From the Beacon Journal

Petro said Saturday he's throwing his support behind Blackwell's candidacy and agreed to lead a commission that will help the campaign come up with ideas to reform and streamline state government. Republicans have controlled all three branches for about a decade.

Petro also urged Republicans to be a "big tent" party and said the GOP can't risk turning away independent voters with polarizing issues in an election where the stakes are high. Blackwell is a favorite among Christian conservatives and was a leader of the 2004 effort to amend the Ohio Constitution to ban gay marriages.

This is great news.

From the Dayton Daily News

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, state Attorney General Jim Petro, state Auditor Betty Montgomery, all Republicans, and David Zanotti of the Ohio Roundtable promised to campaign against a proposed ballot initiative to put slots at the seven horse racing tracks and two places in Cleveland.

from NRO

After a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided last year to deregulate the broadband market, giving telecommunications companies the (still theoretical) freedom to charge Internet companies different rates for different levels of network service. Now, a coalition of companies, ideologues, and interest groups—including Amazon, Google, MoveOn.org, and the National Religious Broadcasters—is urging Congress to re-regulate the telecoms. Their pleas should be rejected. Government intervention at this stage runs too high a risk of stifling both competition in the provision of broadband and innovation in the delivery of new Internet services.

The advocates of the proposed regulation argue for the principle of “net neutrality”—that is, they want the telecom companies to provide broadband access that treats all Internet content the same. The telecoms, on the other hand, want to offer different “tiers” of service to Internet companies, in the same way that FedEx offers different services to its customers. The telecoms deliver Internet content—they want to give companies the option of paying for faster delivery.

The telecoms say that they need the revenue in order to build the networks of the future—Internet fast lanes that can service high-bandwidth Internet applications like streaming video, Internet telephony or telemedicine. There are legitimate doubts about whether such a business model would revolutionize the Internet in the positive way that the telecoms envision, but these doubts should be resolved through competition in the marketplace, not heavy-handed prophylactic regulation.

I'm so glad to see NRO tackle this issue! New networks that will deliever high quality broadcasts and other services cost billions and billions of dollars to deploy. They need to generate predictable revenue to make business sense. This so called "net neutrality" would, for example, allow pimple-faced teenage kids to use expensive bandwidth to share/steal files on peer-to-peer programs, and eat up bandwidth, and ISPs would be required to spread the cost among all users.

But with tiering, in the world of finite bandwidth, ISPs can provide the latest technology- such as broadband tv broadcasts- at a lower cost.

To quote Adam Smith: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker (or ISP provider), that we can expect our dinner (or high speed internet), but from their regard to their own interest." And since internet providers want to make money, they will do everything they can to encourage you to continue using their service. If they don't, find better service elsewhere.

Lefties at Buckeye State Blog have had a number of posts about this subject- The latest one included a stupid video of a ninja. All of their posts on the subject encouraged me to investigate the matter further.

As expected, BSB advocates for government regulations to make our lives better- But their ideas would have the opposite effect. The market will make sure you have the best, fastest, greatest tv/higher speed internet/communication services and at the lowest cost. All government regulations can do is screw everything up.

BSB should drop this topic, and get back to being cheerleaders for candidates that lose.

Let me start by saying that the idea of of a "unity" event after an election, even a primary, is not something that I usually subscribe to; but this was a particularly nasty and bitter primary, so I can kind of see the point.

The point, is that with Blackwell's win, conservatives won the top of the ticket. Petro's constant beat of the drum for an open tent party is falling on deaf ears. That he used Reagan to do it shows the level of desperation that the establishment is feeling. Reagan never compromised on the 20% that his 80% allies disagreed on, to expect Blackwell to do the same is ridiculously absurd. Petro is a great guy, and he ran a heck of a campaign; but the fact is he lost. Blackwell did the magnanimous thing and acknowledged that Petro did have some good ideas and has asked Jim to head up the effort to reform state government. Unity. Yeah!

Blackwell's assertion that he is who he is and that we will get what you see is reassuring to conservatives who might have been concerned that he would "moderate" as every ONN reporter was hoping for on election night. This was the first time I saw Blackwell speak live and I wasn't disappointed: he is everything I expected and more.

I got a chance to meet Tom Raga during some downtime and let me tell you, Tom is a good one. Definitely a keeper. He is a well polished politician who is smart, charming and engaging.

It is no secret that I think Betty Montgomery is just another establishment candidate with nothing to offer in a time of reform. Mark and I sat with a number of Montgomery staffers including her press secretary, the lovely Kathryn, so we got a chance to find a reason to support Betty.

Isn't it time for a hot CPA to be Auditor of State? Yeah, we think so too. Mary Taylor is that hot CPA. And I recommend that you all watch this one...she's smart too.

Greg Hartmann is going to be our next Secretary of State. He's got great ideas including increased training for election boards and workers. He's emphasizing communication and is planning a daily blog to help out with that...now there is something I can get behind!

The one candidate that I'm actually worried about is Sandy O'Brien for Treasurer. Her presentation demonstrated that she is not an experienced politico. She is conservative, there is no doubt about her credentials; it is just that it is apparent she will need some work from the guys who make candidates strong and confident.

Last on the speaker's list was Mike DeWine. The less I say about that the better.

We had a surprise call from Karl Rove which was very interesting. As expected, he told us what everyone already knows: that the focus of the world will once again be on Ohio. It is very clear that the Democrats are going to be working very hard in Ohio. It is equally imperative, if not more so, that the Republican effort in Ohio exceeds and succeeds.

The most interesting session was with the communications and political staffs of the Ohio Republican Party. I knew these guys were super smart, but I really didn't have a firm grasp on just how much talent we have working behind the scenes. Jason Mauk, the political director comes from the communications shop and is well versed on the message that will resonate in Ohio. John McClellan, the new communication director, is very knowledgeable and is doing a great job. That these two guys work so well together is a great sign, but more imporatantly, these guys work very well with their counterparts in the RNC and other GOP organizations.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the political aspects of the event. I looks forward to forging a strong relationship with each of these candidates and their staffs in order to bring you the best information I can get. This event went a long way towards doing just that.

I also got the chance to meet Matt Naugle and a couple of RAB readers. It was great to finally put a face to the names...

Crossposted to the SOB Alliance HQ blog.

The Unity event was filled with mainly former Petro supporters. The fact that Petro came out and supported Blackwell was soundly viewed as a huge testament to his character and vastly helpful to Blackwell in his quest to garner the moderates of this party. Petro gave one of the best speeches I've ever seen him give and spoke to what many of us on RAB are concerned with in this party. He received a standing ovation. The ‘Conservatives’ have won the first victory, but winning general elections are what the moderates have been doing for us in this state for years. The question now remains whether a man considered to be an arch conservative can win the votes of those moderates. Petro's advice for a 'big tent' party didn't fall on deaf ears.

Blackwell has started to heed Petro's advice and proved that he is a consummate politician. He has already dropped his right wing pandering of social issues and started moving to the center. His speech revolved around jobs, around respect for Petro and his ideas, and about unity. For the first time, he actually commended legislators for the CAT tax as opposed to chiding them. He claimed that Petro’s ideas were "bigger than any candidacy". He’s started backing away from the TEL, saying that if legislators would come up with something comparable, he would stop touting the TEL. He created a commission that usurps Petro's idea of reorganization of Government and asked Petro to head it up. Blackwell proved that he is a true chameleon.

I had initially written off Blackwell winning the general election. I thought that his attempt to swing to the center would seem transparent. But Petro’s support of him is sure to help him. He’s taken Petro’s ideas. Petro, who backed his campaign on his ideas, who has been able to win moderate and independent votes because of his ideas and management, and who has a consistent record of good governing is now on Blackwell’s team. Blackwell spoke to the validity of Petro's ideas and has made them his own. This will be of tremendous support in getting the support of state legislators, fiscal conservatives and responsible voters. Petro, in many ways, has won. His reorganization plan - the cornerstone of his campaign - is now part of Blackwell's candidacy. The TEL - the former cornerstone of Blackwell's campaign and a piece of legislation that Petro strongly disagreed with - is slowly being dropped. He's highly respected and his reputation is intact.

Blackwell is a brilliant politician. He will do or say whatever it takes to become who the state wants. Do I trust him? Absolutely not – I’ve seen what he’s capable of. But do I discount his candidacy? After the unity event, no. He’s entertaining – it will be fun to see who he becomes next.

(promoted from the blog section- RAB)

From Rightangleblog the day after the primary:

"I would immediately contact JP and convince him to head the 'Shrink OH Gov't' task force to operationalize his plan to reduce depts and agencies in order to send it to the legislature as the second order of executive business behind tax reform. This combined announcement would both unify and energize Republicans..."

Joe C. | 05.03.06 - 3:01 pm | #

From today's Dispatch:

"Although Blackwell defeated Petro by 14 points, Blackwell said Petro’s 'ideas were not defeated,' announcing that Petro would head a campaign commission to recommend ways to reorganize state government and make it more efficient."

Dear Ken Blackwell:

You're welcome.

Joe C.

"Without further ado, let me then quote extensively from a speech delivered May 3 on the floor of the Senate by George V. Voinovich, a Republican from Ohio – a speech which, by the way, drew almost no comment from his colleagues or from the apparently benumbed press corps."

"We should not be cutting taxes by borrowing."

"We do not have the capability of having both productive tax cuts and large expenditure increases, and presume that the deficit doesn't matter."

Ken Blackwell has co-authored a book with Jerome Corsi (of Unfit for Command fame).

From Cumberland House Publishing:

In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty as a centerpiece of the Great Society's effort to eliminate poverty in America. Forty years and many trillions of dollars later, poverty in America has increased despite the efforts of the largest governmental welfare system ever created in human history.

In direct challenge to the liberal political thinking that built the welfare state, John Kenneth Blackwell and Jerome R. Corsi have developed a blueprint for a new War on Poverty, utilizing an innovative approach to mobilizing urban capital to strengthen African American families, build wealth through meaningful employment among those now in poverty, and develop America's urban landscape without imposing additional tax burdens on the American people.

Rebuilding America directly attacks the problems of African American poverty, arguing that abortions and AIDS threaten to inflect genocide upon black communities unless we find a way to utilizing urban capital to end the welfare dependency that threatens the survival of the African American family.

After four decades of failure of the welfare state, Blackwell and Corsi argue for its phase-out through applying new techniques of public finance—not dependent upon new taxes—to enlist financial institutions in deploying new urban capital into rebuilding our cities. The goal is to work with established and newly formed corporations that integrate jobs and re-training programs to advance an "ownership society" in which families can thrive.

Rebuilding America is meant to be a blueprint for John Kenneth Blackwell's campaign for governor of Ohio. In it, he argues that as governor of Ohio he can implement the action plan described in the book as an alternative, conservative model for attacking urban poverty that can be applied in other states as well.

It looks like a very interesting book and it comes out this month. Check it out!

I just saw this ad on Fox News from UnionFacts.com. It uses sharp satire to attack unions. What a great ad! Cleveland union bosses should listen up.

Watch it here (or here).

Check this out from State of the Union, the Ohio GOP's blog:

Ted Strickland is Consistently Inconsistent and

Democrats are throwing stones in glass houses

Make sure to check out State of the Union often. The Ohio GOP has done a great job with embracing technology and finding new ways to reach the Republican grassroots.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press

When J. Kenneth Blackwell took the stage here on May 2 to claim the Republican nomination for governor, he became something more than his party's standard-bearer in a bellwether state.

The Ohio secretary of state — a crusading conservative with an appetite for political combat — also assumed a leading role in his party's latest effort to break the Democrats' decades-long grip on the black vote.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/14/D8HJDVA86.html

Joke #1: Obviously, God is not pleased with Ted Kennedy.

Joke #2: This was a rare occasision that the safer place Teddy could have been was in his car, driving.

Joke #3: Ted Kennedy is safe. Mary Jo Kopechne is still unavailable for comment.

I can't wait to see Ann Coulter's jokes about this! HA HA HA

The Buckeye State Blog has found a new banner for us. And its funny!

But what they may fail to realize is that even among Republicans, approval ratings for Governor Taft rival the combined blood-alcohol levels of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick and Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman's wife. You would have a hard time finding a Taft defender anywhere on Right Angle Blog- or anywhere period.

And Tom Noe? Noe will get what he deserves. And the Bureau of Workers Compensation shouldn't exist. Workers comp should be handled entirely by private insurance firms. If we can privatize the BWC, future Noe-type situations go away and the problem is solved. Why would we want Ohio to be in the insurance business anyway?

BSB doesn't have much of a banner- But if they are re-designing, they should include a picture of their average voter: