Ladies and gents, it's time for yours truly to end his blogging career. Why do you ask? Well, it's quite simple.

I've been working with John Eby's Cincinnati City Council campaign since April, and I just signed on to Bill Todd's campaign for Columbus Mayor. While I love blogging, I love campaigns more, and one of the two has gotta give.

There's also the time issue. I'm starting my freshman year at Ohio State in two weeks, and I won't have the time to blog between my studies, extracurriculars, campaign work, and Ohio State football games :-).

Therefore, this will be my last post at this blog. To bloggers on the right and left side of the 'sphere, cut the personal attacks and below the belt crap. Some of the stuff that goes around in our beloved Ohio blogosphere has no place in political discourse, and I hope everybody stops shooting those types of attacks around.

With that said, I'm outta here.

Today, Citizens for Community Values released a radio ad claiming that people circulating petitions to put the "stripper bill" on the ballot are being deceptive towards voters, and are in turn violating the Ohio Revised Code. Here's the story from CCV's website:

A very deceptive and fraudulent campaign is underway in Ohio and voters need to be aware of unscrupulous petition circulators across the state.

Porn stores, peep booths, massage parlors, and strip bars are getting voters to sign their REFERENDUM PETITION under false pretense by making statements such as, "Signing here will protect children and run strip bars out of town."

Ohio Revised Code §3599.14 states, "No person shall knowingly, directly or indirectly... Misrepresent the contents, purpose, or effect of the petition." Clearly, this is happening. The Statehouse News Bureau has broadcast two separate stories where the circulator is clearly heard misleading voters. You can listen to those news stories by clicking on the following broadcasts: August 3, 2007, July 13, 2007 and July 12, 2007

The problem with CCV's claim is that the "stripper bill" that they support will in fact run strip bars out of town - which I believe is CCV's goal. The "stripper bill" forces strip clubs to end nude dancing at midnight every day and does not allow strippers to touch any patrons. Doing so will hurt strip clubs' business enough to where they will not be able to make sufficient earnings to operate, and will have to shut down as a result. Strip clubs earn a vast majority of their money from dances that involved contact between the stripper and patron, and I'd venture to say that alot of that activity takes place after midnight. Therefore, this bill does ultimately run strip bars out of town, so those circulating petitions claiming so are right and not violating the Ohio Revised Code.

Labels: Stupid Public Policy

Recently, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party (RPCC), released their proposed platform, which is to be voted on by the RPCC Central Committee this coming Wednesday. It defiantly has some interesting ideas, such as making some County positions, such as County Engineer, appointed instead of elected. But, the stickler in it is that it's anti-gun. Here's the scoop from the Buckeye Firearms Association:

The Cuyahoga County Republican Party is holding a meeting on Wednesday, July 25th to adopt the party platform. A platform is a basic template of ideas the party openly supports. Candidates are encouraged (sometimes pressured) to take positions in agreement with the platform, though they are not required to be 100% in agreement.

The draft which has been sent to Central Committee members for approval contains shocking and disturbing goals for gun owners. They seek to “Oppose the efforts to curtail constitutional home rule in such areas as…gun control…”

As the BFA article notes, we worked hard to pass HB374 in the State Legislature, which makes gun laws uniform throughout the state. Of course, the anti-gun crowd within the RPCC wants to see that done away with, which is quite evident in their platform. With that said, I encourage anyone on the RPCC Central Committee who reads this blog to vote against the platform next Wednesday.

What else can you expect from the RINO leadership of the Cuyahoga County GOP?

Labels: RINO's, Stupid Public Policy

I can't believe this is true, but star basketball player, and one of the most intimidating men alive, Shaquille O'Neal, is running for County Sheriff in either Broward County or Orange County, FL. Here's the story from Politics1.com:

SHAQ FOR SHERIFF?: Pro basketball star and volunteer Miami Beach reserve police officer Shaquille O'Neill on Monday confirmed political rumors that have been floating around Broward County, Florida -- my home -- for the past few months. Appearing on Live With Regis & Kelly, O'Neill was asked if he plans to go into law enfordcement full-time once he retires from the Miami Heat. O'Neill confirmed the rumors were true and that he was planning to run for either Broward County Sheriff or Orange County Sheriff -- both offices are up for re-election next year. As O'Neill has been openly shopping for multimillion dollar waterfront digs her in Broward for the past few months, it looks like he's considering a run against incumbent Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne (D). O'Neill is also believed to be a Democrat. South Florida newspaper have reported Jenne has been the target of a federal grand jury corruption probe for the past two years related to his private business deals and some personal loans, although it is unclear if anything will come of the probe. Jenne has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said he plans to seek re-election next year.

Why Shaq? Because, in his words, he's sexy. Or because he's a businessman. Or because he attended Love Shaq University.

Did I mention he's a reserve cop?

Jim Trakas announced his candidacy for State Senate in the Cleveland area for the seat that is currently held by Sen. Bob Spada. Trakas was a candidate for Ohio Secretary of State before dropping out during the primary race. This race will be a fun one to watch, and you can check out his website here.

Christopher Smitherman is running for Cincinnati City Council under the Green Party banner. Here's to him losing - it will be a sad day if he gets elected.

John McCain's fundraising numbers are abysmal, and he currently only has $2 million on hand. As a result, his campaign is making a large cutback in staff. I think it's a matter of time until McCain drop out of the race.

The DCCC thinks Steve Chabot's House race in OH-01 will be one of the most competitive in the nation next year. I agree that Chabot will have another very competitive race on his hands - Driehaus will be a solid challenger - but I think Chabot will once again hold on.

That's all for today!

Today, Matt Naugle of Right Angle Blog posted information concerning Jerid Kurtz of Buckeye State Blog's father receiving a DUI conviction in 1986. Although the post at RAB has been taken down, the screen shot is up at BSB.

Plain and simple, this post crossed the line, big time. There was and is absolutely no reason to post material on Jerid's father other than as a low blow directed at him and his family. These kind of attacks have no place in the Ohio blogosphere, and Matt needs to apologize for it.

BSB has also been into the attack game lately - they've been shooting some nasty attacks at Matt over the last couple weeks. Amongst other things, they've insinuated that Matt takes marching orders from the Ohio GOP and that Matt is involved in a "pay-to-say" scandal with Bill Todd's Mayoral campaign. The assertion that Matt takes marching orders from the Ohio GOP is false, and Matt wasn't paid by the Todd campaign for his consulting. Therefore, the assertion that he's involved in a "pay-to-say" scandal is also false. Just like RAB, BSB needs to cut it with these kinds of attacks.

C'mon guys and gals - cut it out.

Labels: Ohio 'Sphere Inside Ball

Labels: Boehner, Stupid Public Policy

Everybody, take a listen to this gem of our Senator, George Voinovich, make a total fool of himself on Sean Hannity's radio show regarding the Fairness Doctrine and Immigration legislation. Amongst other things, Voinovich slams some of his constituents for voicing their opinions, shows he knows nothing about the Fairness Doctrine, gets in a shouting match with Hannity over the Immigration bill, and on top of that hangs up on Hannity.

You can listen to the audio here.

All in all, Voinovich is an embarrassment to our party and our state. Simple as that. Could this be the beginning of the end of Voinovich's political career? I sure hope so.

Labels: Voinovich

Today, CNN released a poll regarding a three-way race for the Presidency between Republican Rudy Giuliani, Democrat Hillary Clinton, and Independent Michael Bloomberg (aka Satan). Here's the story from CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who left the Republican Party last week — could have a serious impact on the 2008 presidential race, rivaling billionaire Ross Perot’s influence in 1992, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll suggests.

In the new poll’s three-way matchups among registered voters, Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton would hold a slight edge in an all-New York race with 41 percent, compared to Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani’s 38 percent and Bloomberg’s 17.

In a two-way matchup, Clinton and Giuliani are effectively tied, 49-48 percent, with a sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.

For those of you who regularly read my blog, I cited Rudy's inability to win a three-way race between him, Hillary, and Bloomberg as one of the reasons I dropped my support of him and instead opted to support Fred Thompson. Going by these numbers, four percent of voters are either undecided or voting for another candidate. CNN didn't publish the internals to the poll, but I wonder how many of those voters were GOP base voters who decided not to vote for either Rudy, Hillary, or Bloomberg?

Labels: 2008, Bloomberg (aka Satan), Giuliani, Hillary

Nix Guy tagged me...so here we go.

1. Name your favorite band and singer.

Band: Metallica. I'm a metalhead, and I've grown up on Metallica.

Singer: Right now, it's a three-way tie between Jason Smith of Shinedown, Don Dokken of Dokken, and Tom Keifer of Cinderella. Yes, I listen to alot of old-school 80's rock.

2. Favorite historical politician (domestic).

Barry Goldwater.

3. Favorite Historical Politican (International)

Winston Churchill. One of the best leaders of the 20th Century.

4. Favorite Modern Politician (in office now).

Steve Chabot. He's a great fiscal conservative. John Boehner's a close second.

5. Other than where you live now, what city do you like?

Crime rates aside, I've gotta go with Washington, DC. There's just something about that city.

6. Hollywood Pitch (25 word or less) about your blog — GO.

VikingSpirit: He goes to Ohio State. O-H...I-O!

7. Are you a Wilsonian Idealist or Nixonian realist in foreign policy?

A good mix of both. A Wilnixian?

8. Favorite Obsure movie?

Out for Justice. Here's why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMu2xNBpyQc

9. Favorite Restaurant

BW3's.

10. choose a music video on youtube. Why that one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJQVlVHsFF8 - You'll see :-)

Labels: Randomness