Tom Sawyer for State Board of Education?

[Schmajo]

Looks like there may be some excitement in the state BOE election this year. Go figure.

8/12/06
http://www.dispatch.com/news/news.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/12/20060812-B3-00.html

“Evolution-backers dismayed by the state Board of Education’s ongoing debate over religion and science have launched a counterattack, aiming to influence board elections.

They are working to defeat a board member who has led the challenge of Darwin’s theory of evolution. They also are backing another who has fought against teaching intelligent design, the notion that some life forms are too complex to be explained by nature, in science classes.
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The four-year terms of nine of the 19 board members expire at the end of this year. The promised challenges by evolution-backers could elevate the usually obscure school-board races to prominence heading into the Nov. 7 election. The coalition of evolution proponents yesterday launched Help Ohio Public Education, an advocacy group led by Lawrence Krauss, director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University.
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HOPE is wooing former U.S. Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Democrat, to run against Fink, a Republican seeking re-election this fall. Both are from the Akron area. Sawyer said yesterday that he was circulating petitions for the race but would not announce his intentions until next week.
***”

[cmd]

1. I want the Fundies to stay at home

This issue will bring them out to the polls in droves. Damn.

[rg302200]

2. That was my first thought to

But I don't think the Fundies will matter as much in this election. The Republicans just aren't excited about Blackwell enough to get out and vote!

[Schmajo]

3. Related LTTE

8/13/06
http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/13/20060813-B4-06.html

“***
The intelligent design/creationism bloc of the state board bends facts, flouts board policies and regularly revises its own history, as Grady has done. The rest of the board should confront this and act on issues that demand genuine leadership, like school funding and low achievement-test scores.”

[geiger]

4. Tom Sawyer should run if he thinks he can put up with Board politics,

and I actually think that, with his abilities, he would be able to wonders with that group. I would hope he would let the HOPE group run his campaign for him, however, including raising money. He is a very well informed administrator, technocrat and legislator, public speaker. After trying to help him in the last campaign, however, I came to the conclusion that he is one of the last old-school politicians, in the manner of statesmanship, and no less.

Campaigns have gotten so expensive and dishonest, and Tom Sawyer will do nothing less than tell the truth as he has learned and experienced, and he will not attack his opposition in any way that could be deemed as tasteless or disconstruing the record. I truly think he is one of the finest and most intelligent and honest persons I have ever met. He is one of the few former Congressman that have not taken up lobbying as a post-Washington profession, and so I think he finds fundraising repulsive as well. But his talents are sorely needed by Ohio.... I would certainly do anything I could to help him.