Gubernatorial Race
-
The Democratic Governors’ Association has its sights set on the Kasich-Strickland race as a “top priority.” Hoooo boy. Get ready for more unprovable, demagoguery-laden false ads. Speaking of ads, the Republican Governors’ Association has a new one out on Strickland and it’s pretty harsh. Kasich, meanwhile, fires up the base and sounds like Ozymandias in the process. And Jay Nordlinger has some fascinating tidbits on both major Ohio races.
Senatorial Race
-
Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher is still going to lose. And he also doesn’t understand health care one jot. Check out this press release from the NRSC:
WASHINGTON – With less than 20 days until Election Day, a new report by the non-partisan Centers for Medicare and Medicaid reveals that President Obama and failed jobs czar Lee Fisher’s (D-OH) costly, unpopular health care overhaul will cut Medicare benefits for Ohio seniors and endanger seniors’ health coverage – breaking a key promise made to voters as Democrats attempted to sell their massive health spending bill.
As Politico reports:
A Medicare official concedes that seniors may have to dig deeper into their wallets next year thanks to the health care law. The new analysis obtained by POLITICO finds the health care overhaul will result in increased out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare Advantage plans. Richard Foster, the actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, also tells Senate Republicans that the overhaul will result in “less generous benefit packages” for Medicare Advantage plans next year. Foster is independent from the administration and non-partisan… Republicans say dramatic changes to the program mean some seniors won’t be able to keep their plans – a promise President Barack Obama made during the reform debate – and the GOP has made the issue part of its attempt to roll back the health law.
In addition to cutting Medicare by $500 billion, reducing benefits and raising costs for Ohio seniors, Fisher’s costly, unpopular overhaul endangers jobs and could strip more than one million other Americans of their health coverage.
“This non-partisan report confirms that President Obama and Lee Fisher’s costly, unpopular health care overhaul will hurt seniors—so why won’t Fisher just admit that he was wrong to support this contentious legislation against Ohioans’ wishes?” asked National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Marchand. “As the health spending bill he eagerly endorsed slams Ohioans with higher costs and puts their coverage at risk, voters are reminded once again that failed jobs czar Lee Fisher would put his own reckless, partisan agenda ahead of their best interests if sent to Washington.”
House Races
-
Tom Ganley and Betty Sutton of OH-13 debated last night, and are evidently neck-and-neck, according to RCP. Despite this, some people are wondering whether Ganley will be booted from the “Young Guns” list. Of course, EMILY’s List is doing their best to make sure he’s booted from everything.
-
The Daily Kos is trying their hardest to make a paperwork snafu into a conspiracy in OH-9, accusing Republican Rich Iott of not telling people what he does for a living. Joshua Green over at The Atlantic, however, seems extremely concerned with telling everyone how bad Nazi reenactments are, because the Nazis were such evil conservatives (Josh, we know they’re bad, and read Liberal Fascism already). Also, evidently Iott is a film producer now? What? And he got donations from John Boehner before Boehner knew he was a Nazi reenactor? Shame on Boehner for not thinking to ask something so mindlessly obscure! Shame on him, I say!
-
Jim Geraghty is having fun with Charlie Wilson’s embarrassing divorce history in OH-6, and is calling out the press for not covering it more.
-
President Obama really likes John Boccieri in OH-16. So does the DCCC. Boccieri really likes Social Security.