From the PD

The husband of Cuyahoga County judicial candidate Christine Russo pleaded not guilty Monday to assaulting her in their Strongsville home.

Police charged Frank Russo with misdemeanor domestic violence after questioning the couple's children, who said they had tried to intercede on behalf of their mother Friday night.

Frank Russo told police he had learned his wife was having an affair. He said he was trying to "hold Christine in bed to tell her that he loved her and forgave her," according to a police report.

Sounds like a great judicial candidate.

From Red-state.com

This past week's Call & Post brought another frontpage article on GOP gubernatorial nominee Ken Blackwell's appeal among fellow African Americans, and how this poses problems for Ohio Democrats who have traditionally relied on black support. Furthermore, I heard about instances of African Americans who earlier this month went to the polls wanting to vote both for Blackwell in the GOP primary, and for Tracy Heard for the 26th Ohio House district in the Democratic primary. Of course, voters must choose to vote in only one party's primary. When poll workers told those voters that in the primary they could vote for Heard on the Democratic ballot, or for Blackwell on the Republican ballot, but not for both, those who took Democratic ballots said they'll vote for Blackwell in November.

from Ann Fisher in the Dispatch

Some bloggers recently asked the Ohio Democratic Party for free passes to the state party dinner at Veterans Memorial on Saturday. Those otherwise anonymous bloggers wanted the proverbial rubberchicken dinner and a chance to hear the vaunted U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois work his oratorical magic on a room filled with true believers.

Rothenberg said he didn’t want to offend the friendly bloggers, an increasingly potent factor in the political matrix. But he’s also sensitive to the lowly party grunt, the perennial volunteer, who often can’t afford a ticket.

Finally, Rothenberg is concerned that in arguing for the tickets, some bloggers likened their craft to that of a newspaper reporter. Newspaper reporters may attend such events, but they don’t — or shouldn’t — take even as little as a salted cashew from the bowl at the bar. Reporters surely are not entitled to take a seat reserved for a paying customer. The event is, after all, a fundraiser.

He turned them down and felt the wrath of the blog.

In the end, Obama paid for a blogger table. Still, Rothenberg is troubled, likening bloggers to the pamphleteers of the Revolutionary War period, without form or rules. "In time, they are going to start selfpolicing or they are going to be policed."

John McClelland, of the Ohio Republican Party, said he hasn’t yet fielded any requests from bloggers for freebies. He, too, is watching and waiting. "They are not the traditional media, but we’ve tried to be open with them in terms of having access to our events, taking phone calls, answering any questions.

Ah ha! So liberal bloggers cry and moan to get free handouts. I believe that the conservative position would be to pay to attend an event. I am not a big fan of handouts.

But you couldn't pay me enough to listen to Osama Obama.

Ted Strickland talks about his childhood and campaign in the latest Columbus Monthly magazine.

I'm not sure when/if they post this type of article online, but this part made me sick:

When I was a little kid," ( Ted Strickland says), " we used to take our baths in the summertime in the crick- and if you said creek, you were in trouble. You were trying to be highfalutin. It was a crick."

What a hillbilly.

From ONN

New Mexico and New York share the top spot while Ohio and South Dakota are tied for last in a new state-by-state ranking compiled by three liberal advocacy groups that analyzes laws dealing with gay rights and reproductive rights.

Most efforts to gauge state positions on such socially divisive topics stick to one theme, but the rankings released Wednesday look at two hot-button issues in hopes of encouraging new alliances between gay-rights and abortion-rights groups.