Now, while this story is probably true, you can just sense the glee that the Plain Dealer has while writing this piece. Just look at the title “Even lobbyists are gagging on Ohio’s sleaze.”

This Democrat doesn’t think so. Check out this post from the Democracy Guy’s blog.

HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The most interesting tidbit is not about the governor candidates but “Republican State Rep. Jim Trakas is running for secretary of state and had problems trying to file a report electronically, said Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.” And he’s trying to run for Secretary of State. Ouch.

A Bar graph showing how each candidate did per period, Blackwell surprises, Betty mildly disappoints, Petro’s steady and Draganic appears.

Petro’s campaign leads which is no surprise, Blackwell is surging but he’s only been raising $$$ for one period, which puts him at a disadvantage.

All the GOPers + Strickland, while Colemans has $780k on hand.

Here’s a nice piece by Nix Guy, updating us on the 2nd District Special Election.

Very interesting from The Other Paper in Columbus, the article mentions that Betty is slipping and that Petro is going to highlight Blackwell’s strength by trying to push Betty out of the race, great read.

Today Attorney General Jim Petro, 2006 gubernatorial candidate, joined Franklin county republican leaders to announce his campaign financial status and fillings, and his Petro For Governor statewide chairs. Mr. Petro announced that his campaign for governor of Ohio has $3.1 million on-hand, a record for any GOP candidate at this point in an election, and notably more then any other gubernatorial candidate. Click HERE to read more about Mr. Petro’s official announcement.

The Petro For Governor Statewide Chairs are as follows:

Pat Tiberi
Member of Congress
Central Ohio
Mike Oxley
Member of Congress
Western Ohio
John Boehner
Member of Congress
SW Ohio
Michael Colley
Republican National Committeeman
- Former ORP Chairman, and 26 year Chairman of Franklin County Republican Party.
Nancy Chiles Dix
- Former Ohio Senator, and Ohio Director of Commerce
Nancy Van Meter Matia
ORP State Committeewoman
Peggy Lehner
Kettering Council Member
- Former President of Ohio Right To Life
Bob Holmes
- Former Chairman of the Allen County Republican Party
Virgil Brown
- Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner
Robert Frost
Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party
Joy Padgett
Ohio State Senator
SE Ohio
Bob Paduchik
2000 & 2004 Ohio Bush/Cheney Campaign, Director Renewing the Spirit of Ohio

Later, when responding to a coin gate question, Ken reminded everyone that as Treasurer he called for privatization f the BWC fund. When that was rejected, he called for the separation and oversight. Both actions were denied by the governor. Ken then shocked the crowd when he said that they have footage of Bernadette Noe at the Lucas County Lincoln Day Dinner saying “That Jim and Betty have always been there for us!” It was meant to be a direct slap in the face to Ken because Ken had just fired her from the Lucas County Board of Elections.

Although Ken mentioned in his opening remarks that his campaign has shrunk the fundraising gap from 10 to 1 to less than 3 to 1 by bringing on an unprecedented 6000 new donors, the only thing he didn’t bring up is that Jim Petro’s fundraiser in Southern Ohio is Stan Chesley, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s main fundraiser - I wish he had.

The Buckeye Institute has completed an article/study on TELs (Tax & Exependiture Limits, as set by state constitutions) and there effect on economies. If you have some time, you should check it out by clicking HERE.

Congressman LaTourette, who had for weeks said he would be voting against CAFTA, made a dramatic last min. switch and voted for it, causing the close vote to swing in favor of the trade agreement. LaTourette said it was a tough decision to make, but that a phone call with the CEO of district based KraftMaid helped him decide that voting for CAFTA was what he needed to do. Read the Plain Dealer story on this by clicking HERE.

We don’t know if these #’s are accurate but they sound reasonable

Cleveland Males 25-54 (target demo)
from 11.1 with Glenn
to a 4.1 with Jerry

Read a post about the situation HERE, the #’s are from it’s comments section.

“Attorney General Jim Petro has been given until Monday to explain to the Ohio Supreme Court why he should not be held in contempt for not complying with its order to release coin investment records requested by The (Toledo) Blade.” Read the rest HERE.

I’m sure this is not the press that Petro wanted to get the day he was to announce his campaign finance reports.

Then let Coolcleveland know. You can e-mail them @ [email protected] and tell them your favorite Northeast Ohio Blogs (which hopefully is ours). Thanks for the support.

In a vote which should surprise no one, Governor candidate Ted Strickland voted against CAFTA. Remember Strickland voted against NAFTA going against then President Clinton.

“CAFTA is nothing but a free pass for multinational corporations to skirt American labor standards and minimum wages,” he said. “It is a boon for well-heeled corporate fat cats and investors, while leaving American workers without jobs and adding to the U.S. trade deficit. This ridiculous provision is nothing but a giveaway to large corporations, giving them standing to file frivolous lawsuits based solely on their profit margins,” Strickland noted.

On the other hand here are some pro-CAFTA pieces
From the Heritage Foundation
And, in the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star, Heritage senior research fellow John Tkacik opines:
China would score a double victory with CAFTA’s defeat. Central America would be left with the message that the United States is simply not interested in its fledgling democracies. And Congress would do China the favor of taking out one of its few remaining competitors in the U.S. textile market (more from Tkacik here).

And from Ohio’s Rob Portman

“This agreement simply levels the playing field by stripping away foreign tariffs and barriers to U.S. exports. That's good for American workers, farmers and businesses. Leading U.S. manufacturing and farm groups estimate billions of dollars in expanded U.S. exports will result. For those concerned about the trade deficit and the need to expand U.S. exports,CAFTA-DR is the right agreement.
CAFTA-DR will help preserve thousands of American textile jobs, because we send billions in exports to Central American factories that sew clothing to send back to the United States. Without the agreement, many of these Central American factories will continue to relocate to China, where U.S. inputs aren’t used. So for those concerned about Chinese competition and American textile jobs, CAFTA-DR is the right agreement.”

“The Map”��” is back and updated with Seneca County who voted but was unable to have a single candidate win a majority of support. It was announced that they will vote again, and when that occurs it will probably go to Petro but for now it’s gray.

From an e-mailer

“Policy Committee of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party voted to endorse Jim Petro this morning. Petro, Blackwell and Montgomery were in attendance (Dragnic was not). The endorsement will be presented to the Central and Executive Committees on August 23rd where some municipal endorsements will also be made.”

“Pete Draganic and Ned Bushong have one thing in common; both are political new-comers seeking to bring down the establishment from the outside. Bushong is trying to topple 16-year Lima Mayor David Berger this November. Draganic hopes to sneak through the feeding frenzy of better-known rivals for the Republican guberna-torial nod next year. The two men brought their campaigns together for a day. Bushong focused on his plans for economic development, while Draganic talked about cracking down on school spending, im-proving social services and trimming the state's budget….” Read the rest of the story HERE.

Good for Pete, look at him go!

A Columbus prosecutor said yesterday he will file criminal charges against Brian Hicks, the former chief of staff for Gov. Bob Taft, for not reporting stays at coin dealer Tom Noe's Florida Keys vacation home at below market rates.
Chief Columbus City Prosecutor Stephen McIntosh said his office is racing a judicial clock and has only until Friday to file the charges because of a two-year statute of limitations. Mr. Hicks left the governor's office July 31, 2003.

Tick tock tick tock…Read HERE.