From Fox News

A newspaper columnist in Ohio has created an uproar among readers who objected to his use of a racial epithet to describe former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In a column attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell, The Cleveland Plain Dealer's liberal Metro columnist Sam Fullwood wrote that Powell "flamed out after his ego no longer allowed him to be an unquestioning spearchucker in Mr. Bush's war."

How cool is it that the story actually calls Mr. Fullwood a liberal...you never see that!

From the Marietta Times

Fresh off his primary race victory, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland made a campaign stop in Marietta Sunday, hoping to keep his momentum strong.

The stop was part of a weekend blitz that included visits to Lima, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown and Jackson.

About 80 area Strickland supporters turned out to hear the candidate’s views on Ohio

Let's hope Ken Blackwell gets out there and starts campaigning as much as Strickland is doing.

The libs are calling it a flip-flop. I can’t believe that Blackwell is flip-flopping on TEL. Didn’t he learn anything from Petro’s flop?

From TFA: “The secretary of state announced he would accept a legislative version of his Tax and Expenditure Limitation…”

Link

from Daniel J. Mount's blog, Conservative Culture

This fall, there will be a $15 million initiative to legalize casino gambling in Ohio. Political leaders from both parties–Ken Blackwell, Ted Strickland, Jim Petro, Betty Montgomery, and George Voinovich–all oppose the proposition.

Dave Zanotti, a long-time gambling opponent from American Policy Roundtable, also opposes the measure. It comes as no surprise that he will likely be the leader of the opposition to the measure.

The surprising news is that he has assembled a coalition that includes Ted Strickland but excludes Ken Blackwell.

Ken is very opposed to expanding gambling. But Ive have heard rumors that Zanotti hates Ken... and I have been told it is because Dave was going to be his running mate in 1998. It must be that Zanotti is still pissy and bitter.

Strickland has received more than 50 grand from individuals and companies associated with gambling.

While the campaign confirmed to me that Ken Blackwell "still fully supports the TEL," recent reports in the Ohio media and statements by Blackwell himself have got me a little worried.

Reports like this:

From the AP via the Akron Beacon Journal:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Kenneth Blackwell said Saturday he's willing to consider alternatives to a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap state and local government spending, a measure that's been criticized by universities and by some members of his own party.

Blackwell, speaking to a meeting of statewide GOP leaders for the first time since his victory in the May 2 primary, said he continues to believe in the Tax and Expenditure Limitation amendment.

But if the Republican-led Legislature can help him find other options that "achieve our goal of cutting taxes, growing our economy, creating jobs and putting Ohioans back to work, I would stand ready to look at that as a feasible, consensus-building alternative," said Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state.

For one of the few times in his life, Rep. Ted Strickland makes a good point:

"Sounds like a flip-flop," said U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, the Democratic nominee, who spent Saturday making campaign stops in Dayton, Lima and Toledo.

"If Mr. Blackwell is willing to walk away from this after talking about how good it was for the state of Ohio, it shows he has a real weakness to be firm in his convictions and that his ideas are being rejected by the people of Ohio," Strickland said.

The Columbus Dispatch adds even more distressing news:

If such a bill materializes in the GOP-controlled legislature, Blackwell also hinted that he would not strenuously object if it excluded a limitation on spending by local governments, a provision of his proposed ballot amendment that has caused a firestorm of protests from local government officials.

"What we are most interested in capping is state government spending so that we can reform the state tax code," Blackwell said.

I suppose that restricting the general assembly could be called a victory, but the restrictions on local spending and taxation are an integral facet of the TEL. It would stop politicians from simply trickling down the pain by allowing the city and county governments to ignore the will of the people. I am sorry, but if citizens are asked to pay for something that they feel is important and the politicians make the case -- they will.

It is just not the federal and state governments that have run roughshod over the lives of the American people; liberal governments dominated by Democrats and squishy Republicans have violated the rights and bank accounts of countless citizens.

If the Blackwell campaign is looking to compromise, ditch the "65% solution" (a proposed Blackwell law that would require schools to spend at least 65% of their funds in the classroom.) While it would definitely improve education in Ohio, it alone is not enough to rebuild Ohio's crumbling school system.

The Constitution of the United States of America sets stringent limits on the powers of the federal government as do the various state constitutions. Cries about spending restrictions are smokescreens and an attack on limited government itself.

While I will -- hopefully -- provide a more detailed, section by section, defense of the TEL at a later date, never did I think that I would have to defend it to the very man who proposed it. I understand that liberal Republicans are hooked to the public trough, but TEL is the last thing that "unity" should cause you to jettison.

TEL is, I believe, the last, best hope for the state of Ohio. Unlike the states around us, Ohio has a chance to remain red for at least the rest of my lifetime. Continue to allow politicians of both parties to rob the public to enrich themselves and their egos and Ohio will become a relic destined for the Rustbelt forever.

The campaign told me "the only vehicle that exists to achieve Ken Blackwell's objectives of controlling government spending is the TEL. Thus, Ken Blackwell still fully supports the TEL."

I sincerely hope so, but with the press that I have read, a question emerges: Will Ken Blackwell fold in his first real challenge?

Prospective Floridians want to know.

From Limaohio

The Center for Community Solutions held that education and training session at the Lima Public Library, one in 10 sessions around the state providing financial officers and other public officials information about Republican governor candidate Ken Blackwell’s Tax Expenditure Limitation constitutional amendment proposal.
The TEL would limit state and local government spending increases to a rate that equals population growth plus inflation or 3.5 percent, whichever is more.

They're gearing up for a fight.

From the Dispatch

Blackwell told the assembled Republicans on Saturday that he would be open to a bill that accomplishes the same goals as his TEL amendment, which would restrict state and local government spending to 3.5 percent or the combined rate of inflation plus population growth, whichever is greater.

Significantly, Blackwell hinted that he might be willing to drop the restriction on local government spending that is vehemently opposed by county, municipal, school and university officials.

Blackwell’s repositioning on the amendment represented a dramatic departure from his primary campaign insistence that he would not back away from the ballot proposal. And before the primary, he steadfastly refused to compromise on the amendment’s restriction on local government spending.

"State and local government in this state have been spending money like drunken sailors," Blackwell told Dayton’s WHIOTV in April.

In The Washington Times

A conference geared to help Democrats infuse God into their politics begins tomorrow at All Souls Unitarian Church in the District with the unveiling of a "spiritual covenant with America."

The "Spiritual Activism Conference" aims to equip liberals to operate in a political arena where religion has played a more prominent role since 2000, says Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of the Jewish magazine Tikkun and a chief conference organizer.

"While we support the liberal agenda, we are going to a much deeper level with this spiritual critique," he said. "We want to bring in a nonutilitarian framework that sees other human beings as embodiments of the sacred."

Separation of church and state! Separation of church and state! Separation of church and state!

Maybe they didn't get the memo that Christians and religious views have no place in political discourse.