Ohio

To our Ohio readers:

Come join Jennifer Brunner, the person who has restored fair elections in Ohio, as she is honored with the Profiles in Courage award from the JFK Library Foundation:

In 2006 I pushed hard to elect Jennifer Brunner as secretary of state for Ohio. Luckily we won that hotly contested race, replacing a corrupt Republican secretary of state with an honest Democrat. This means our chances for fair elections in Ohio in 2008 are looking good.

Jennifer Brunner has done such a good job cleaning up the messed up Ohio election system that she has actually won an award. From the Springfield News-Sun:

Brunner to be honored for her political courage

Study of Ohio's election system earns Secretary of State prestigious award.
By Bridgette Outten
Staff Writer

Monday, April 21, 2008

COLUMBUS -- Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner kept her campaign promise to review Ohio's election system, a challenge that earned her a place among the 2008 recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Brunner is being honored for her "political courage by a distinguished bipartisan committee of national, political, and community leaders," according to a statement from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation...

"I was stunned" upon learning of the award, Brunner said. "I had not applied for it."

Even more stunning was the personal call that came from Caroline Kennedy, president of the JFK Library Foundation, offering congratulations, Brunner added.

Brunner's decision to review the system amidst "quite a bit of furor" was based on ensuring accuracy and reliability of the state voting system, not receiving accolades, she said.

The Clinton campaign goes on. She has a projected 18 points.

Texas is still 49-49.

CNN has said that most last minute voters switched to Clinton after the infamous "red phone" ad. Which begs the question, will Clinton continue the negative campaigning and divide the party for a win?

Ohio had severe weather conditions at the moment. The A judge ordered 15 polling stations in County Coyahuga, the county for Cleaveland, to reopen until 9:00pm.

7:58 p.m.
The Obama campaign has gone before a judge to try and get an order to have the polls remain open in Cuyahoga County until 9 p.m. The campaign claims there was a shortage of Democratic ballots that may have left some voters without the chance to vote. A higher number than expected number of Republican voters showed up at the polls Tuesday asking to switch parties and receive a Democratic ballot. A judge in Sandusky County already approved a similar measure requested by Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner. Brunner says there was a lack of Democratic ballots in that county due to the number of voters switching parties.

Read more at WKYC.COM's site.

Howard Dean put it this way: "You have the power!"

His brother, Jim Dean, now head of Democracy for America, put it this way: "We have to take ownership of the process."

Since the highly flawed 2000 election, progressives have slowly, ever so slowly been waking up to the need for taking ownership of the political process. At first, in all honesty, we were pretty lame at it at first. As recently as 2005 I saw the progressive grassroots, at least in NYC, largely unable to get its act together in any effective way. But by 2006 we started to see real results from what began in 2000.

The extreme right wing of the Republican Party took some 30 years to take nearly complete control of our political system. They did it by patiently and doggedly focusing on every elected position, no matter how low, in every state. They did it by repeating their agenda, their talking points over and over until people started absorbing it without even realizing it. They did it by taking over the media, station by station, newspaper by newspaper. They did it by focusing on LOCAL politics.

Progressives had lost that connection with local politics. But they have been rediscovering it. And that has led to a wave of new organizations that are revitalizing grassroots politics and reconnecting Democrats with their local community, a connection that should never have been lost.

Democracy for America, Wellstone Action, Blue Tiger Democrats, and Progressive Majority are, each in their own way, probably the most effective of these new organizations. Each has its own focus, its own strategy, and collectively they are making a real impact.

I have been pushing two special elections, one in Ohio and one in Virginia. Both were in traditionally DEEP red districts. The very fact that we seemed to have a shot at EITHER of them was a big surprise.

What happened in the end was the Republicans held their own. They performed pretty much as expected in both districts easily winning both. But what did happen was the strength of the Democratic challenge forced them to fight harder than they ever had to for these two districts. They had to fight harder than ever to stay where they were.

In and of itself this would be meaningless. But as part of a broader strategy (an extension of Howard Dean's contest every district philosophy) the Democrats did something pretty smart. The DCCC has far more money these days than the NRCC. This is unusual. Generally the NRCC does far better at fundraising. But people are so fed up with Bush that the Republicans are having a really hard time fundraising while the Dems are doing great.

So the DCCC, somewhat uncharacteristically, decided to take a lesson from Howard Dean. So they used some of their surplus funds to make a try for deep red districts. They lost but in the process they made the Republicans spend money they just don't have.

As of last filing the NRCC had $2.6 million in the bank and $3.6 million in debt. Yep they had MORE DEBT than cash. Since then we forced them to spend nearly 20% of the cash they had on hand to hold onto two districts that they never really had to defend before. This plunges them deeper into debt.

Today are two important special elections for Congress: VA-1 and OH-5. Both used to be safe republican districts, but the Iraq Quagmire and Bush's staggering unpopularity have turned them into hotly contested districts. The Republican Party is so spooked over these that they are actually going deep into debt to try and win them. They are pouring money they don't have into these distircts, yet going into election day both seats are still up in the air.

VIRGINIA's 5th Congressional District:

Philip Forgit is aIraq War Vet and a Bronze Star recipient . He served with a Naval Special Warfare Unit as an advisor to the Iraqi Army in 2005-2006. Prior to being called up Forgit was a 4th grade teacher at Rawls Byrd Elementary, winning the 2005 National Education Association (NEA) Award for Teaching Excellence. Bronze Star AND NEA award for Teaching Excellence. Seems like an excellent candidate.

Phil Forgit has been endorsed by Teamsters Local 95, Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Captain Ted Hontz USN (Ret) Former Commanding Officer, Aegis Training Center, Chap Petersen, State Senator-Elect, 34th District (and someone I have pushed for before!), Sheriff Gerald S. Holt, and many others.

Forgit has a shot at winning, albeit a long shot. What he needs is a high voter turn out. So, if you live in that district VOTE. And if you want to help (from within or outside the district) please contact Forgit's campaign NOW.

There are two special Congressional elections coming up Dec. 11th. Both are seats that once were considered perfectly safe Republican, but suddenly are competitive. I'm telling you, there are fewer and fewer "safe Republican" Congressional disticts. I already brought up the race for VA-1 along with ways you can help. In that race, Philip Forgit, an Iraq War vet is running as a Democrat and needs our help. That race is a good one for those who recognize the slow but certain trend turning Virginia Blue. This trend started in 2005 and has progressed year by year. This trend, coupled with Bush's abyssmal approval ratings and a deepening Iraq quagmire, is what has made VA-1 no longer safe for Republicans.

That said, VA-1 remains a long shot. NOT impossible, but a long shot. Never forget that we WON many long shots in 2006 and we could wake up Dec. 12th with VA-1 flipped to blue. But the race that is more winnable is OH-5 where Robin Weirauch is running for an unexpected open seat. To quote from Daliy Kos:

By now you probably know that there is a special election in OH-05 in less than a week. This is not a race anyone expected a Democrat to be competitive in, but the NRCC is clearly running scared - they've dumped more than 10% of their money in, using it to fearmonger on immigration.

This year I have been invited to dozens of inaugural parties all over the country. If we could have made it to DC we could have party hoppped and really enjoyed the enthusiasm of all the newly elected Dems. But there is one inaugural party I am most proud to be invited to. For all who remember the Republican corruption in Ohio and the possibly stolen election in Ohio in 2004, THIS is really sweet:

Too bad we can't be there! Best of luck to Mark Dann and Jennifer Brunner. I am proud to have sent them some publicity and some donations.

If YOU want to go to their party, you can talk to the Ohio Democratic Party.

Take action with Planned Parenthood to protect the future of reproductive rights this election season. Planned Parenthood has targeted races at the local, state and federal level where reproductive rights are at stake and we're going to win by talking with thousands of pro-choice voters in those districts between now and November 7!

Join other New York activists at Planned Parenthood phonebank nights where we will call pro-choice voters in key districts around the country about the upcoming election. Check out the dates below and RSVP to actionfund@ppnyc.org (oh, and bring friends!):

Wednesday, October 18, 6-9pm

Monday, October 23, 6-9pm

Wednesday, October 25, 6-9pm

Wednesday, November 1, 6-9pm

Monday, November 6, 6-9pm

All volunteer nights will be held at 434 West 33rd Street, 7th Floor (between 9th and 10th Avenues).

*Oh, and with our fancy predictive dialers, you don't even have to dial!*