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Nov

8

Postmortem: Issue 3 (Ohio Learn and Earn which has now crashed and burned)


I can’t believe I fisked the whole thing. The final numbers are here:

FOR: 1,583,961 (43.22%)

AGAINST: 2,080,741 (56.78%)

Sigh.

Honestly? I really wish I didn’t have to use up so much writing time on those 57 reasons to vote no. I just kind of got caught up in it – my head, filled with reason after reason after reason. And no where to go with them all. The scraps of logic piling up by my bed, my desk, my bathroom sink. Scrawlings on the back of my hand, in my kids’ notebooks and on restaurant menus.

On the bright side, however, Issue 3 failed. I am not pleased that there will be no new scholarships or tuition grants for higher education. I am not pleased that some Ohioans feel as though their liberties are being denied, to the extent of deserving constitutional protection.

But I urge you to think of it this way: OLE proponents can print off every one of my 57 reasons and put them together for one helluvah cheap and excellent legal brief when (because there’s no if, I’m sure) they decide to figure out an alternative to Issue 3 that respects the citizens of this state – both those who want to gamble in Ohio and those who want to go to college in Ohio.

And if those groups need to be tended to with different legislation, then for God’s sake don’t skimp and don’t go for the quid pro quo. Talk to those of us who care and cared. It’s called buy-in, for sure, but real buy-in. Not just the businesses and politicians who have something to gain.

Get the damn educators to help you figure it out. Get the Regents, get the college administrators, get the experts from the states that already have such scholarships and tuitions. So many folks who know the economic side, all the economic sides, made themselves available to defeat the initiative. I can’t imagine that that knowledge can’t be used to build a better alternative.

Then show the Ohio citizens that you have done your homework.

Because, as a parent, and a former student who tried it herself a few times, there’s nothing more upsetting than watching your kid pretend that he or she has done all kinds of work and deserves your approval when you know they sloughed off.

OLE: you sloughed off. You had the money. You had the politicians. You had the business interests.

But you did not have the citizens of Ohio. And in the end, we’re the only ones that matter.

Please us – and you please everyone. But find out what we want and like and will support first. Then find out what we need and how we can meet those needs in a way that respects what we like, not in a way that tries to blind us with magic.

Special props to Boring Made Dull, Brewed Fresh Daily, Ed Morrison, Bill Callahan, Jeff Hess, Jason Sonenshein (did I get that right this time?), BizzyBlog, Roldo, Lisa Renee of Liberal Common Sense, Blue Bexley, The Chief Source, Word of Mouth and commenters like Daniel Jack Williamson and others whose names I don’t recall at the moment.

I’d even like to thank Russell of Buckeye State Blog and Todd Hoffman – yes, that Todd Hoffman. I hope we get to meet sometime. Why? Because debate sharpens our skills, our minds and our reasoning. It helps us see our weaknesses as well as those of the other side. It also helps us be compassionate for another’s position, even if we will never agree on that position.

And goodness knows, not even $20 million can buy compassion if you just don’t work hard enough to understand the other side and stay singularly committed only to your vision.


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By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:45 pm November 8th, 2006 in Politics 

Comments

10 Responses to “Postmortem: Issue 3 (Ohio Learn and Earn which has now crashed and burned)”

  1. 1 Daniel Jack Williamson on November 9th, 2006 5:12 am

    **blush**

    Thanks for the shout out.

    Most of all, thanks for the “57 Reasons to vote NO.”

    I will say this: Even if backers did their homework and crafted well-written legislation, I will still vote “NO” on gambling issues. In my mind, legalizing gambling is the same as legalizing fraud.

    Hopefully (though I’m beginning to be cynical in my views of the gambling lobby) we won’t see another gambling push in Ohio after Tuesday’s ballot-box defeat. How many times has Ohio voted against casinos now? Three?

  2. 2 Wendy Hoke on November 9th, 2006 11:08 am

    You done well, my friend. Your exhaustive efforts to illustrate the obsurdity of this ballot initiative were profoundly enlightening.

  3. 3 Unique on November 9th, 2006 9:06 pm

    Jill -
    I can’t speak for the people of Ohio but I do want to thank you for your time and effort. You aren’t a person to go half way and that is very obvious.
    Thanks for being an encouragement to me and the others who take time to read your blog.
    Best wishes
    and thanks.
    >”<

  4. 4 Jill on November 9th, 2006 9:29 pm

    Daniel – I’m the one blushing. Thanks for your support and thoughtfulness. You provided a lot of both and I appreciate it, and learned from it.

  5. 5 Jill on November 9th, 2006 9:30 pm

    Aw Wen – thank you dear. Do you really mean it? :)

  6. 6 Jill on November 9th, 2006 9:31 pm

    Thanks, Laura. You can be an honorary Ohioan if you like. Heck, I still tell people I’m from New England. How silly is that?!

  7. 7 Unique on November 10th, 2006 8:35 am

    Oh, about like my calling myself a Southern Yankee, I guess. :D

  8. 8 Jill on November 12th, 2006 12:52 pm

    Not a problem for me, sugah.

  9. 9 Jason Sonenshein on November 12th, 2006 11:09 pm

    Belated thanks for mentioning and linking to me. One encouraging sign is that this vote was closer than the votes on gambling amendments in 1990 and 1996. I hope that means that the gaming interests won’t give up on Ohio.

    I also hope they’ll come up with a better amendment and a better campaign. They gave voters the impression that they were playing hide-the-slot-machine, and that probably turned off a lot of voters who might have been persuadable to vote for the expansion of gaming. I’m about as pro-gambling as one can be, and even I had some reservations about the amendment.

    Meanwhile, slot machines will soon begin operating in Pennsylvania, and legislation has been introduced to allow table games in West Virginia. The flow of money out of Ohio will only accelerate.

  10. 10 Jill on November 13th, 2006 6:31 pm

    Frankly, I’d like to see some proposals that work to keep people in Ohio but not only with or not with at all gambling venues. Not sure what that could be. But for sure, I want the education tuition support piece to be far more viable. That part really was just so shoddy.

    Thanks back.

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