Gubernatorial Race
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Democrats planning on squealing to authorities yet again as a substitute for a genuine campaign strategy against John Kasich:
The Ohio Democratic chairman said yesterday that the party plans to file a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service regarding a tax-exempt entity created by Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich after he left Congress in 2000.
The Dayton Daily News reported Sunday that three of his Kasich’s aides were paid $1.73 million from 2000 through 2007 by three entities: New Century Project PAC, New Century Project 527, and New Century Project Issues Forum.
Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern argued that there’s little evidence that the New Century Project Issues Forum, a 501(c)(4) organization under the IRS code, met the conditions of operating “exclusively to promote social welfare.”
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Meanwhile, the first gubernatorial debate looms. Battle ‘10 will be on hand tonight to liveblog it, but not to worry, for the Columbus Dispatch says nothing at all interesting will happen.
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And the Examiner even thinks the race might already be over before the debate starts, saying the “die has effectively been cast” for the GOP.
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And yours truly explains just why Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher might have lost before they’ve even begun.
Senatorial Race
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Things get ugly at a meeting between the Fisher and Portman and the Dayton Daily News editorial board:
Democrat Lee Fisher and Republican Rob Portman clashed on issues including trade, Ohio’s job losses and the new federal health care plan as they brought their campaign for the U.S. Senate to a meeting of the Dayton Daily News editorial board.
Disagreement on trade policies sparked several heated exchanges in a session that lasted more than an hour and a half on Monday, Sept. 13. Fisher is Ohio’s lieutenant governor. Portman is a former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member who served as budget director and U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush.
Portman cast Fisher, Ohio’s lieutenant governor, as a protectionist who embraced policies that are “going to kill jobs.”
Fisher said trade must be “fair and balanced.”
He said that “my attitude is that every single trade agreement ought to be renegotiated.”[…]
Fisher lashed out at claims from Portman and Republicans that Fisher and Gov. Ted Strickland are responsible for the 382,000 Ohio jobs has lost since they took office in 2007.
“That is not only nonsense, it’s offensive,” said Fisher. The job losses are due to a national and global recession and Strickland-Fisher policies have worked to retain and create jobs, he said.
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And the DSCC lashes out at Rob Portman.
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Just as Lee Fisher suddenly discovers that lobbing false attacks at candidates is a distracting and unfair tactic.
House Races
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The GOP seems skittish about investigating Steve Driehaus’ sister for not wanting to be a Driehaus on the ballot.
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Meanwhile, Mary Jo Kilroy, Democrat of OH-15, doesn’t seem skittish at all about embracing one of the least popular bills in recent memory:
U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy supported federal health-care overhaul yesterday as the only way to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, while her Republican challenger, Steve Stivers, said the changes will encourage lawsuits and drive up costs to business.
Kilroy, a Columbus Democrat serving her first term from the 15th Congressional District, said the broadened health coverage would be paid for by repealing a tax cut on top earners, increasing taxes on tanning salons and eliminating a tax credit on a papermaking byproduct, among other measures. Over the long term, she said, the health-care law should reduce the overall cost of medical care in America by getting people to doctors sooner.
“People without health insurance are waiting until the last minute and going to the emergency room for uncompensated care,” Kilroy told The Dispatch’s editorial board.
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And the Canton Rep reports on a story that Battle ‘10 broke yesterday:
When U.S. Rep. John Boccieri decided to storm the competition’s camp last week, he didn’t go unprepared.
Like any smart soldier, Boccieri had support troops in place before he arrived.
At least that’s how one of the “troops” describes the event. That also is how Jim Renacci’s campaign views the situation.