Good news from Donald Lambro of the Washington Times:

WASHINGTON — Republicans have moved closer to the Democrats in a congressional voter-preference poll just as the election campaigns near the official Labor Day starting gate.

The surprising findings in a little-noticed Gallup Poll that were ignored by most of the national news media shows the Democrats barely leading the Republicans by just two points — 47 percent to 45 percent.

In an analysis accompanying its findings last week, Gallup said, "The Republican increase does appear to be significant."

If the race is anywhere near as tight as Gallup said, it gives the GOP a much stronger edge in this year's elections. The chief reason: Republicans tend to turn out in larger numbers in midterm elections. Moreover, the GOP's high-tech, volunteer-driven, voter-turnout apparatus is far superior to anything the Democrats are attempting to patch together.

Who says so? Democrats themselves. "We're not going to be able to match their turnout system," a senior Democratic confessed to me earlier this month. Gallup also acknowledges that Republican voters "are likely to perform better at the polls in November than would be indicated by pre-election surveys based on registered voters."

A few weeks ago, the Democrats were flying high in the generic polls, foretelling a wave of Republican losses in the House and Senate. But the once-hostile environment has turned noticeably friendlier for Republicans as voters contemplate putting liberal, anti-war Democrats in charge of national security and Bush and the GOP sharpen their message for the campaign to come.
�

What will reduce unwanted pregnancies, well according to the Columbus Dispatch, and it seems President Bush, the tiny little pill.

The Food and Drug Administration’s much-delayed decision to allow over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B will help to reduce unwanted pregnancies, something welcomed by people on all sides of the debate.

The road to get to this point was unnecessarily long and complicated, made so by some FDA officials playing politics when they should have been serving science.

 

When will the Socialist and Nazis of this world learn that morals and solid ethical norms will prevent illegitimate pregnancies? �Probably never.

The unfortunate consequence to the FDA’s decision is that illegitimate pregnancies will not decrease, they will increase as we have witnessed steadily since Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade. These pills will find there way into every school room in America and overnight there will be an explosion of medical problems. Get ready. �

Brian Duffy

From the Cleveland Fish Wrapper

Brown out for minor surgery, expected back Monday


U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown will have outpatient surgery tomorrow morning for what his Senate campaign called "a typical hernia," the kind that affects 500,000 men a year, but is expected to be back campaigning on Monday.

The procedure will be performed by Dr. Raymond Onders, director of minimally invasive surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. No specific cause for the hernia was determined, according to Brown communications director Joanna Kuebler. Brown will relax at home over the weekend.

If Sherrod Brown had his way with healthcare, we would have the Canadian socialist system, and Sherrod could have been on a waiting list for weeks and get subpar care. Thankfully, for his own health's sake, Sherrod is nothing but a socialist mouthpiece with no influence on health care policy.

From WHIOtv.com

Nearly 5,000 Ohio National Guard troops have fought in the Iraq war. Both candidates for governor, Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland, said the next governor will need to fight a tug-of-war with Washington over how and when to use the guard.

Strickland and Blackwell are fighting to lead a state, which has lost dozens of young men in Iraq.Strickland said,“We have a war that is a war of choice that is not going well. More of our precious soldiers are being killed on a daily basis.”Blackwell said,“We have a role to play in bringing not only security and stability in the Middle East, but to give democracy a chance to blossom.”MacFarlane reported that half of all soldiers fighting in Iraq are National Guard troops. Blackwell said he is prepared to fight a tug-of-war with Washington over the use of Ohio troops in the future.

From Openers

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said it found something odd, maybe even criminal, about the 1,122 signatures collected by one Cleveland man for the SmokeLess constitutional amendment likely to appear on the November ballot - they all appear to be written in the same handwriting.

The Board on Tuesday asked the county prosecutor's office to consider fraud charges against the man, who was working for CVMA Solutions in Cleveland. In some cases, petitioners are paid by the hour while others are paid per signature.�

What is it with ballot issues this year?� Can anyone do it right?

The two best ways to get Ted Strickland on board for real tax relief:

A) Couple it with a tax increase

In 2004, Strickland voted for a Democrat substitute bill that extended marriage penalty relief only if taxes were raised by $207 billion on other filers.

In 2003, Strickland voted against temporarily increasing the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 for 2003 and 2004.�…� Strickland, instead, voted for a limited substitute version, which extended the $1,000 per child tax credit only in exchange for raising taxes on other filers.

B) Couple it with conditions that will keep it from ever taking effect

In 2000, voted against a bipartisan bill solely designed to reduce taxes for married couples on three seperate occasions.

He instead, later chose to support a bill that would "cut taxes by $89 billion over 10 years but only after certain conditions were met."

About those conditions:

The Joint Committee on Taxation reported that those conditions were so high they "would not go into effect and thus has no revenue effect."

Ted = Tax, and the more Ohio learns about his record the less impressed they'll be by the fact that he grudgingly backed four tax cuts (after trying to kill them, of course).

You can find this information�and�a lot more�here, here, here, and here.

First, I see this on Buckeye State blog.

But now, the Ohio GOP posted this:

"Distoring" the record again

Don't you just love it when Democrats throw stones from their glass houses?

Of course, they fixed their typo, but as usual Democrats and their media allies piously act as if it's only Republicans who make mistakes.

Obviously, I blame this on the public education system.

UPDATE: Even though he reported about the pro-Dewine ad, I bet left-wing Mark Naymik doesn't post anything about this.�

You know those four tax cuts Strickland says he supported, as if it offsets the 52 he opposed?

Here's what he doesn't want you to know about them. (From TellTheTruthTed.com)

HR 1308, 108th Congress, Tax Cuts

Before he voted for the watered down Senate version that was in the conference report, Strickland voted 18 times to instruct the conferees to add a provision where the tax cuts would be off-set. When the Senate version was voted on, it passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support: 339-65

HR 2014, 105th Congress, Tax Cuts

First, he voted for the Rangel amendment to gut the bill. When that failed he voted against the bill. After the watered down Senate version came out of conference, Strickland voted for final passage after it was endorsed by Clinton and Strickland was called to task for not supporting it.

HR 4626, 107th Congress, Marriage Relief

He voted against HR 4019 in 2002 to make the marriage penalty relief permanent. He then voted against H.Res.543 (Roll No. 430, 10/2/02) which stated that action needed to be taken to make the marriage relief provisions outlined in 4019 be made permanent. This vote against making marriage relief permanent occurred AFTER he voted for marriage relief in 4626.

HR 4181, 108th Congress, Marriage Relief

Strickland voted consistently against Marriage Penalty Relief when it was introduced in previous sessions. In 1998 he opposed a budget plan that would use savings to eliminate the marriage penalty (Roll No. 210, 6/5/98, H.Con.Res. 284). In 2002 he voted against HR 4019 (Roll No. 229, 6/13/02) which would have made the marriage penalty relief provisions put into place by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 permanent.

Apparently his commercial was so packed with spin there wasn't any time left to work the truth into it.

Apparently,�the National Federation of Independent Business rarely endorses anybody. Still, Ken Blackwell has managed to snatch up their support.

From the Lima News:

"There is no more important job for Ohio’s next governor than getting our economy moving again," Blackwell said. "Eighty percent of the net new jobs over the next decade will come from small businesses."

The state NFIB and Greater Lima Area Action Council of the NFIB endorsed Blackwell at the event, held before Blackwell attended a fundraiser Tuesday night.

"Our action council is the largest employers in the greater Lima area, but the fact that we are chopped up into 80 businesses, tends to have government not appreciate us and the jobs we create, but you are a former small-business owner, and have been where we are," said Robert Sielschott, president of the local NFIB chapter. "We need Ken Blackwell to be the next governor of Ohio."

Newshound's Carnival of Ohio Politics #37 is up — check it out.

From ONN

Strickland is an ordained Methodist minister himself. He takes a pro-choice stance on abortion, and believes marriage should be only between a man and woman. He has stated that gay couples deserve certain similar rights like shared inheritance arrangements.

That about sums it up.

Remember this posting?

Well Kevin O'Brien from the Plain Dealer just wrote an editoral about the quote…

It's too bad Ken Blackwell was the one to say it, because too many peo ple will just dismiss it as self-serving:

"The public square should not be stripped or scrubbed clean of religion or faith or God. We understand that the flip side of a theocracy is not the secular state. The flip side of a theocracy is religious liberty."

This is one of those rare cases in which the truth can and should be separated from the teller and his motives, because it is - well - the truth.

Ted Strickland has come up with anti-Blackwell attack ad, and appears to already be in over his head.

COLUMBUS - Gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell’s campaign today demanded Congressman and former prison psychologist Ted Strickland immediately pull an intentionally false ad regarding Blackwell’s comprehensive health care initiative. In the ad, Strickland deceptively claimed Blackwell’s health care plan“would force everyone to buy health insurance. That could cost an average Ohio family without coverage over $4,836 a year.” In response, the Blackwell campaign will file an elections complaint with the independent Ohio Elections Commission.

Strickland sourced the bogus claim with an unauthorized quote from eHealthInsurance.com, an online insurance provider. The online provider offers quotes based on current insurance structures which do not contemplate the significant savings that would be realized by consumer-driven health care initiatives such as Blackwell’s.

eHealthInsurance.com expressly prohibits third parties from using its quotes in commercials. The company’s website states,“You are not permitted to use this web site or its contents for any commercial or non-personal purpose (direct or indirect).” A company spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that Strickland has not received special permission to use the information.

Did nobody at Camp Strickland bother to read the company's policy on this type of thing, or did they just not care?

(More at The Pullins Report�/ Lincoln Logs)

Good to see our statewide candidates working together. From Mary Taylor's campaign:

Representative Taylor to join Secretary Blackwell on "Road to Jobs" Tour

Come meet State Representative Mary Taylor, candidate for Ohio Auditor of State, and our Republican candidate for Governor, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, along with other Republican local and statewide candidates this coming Saturday, September 2, 2006 on the Blackwell“Road to Jobs” Tour.

On Saturday, the“Road to Jobs” Tour will kick- off in Lake County, followed by stops in Cuyahoga and Delaware Counties, and will end in Warren County.

Please join Mary, Ken, and others on the Republican ticket in show of your support. We hope to see you there!

Saturday, September 2, 2006

9:00 am-11:00 am:
Lake County Pancake Breakfast
Painesville Elks Club
723 Liberty St.
Painesville, OH 44077

11:00 am-1:00 pm:
Blackwell/Raga Friends and Families Rally
Independence Civic Center
6363 Selig Dr.
Independence, OH 44131

2:00 pm-3:00 pm:
Delaware Blackwell Rally/Tailgate Party
Delaware County GOP HQ
6011 Columbus Pike
Lewis Center, OH 43035

5:00 pm-6:00 pm:
Lebanon Blackwell Rally
Golden Lamb
27 S. Broadway
Lebanon, OH 45036

For more information on Mary Taylor’s campaign, please go to www.citizensformarytaylor.com.

If you get a chance, this will definately be worth checking out.

Press release from Chuck Blasdel:

Blasdel Invites Charlie Wilson to Move to the 6^th District

Offers campaign staff to help move furniture

WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE 6^TH DISTRICT, OH -�Congressional Candidate and 6^th District resident Chuck Blasdel today made a special invite to his opponent Charlie Wilson, to move into the district that he is trying to represent, and his campaign staff will drive to the 18^th Congressional District to help him pack.

"Charlie Wilson claims to be a man of the people, but he won't live inside the district he wants to represent," said Blasdel Campaign Manager Ryan Stenger.�"Charlie is happy in his mansion, Stately Wilson Manor, in the 18^th District, but the real workers, families and voters of the 6^th District want somebody that understands their needs, not the needs of other Congressional Districts."

"We are hoping that Charlie will show his dedication to the people of the 6^th District and move among them, and if he does, the rest of the campaign staff and I will travel to his mansion and help him move," said Stenger.�"I think the traditional word they use is carpet-bagger, but regardless of the terminology, I cannot imagine looking into the eyes of a voter and asking them to support you when you don't live inside the district."

Wilson has repeatedly shown his neglect of the 6^th District, starting in March when he got more signatures on his nominating petitions from other districts, than he did in the 6^th, and failed to make the meager 50 signatures required to be an official candidate.�Wilson also continues to campaign outside of the district and the state, saying himself that he cannot raise money inside of the 6^th district.�

"Charlie himself has said that he cannot raise money inside the 6^th District so he has to travel to Pennsylvania to raise campaign cash," said Stenger. "That should be a message to Charlie that the 6^th District doesn't want him."

"Maybe Charlie doesn't want to drink the water in the 6^th District?"

Ted Strickland doesn't live in the 6th District, either. That didn't stop him from illegally voting there, though.

From whiotv.com

Delphi, for one, is threatening to close 21 U.S. plants, including four in the Dayton area. Strickland, of Steubenville, who is the front-runner in the race for governor, said Delphi needs government help.

Strickland said,“I will agree that Dayton is a community that has been very, very hard hit in recent years. But, what I would say to the people of Dayton is this ”” 'what we need is a vision for the future.’”

In a new ad blitz, Strickland said he has helped manufactures secure government loans.� He said he will set up a state government office that will deal directly with labor leaders to solve labor issues.MacFarlane said,“

Meanwhile at the statehouse in Columbus, Blackwell said the best way to help a company like Delphi is to keep government out of Delphi’s business and to reduce regulation and reduce taxes.”Blackwell said,“No one is for creating unsafe workplaces, but there is too much red tape that is putting us at a disadvantage. There is no better social program than a good paying job.”

According to Blackwell, heavy taxes are bending companies like Delphi and that he will lighten the load.

Ted's for more government, Ken's for lower taxes.� The choice is clear.

A friend sent me this URL to the YouTube website that has a clip from a Reagan speech in which he deals with a heckler straightway. It should lift the spirits of any Conservative swimming in this world of socialism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLKvgf5gtgA

There are a few more clips of Reagan for your Conservative enjoyment.

Brian Duffy

From Blackwell's site

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell visited the Warren County Beef and Corn Festival at Lebanon Jr. High School on Sunday. Supporters from around the county gathered to hear comments from local representatives, Senator Mike DeWine and Secretary Blackwell. Blackwell made his way through the crowd, talking with his some of his oldest and youngest supporters alike. Before leaving, he offered a few words of encouragement and appreciation.

“Your hard work, your commitment and your support is inspirational to both Tom Raga and I,” said Blackwell.“We have a little over 70 days before the election. It is your hard work and support that will help put Ohio back on the path of growth and job creation. And, we know that voters will come out in support of that on Nov. 7th. So, thank you for all your hard work and keep us in your prayers. We’re going to get this done,” concluded Blackwell.

After looking at Zogby's numbers, is it possible that Ken Blackwell is doing better than the Senator?�

From Openers

Thanking the pastors for their support, Blackwell said, "The public square should not be stripped or scrubbed clean of religion or faith or God. We understand that the flip side of a theocracy is not the secular state. The flip side of a theocracy is religious liberty. I stand with you this morning as a defender, as an advocate, for religious liberty and I will fight for the right of the non-believer to non-believe because we all have a right to be wrong."

Amen.�