From the PD and the Blade

"It was my capital that I put at risk," Blackwell said. "That's how it accounts for rags to riches. . . . It would have been Ken and Rosa that lost capital if the WIZ had gone bankrupt. We chose to become members of an investment team that invested smartly and profitably."

and then there's Ted

It stopped at Mr. Strickland’s old high school — “We had senior class banquets. Dancing was sinful” — and an old brick schoolhouse with boarded-up windows peeling red paint, where Mr. Strickland once bit a bruise onto a young girl’s cheek.

“I was trying to kiss her,” he said. “I didn’t know how.”

From the PD

"Cleveland has been named the poorest big city in America, and Ohio's sitting on one of the largest reserves of [welfare] money? Hello?" said Jim McCafferty, director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, which serves Greater Cleveland children whose parents can no longer care for them.

"Historically, when you don't spend it, the state takes the money away."

That's how the government works and why it's not good to come under budget.

Until our webmasters can get the comment spam under control, they have turned off anonymous comments.

But now, they have made it even easier to register for an account. Simply click the "create new account" link on the left column. And now, you no longer need to confirm an email address to leave comments with your account. So basically, you can still be anonymous.

This is my favorite attack ad of the campaign season. Betty is up in the polls, but her campaign is simply not taking any chances against Dann the slimeball...

And it is as plainly inaccurate and flawed as all of the previous mail polls that my hometown paper has published before:

Although we’re miles from Election Day, a new Dispatch Poll shows that a near-sweep of statewide races appears within the grasp of Ohio Democrats.

Led by gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland’s commanding 19-point lead at the top of the ticket, Democrats are up by at least 8 points in the contests for auditor, secretary of state and treasurer.

The only Republican currently ahead for any state administrative office is Auditor Betty D. Montgomery, vying for the attorney general’s job she held from 1995-2002.

After messing up so badly just a couple of years ago with their poll that showed all of the "Reform" Ohio Now amendments passing (they were all defeated by large double-digit margins), you would think that the paper would be weary of publishing polls with such weak methodology:

The Dispatch Poll was based on returns from 1,791 registered Ohio voters who intend to vote in the Nov. 7 general election.

A Dispatch computer randomly selected registered voters to receive ballots, which were modeled on the state’s official ballots. Participants also were asked to describe themselves by party affiliation, age, sex, race, education, income, religion, union membership and how they voted in the 2002 contest for governor and the 2004 presidential race.

Random? Such self-selecting is highly questionable, thus the Dispatch's smirk-inducing CYA:

The standard margin of sampling error in a poll of the size conducted by The Dispatch is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points in 95 out of 100 cases. This means that if a poll is conducted 100 times, in 95 cases the result will not vary by more than 2.2 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if all registered voters in Ohio were polled and responded. Error margins are greater for poll subsamples.

Like all polls, the Dispatch Poll is subject to possible error other than sampling error. For example, the name of gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell’s running mate mistakenly was listed as Charles Raga; it is Tom Raga.

Other sources of error include unintentional bias in the wording of questions, data entry error or nonresponse bias. Nonresponse bias means those who responded might not necessarily reflect the views of those who did not participate. The response rate was 16 percent.

That said, there is no doubt that most Republicans running at the state level are behind but within striking distance. With the more accurate Ohio poll showing Ken Blackwell down by 12, even he has a chance, though the large deficit seems hard to overcome.

Can Ken Blackwell overcome the hole that he has dug himself? I believe that he can, though he would never tread the conservative path that I would prescribe for him. Thus, I submit to you the question: What TV ad, what policy position, what Strickland weakness can the campaign use to raise his numbers? In addition, I would appreciate if you could include your prediction of whether you think that he would take your advice if he was sitting before you, asking your advice.

Thanks!

Even tax breaks cannot woo companies to invest in Ohio and Ohioans?

From the Dispatch

Take a look at the down ticket races, Sandy O'Brien is (according to the poll) the 2nd highest Republican on the ticket (behind Montgomery). Could she pull off another upset? She doesn't have any money, but she seems to still have a chance.

Speaking before a group of students at Ohio University gubernatorial candidate Bill Peirce made some points all free-thinking, free-market, and small government supporters should consider.

From the Athens News:

Education should be managed by local boards rather than at the state or federal level. He believes in a voucher system so state money goes to the district that parents choose for their children.

"If you cut back the sales and income taxes, people might be inclined to pay more in property taxes," Peirce said. Peirce added that unlike most states, which pick one or two of the three main taxes to tax heavily, Ohio is heavy on all three: sales, income and property. Peirce explains his plan for the property tax: "Homeowners would pay a tax based on the inherent value of their land and its location. Any improvements to the property would not be taxed. This encourages development, and encourages people to improve their homes without the fear of higher taxes."

While I am not endorsing Peirce for Governor, the man and the Libertarian Party are more than momentary, they are viable. Peirce should be afforded equal treatment and allowed to debate Strickland and Blackwell because in the long run the citizenry is losing out. It seems like the “right” continues to lose out by the likes of Taft, DeWine, and Voinovich, not to mention, in very strong terms, the Ohio Republican Party (ORP).

As long as the powers to be control the ORP deals will be made, taxes raised, spending increased, and Ohio sinks deeper into fiscal problems. Breaking this hold and giving Conservatives, conservative Republicans, and Libertarians a real choice will only produce change. And change is something Ohio needs more than ever. Plus, in the short term it keeps Blackwell open.

As a Conservative, I want to hear more from the Libertarian Party because I want a choice. I want more of a choice than the choice I had in this last primary. I want more of a choice than Petro and Blackwell. I want this State to be a national leader, not a national loser.

Like it when the legislature and Bob Taft says how lean state budgets are? We just passed "the slowest growth" budget blah blah blah?

Well if your State Senator or State Rep. tries to sell you that line, print him out a copy of the new Buckeye Institute's 2006 Ohio Piglet Book.

And if you're really interested, check out the 2005 Piglet Book as well. The budget comes out every two years, so its still relevant. Just check out all of the theaters, museums and other earmarks you pay for.

It is simply disgusting to see certain businesses being singled out over others for grants and loans from Third Frontier bond money.

Too much pork can be bad for your cholesterol... and wallet.