Naymik (PD) apologizes for quoting Republican plant at Strickland rally

[VolcanoJen]

Let's make sure to keep our eyes and ears out for more stories like this one... Blackwell's getting desperate, and his dirty tricks abound.

In this August 20th article by the usually-excellent PD political reporter Mark Naymik, he quoted a self=described fence-sitting Republican, Nathan Estruth. Estruth claimed to be at the Strickland Rally to "give Democrats a chance to win my vote." Well, surprise, surprise... at the end of the rally, Estruth is unimpressed, and tells Naymik he was put off by the Democrats' "harsh rhetoric" and says that "what I got was partisan talk; he confirmed my worst fears."

Thankfully, Buckeye State Blog did some legwork and discovered that Estruth is actually the president of Common Sense Ohio, the group formed to essentially destroy Strickland.

Today, a correction was issued. This makes me very, very happy. Way to go, Mark Naymik!

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_08.html

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Egg on our faces

Nathan Estruth, a Republican who recently showed up at a rally a Aug. 19 in Clermont County, presumably to give Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland a chance, is hardly the open-minded voter he portrayed himself to be that day.

Estruth was quoted in a Plain Dealer article about the rally saying he was undecided in the governors race. But it turns out he's the president of Common Sense Ohio, a new group that has raised more than $1.5 million and has begun spending the cash on television ads slamming Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland.

After Estruth’s name appeared in the paper, Strickland campaign workers and many bloggers, most notably Buckeyestateblog.com, began checking him out and made the link to the group. State records show that Estruth, who’s also give thousands of dollars to Republicans, heads the group.

-- Mark Naymik

[Kukesa]

1. Common Sense

rears its ugly head again.

We gotta get rid of these guys and fight back every chance we get.