Meet Rep. Jean Schmidt's Contenders in the Democratic Primary!

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-wellington-ennis/us-rep-jean-schmidts-cont_b_553913.html


Democratic Primary for U.S. House of Representatives: Ohio's 2nd District

This coming Tuesday, May 4th, Ohioans vote in their primary elections for national and statewide offices. Ohio has long been romanticized as a microcosm of America and a bellwether for national politics. Yet primary elections are a pivotal point in our democratic process, and it often goes ignored by the media and the public, even on the local level. Supporting a candidate early on can make a real impact, as money and momentum are much harder to come by before winning the nomination.

Ohio's 2nd District is currently represented by Republican Jean Schmidt, first elected in 2005 in a special election running against Paul Hackett, a race that drew national attention--Hackett, a Marine having just returned from Fallujah, ran as an anti-war Democrat. His narrow loss suggested that a reliably conservative district stretched across Southern Ohio could one day be in play for Democrats. While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has eyed Rep. Schmidt's House seat as vulnerable over the past election cycles, Schmidt has nonetheless survived.

This Democratic Primary brings three candidates who look to challenge Rep. Schmidt for her House seat. In the interest of providing an equitable platform, here are video introductions from the candidates, along with their websites, so that they can speak for themselves, without having to pay for it.

CLICK THROUGH TO WATCH CANDIDATE PROFILES:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-wellington-ennis/us-rep-jean-schmidts-cont_b_553913.html

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1. I live in the Ohio 2nd Congressional District and here is my take...

on the candidates:
David Krikorian - He is a conservative. He has stated such when he ran 2 years ago as an independent. I challenged him on his "progressiveness" and all I got was a personal attack on me. I would be glad to share the e-mails with anyone who would like to see them. Just send a personal message with your e-mail address. If you listen to the video he states he has something in common with everyone. That is because he will say anything to to any group to get elected. He has also ran one of the dirtiest campaigns I have seen, except for Jean Schmidt.

Jim Parker - I went to his web site and was not impressed. I am concerned that he is anti-choice but I can't say either way. He has stated that he is Catholic and the Catholic church in Southern Ohio is extremely conservative. Many a German Catholic settled her in the area. He also thinks he can get us out of the war singlehandedly. Good luck to that. He also thinks that de-linking health insurance with your workplace is wrong. Actually I am for a not for profit, single payer health care system. He is a part of the system (hosptial administrator) and I don't see much hope that he would ever agree with my stance on this issue. His video presentation was weak.

Surya Yalamanchili - The one thing that is going against him is he was a brand manager at P&G. For the most part there are few liberals at P&G who are brand managers. This is according to my wife who is a scientist at P&G and has had to work with the brand managers, or more like herding them in the right direction so they don't make product claims that will get the company sued. On the other hand he only was at P&G for 5 years. That may give him a break with me. From his web site and an e-mailS I received concerning questions that I asked him about specific issues in health care I think he leans left. He is pro-choice and has state such. Of the three videos he comes across as committed and sincere. He is endorsed by Roxanne Qualls, Vic Wulsin, Mark Malory, Paul Hacket and Tom Luken. I will take the last tow endorsements with a grain of salt. I met Tom Luken years ago and when I introduced myself to him there was nothing behind the eyes. He wanted me to know that he was a conservative. I was not impressed. I don't really care what Paul Hacket has to say. I am glad that Vic Wulsin, Roxanne Qualls and Mark Malory are backing him.

I am giving my support to Surya Yalamanchile.