&f=1003

The state must have some heavily Democratic section: Check out the stance by Ohio electeds, especially Dewine (there is a reason they have to show acquiesce to the black vote. No other Republicans do

MUST READ: “Republicans Score an ‘F’ on African-American Issues”

February 14, 2006


Yesterday, an article in the Chicago Defender reported that despite ongoing rhetoric that Republicans are reaching out to African-Americans nearly all Republicans in both the House and Senate received a failing grade on the most recent NAACP scorecard. The NAACP Congressional scorecard grades members of the 109th Congress on various legislation that is important to the African-American community including, judicial nominations, discrimination legislation, education and environmental issues.

"The NAACP report card is another sign that Republican outreach to African-Americans is disingenuous, and frankly, laughable," said Democratic National Committee Spokesperson Amaya Smith. "From Hurricane Katrina to the President's most recent budget, Republicans have continued to fail African-Americans and working Americans as a whole.

"This is just another case of the Republican's say one thing- do another attitude. As shown by all the A's received, Democrats are working hard on issues important to the African-American community, and are fighting to increase opportunities for all working Americans."

Below is an excerpt from yesterday's article:

Republicans fail to make the grade with Blacks
by Hazel Trice Edney
February 9, 2006
The Chicago Defender


WASHINGTON (NNPA)- "Although the head of the Republican National Committee and President George W. Bush have pledged to make a more concentrated effort to win over Black voters, 98 percent of Republicans in the House and Senate earned an F on the latest NAACP Civil Rights Report Card, compared to only 2 percent of Democrats receiving failing grades.

" 'Mehlman has been out beating the bushes and saying that the Republican Party was appealing for the Black vote, but this is the most powerful evidence and continuing evidence that the Republicans have not realigned their public policy approaches to attract the Black vote,' says University of Maryland Political Scientist Ronald Walters.

"According to the NAACP'S mid-term report for the 109th Congress, all but one of the 231 Republicans in the U. S. House of Representatives got an F. . .

"No House Republicans got Bs or Cs."

To read the entire article, please go to:
http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/national.cfm?ArticleID=3943

To view the NAACP scorecard got to: http://www.naacp.org/inc/docs/washington/109/109_report_card.pdf


http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/02/must_read_repub_1.php

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2457184&mesg_id=2457184


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2461949&mesg_id=2461949

[liberal N proud]

1. Absolutely Corrupt

[ProSense]

2. Speaking of corrupt

Governor Candidate Blackwell Picks Raga as his Running Mate

Feb 6, 2006, 07:34 PM EST

COLUMBUS (AP) -- The man who could become Ohio's next governor has now introduced his running mate. Secretary of State Ken Blackwell appeared at the Radisson in downtown Toledo on Monday morning to announce that he has selected state Rep. Tom Raga from Mason in southwest Ohio to join him on the ticket.

Raga is serving his third term in the Ohio General Assembly. He's the vice chair of the house Finance and Appropriations Committee, handling the operating and capital budget bills for the state. Ken Blackwell says he selected Raga because he's a man of faith and a family man, and he's very competent and trustworthy. "He's a man that has demonstrated through his now in his third term that he can build the relationships necessary to govern this state," said Blackwell.

Blackwell went on to say Raga shares his vision for the state, including similar views on how to create jobs and jump-start the state economy. Blackwell also says he'll help him shake up the status quo in state government.

Raga, 40, represents suburban Mason, 19 miles northeast of Cincinnati. He is vice chairman of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. His selection shores up Blackwell's strength in conservative southwestern Ohio ahead of what is expected to be a fierce primary contest against Republican Attorney General Jim Petro.

more...
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=4459512

[iconoclastNYC]

3. The elections are a sham.

Its gerrymandered beyond beleif as well.

[noonwitch]

4. Ohio is not so different from Michigan

They have three big cities, compared to our one. I don't think Cinncinnati, Cleveland or Columbus has the same degree of racial segregation as the Detroit area does, but it still exists in Ohio. They have areas like Dayton, that have a lot of people of german descent, which is a lot like Grand Rapids, which has a lot of people of dutch desent. They have Toledo, which is a lot like Flint.

Michigan may have been a blue state in the last 4 presidential elections, but we had 12 years of a very conservative republican governor at through most of that time. The AG is a republican (although he's a Wayne County republican), both houses of the state legislature are republican dominated and outside of the urban areas, Michigan is mostly a red state. The west side of the state is a very conservative, christian region.

[ProSense]

5. MT (Democrats regaining ground ) is mixed politically, but the difference

in Ohio is that corruption has permeated every level of politics and even judicial appointments. There was the scandal with Blackwell illegal campaigning and conflict of interest running the Bush campaign. Ney and Noe are key players in the Republican party's Abramoff scandal that has impacted local and state campaigns across the nation.

[ChipsAhoy]

6. I gotta disagree.

The overwhelming amount of Bush and W'04 bumper stickers here makes me sick. I see about 10 of them to 1 for Kerry --- on a daily basis.

I still have my Kerry sticker on my car! Has everyone else in Ohio removed theirs?? I was wondering this just the other day when I was surrounded by those damn Bush stickers on the highway.

[ProSense]

7. 10 to 1? The flawed results in Bush's favor made this a close race. n/t

[ChipsAhoy]

8. Not according to the bumper stickers here .... but .....

Maybe Pug's just like stickers more than we do.

I RARELY see a Kerry sticker here in Ohio - but every day I see the "other" ones. Again, that's my observation and it's been bugging me.

[ProSense]

9. Still, more than 2.7 million Ohians voted for Kerry. n/t