From Openers

Betty Sutton says she has a huge lead over Craig Foltin in the 13th congressional district race. Sutton, who won a bruising Democratic primary for the seat in May, issued a press release late Monday that states the poll shows her beating Foltin 58-27. A spokeswoman for Foltin, the Republican mayor of Lorain, dismissed the poll because she said it was designed to test negative messages against Foltin.

From Openers

But this week the top issue in the governor's race appears to be God: who loves him, who snubs him, who welcomes him into government.

The flare-up began last week when GOP candidate for governor Ken Blackwell told a Toledo audience that "Democrats still believe that government is God."

Democratic nominee for governor Ted Strickland said he was offended by Blackwell's comments because it left voters with the impression that Democrats are not people of faith, simply people who worship big government.

He demanded an apology from Blackwell.

What Strickland did not point out is that since Blackwell's party seized control of state government nearly 16 years ago, state spending has extended into the heavens.

Glad to see that if Strickland forgot to point that out, the Plain Dealer was more than happy to take up the slack and point it out for us. I wonder if they will give the same treatment to Ken Blackwell.

From KenBlackwell.com

Ted Strickland, who sometimes quotes from the Bible, still decides to vote against and religious expression and honoring America's religious heritage:

• Strickland voted against a measure that permitted the public display of the Ten Commandments in government buildings. (Vote 221 6/17/99)
• Strickland voted against protecting the Pledge of Allegiance from attacks from liberal judges. (Vote 467, 9/23/04)
• Strickland voted against a constitutional amendment to guarantee every citizen’s right to pray and express their religious beliefs on public property, including schools. (Vote 201 6/4/98)
• Strickland voted against allowing faith-based organizations compete for federal housing program grants. (Vote 109 4/6/00)
• Strickland even voted against allowing government-funded religious organizations to use religion as a factor in hiring. (Vote 175 5/8/03)

House GOP Settles for Less Than Full Repeal of Estate Tax

A reader reminded me of this candidate comparison from the Dayton Daily News.

With Congress poised to extend, for another quarter-century, certain "temporary" provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, it's worth pondering some of the political mischief taking place these days in the name of "voting rights."

Take New York's 11th Congressional District, a safe Democratic seat covering several neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The seat is currently occupied by Major Owens, a black Democrat who has held it since 1983 and is retiring this year. One of the four candidates to replace him is David Yassky, a white Democrat who represents some of the same Brooklyn neighborhoods as a city councilman.

Mr. Owens has one of Congress's most liberal voting records, and there's nothing in the background of Mr. Yassky, a protégé of New York Senator Chuck Schumer, that suggests he would vote much differently. Even so, Mr. Owens and the three other candidates, all of whom are black, are on a mission to force Mr. Yassky out of the race. In the case of Mr. Owens, this has partly to do with the fact that his son is among those running in the September 12 Democratic primary. But Mr. Owens, the other black candidates and local black officials have stressed that their overriding concern is the color of Mr. Yassky's skin. And they're using the Voting Right Act to justify old-fashioned race-baiting.

New York's 11th District is a product of racial gerrymandering linked to passage of the Voting Rights Act. When Congress passed the law 40 years ago to address black disenfranchisement primarily in the Deep South, some provisions were made permanent and others temporary. Gone forever were poll taxes and grandfather clauses, but Section 5 provisions of the law dealing with "preclearance," or federal oversight of local election practices, were meant to be short-term.

Representative Owens has labeled Mr. Yassky a "colonizer." Al Sharpton, ever the statesman, has called the candidate, who is Jewish, "greedy." And the New York Sun reported last week that Albert Vann, a city councilman who opposes Mr. Yassky's candidacy, sent an email to black elected officials nationwide announcing that "we are in peril of losing a 'Voting Rights' district . . . as a result of the well financed candidacy of Council Member David Yassky, a white individual."

Hat tip: Milblogs

In reference to the two young soldiers tortured to death, the commenter writes in response to typical socialist dribble:

You have no idea who those boys were. You have no idea what their motivation was for joining the military. Every man and woman over there knows what the dangers are. They know what they risk everyday. Their deaths don’t belong to you. By claiming moral outrage at their sacrifice you trivialize the lives they lived, the honor that they bought themselves. You sacrifice nothing.

Their service to their country is over. They belong to their families now.

Read this letter from a Democrat (she's at the bottom of this press release) from the Athens News

Congressman Ney to the rescue!

I am probably one of the most patriotic people east of the Rockies. I live and breathe the American Dream.

I spent 11 days in May as a tour guide in Washington, D.C. I was continually reminded of the greatness of our country and was thrilled to share my patriotism with nearly 500 people from Ohio.

Last Thursday, my group of 84 students was scheduled for a tour of our nation's Capitol Building.

There were two bad accidents in Washington that morning, and the two main roads into the city were blocked.

The detour took an hour and half, so the kids missed their Capitol tour.

I was devastated for them. It was my patriotic duty to get them into the Capitol.

I called Congressman Bob Ney that afternoon. His staff was gracious but assured me there was nothing the congressman could do. He was back in Ohio, and Congress was in recess. I gave his aide my name and number and begged her to convey my desperation to Congressman Ney.

Bob Ney personally called me on my cell phone within 30 minutes. He assured me he would take a flight out of Columbus that night and meet the kids at the Capitol the next morning. We were all thrilled.

What Congressman Ney did next gives him "White Horse Status" in my book.

It stormed so badly in Columbus that his flight was cancelled.

So Bob Ney and his aide drove through the night to Washington. They arrived about 4 a.m., slept in his office and met those kids at 9 a.m.

Many times people say they care about the kids. Congressman Ney showed 84 people that day that our leaders do care enough to go above and beyond the call of duty.

The most amazing thing is that the school the kids represented isn't even in his district.

Congressman Bob Ney's actions that day spoke volumes in the hearts of 84 people from Ohio.

Violet M.L. Cummings

Cambridge

AMAZING! Sure sounds like a corrupt politican.

Senator Rick Santorum and Representative Pete Hoekstra held a news conference today announcing a newly-declassified report that summarizes our discovery in Iraq of ~500 warheads full of chemical weapons.

That's right, kiddies, you won't have to hear "no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq" for very much longer.

What a bad week this is to be a Democratic candidate for the House or Senate. Those donkey campaign managers must be drinking coffee by the gallon and swallowing antacid tablets by the handful tonight. How do you suppose they'll try to slither around this enormously inconvenient revelation? I'll bet anyone $100 that no Ohio Dem will say "Oops. My bad. Bush was right."

Update: Courtesy of Right On The Right, we find Big Dog predicting the liberals' talking points ...

Here is what you will hear in the next few days:

• Santorum is in trouble with his electorate so he did this to help his reelection
• George Bush deliberately withheld this information to make the donks look bad. If he did that would be a pretty smart thing to do, especially for a man they all claim is dumber than a box of rocks.
• The US planted them there
• These are old items and don’t count
• 500? Is that the best you can do?
• This is a trick by Bush. He is also holding bin Laden and will pretend to capture him just before the next election

Anybody want to bet against Big Dog? I thought not.