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Oct

16

WaPo endorses Obama for president

Filed Under Barack Obama, Endorsements, John McCain, Politics, WH2008 | 7 Comments

From the horse’s mouth, the conclusion first, because it is a long piece and worth reading:

ANY PRESIDENTIAL vote is a gamble, and Mr. Obama’s résumé is undoubtedly thin. We had hoped, throughout this long campaign, to see more evidence that Mr. Obama might stand up to Democratic orthodoxy and end, as he said in his announcement speech, “our chronic avoidance of tough decisions.”

But Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:47 pm October 16th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Endorsements, John McCain, Politics, WH2008 | 7 Comments 

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Oct

16

Ohio Supreme Court rules on voter observation at absentee voting locations

Filed Under Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off

Oy – this is just going on and on – why couldn’t I live somewhere else like…Wyoming?

From the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, just moments ago:

This statement can be attributed in whole or in part to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in connection with the Ohio Supreme Court ruling of today:

“The Ohio Supreme Court has in the absence of authorizing statute, mandated that observers are required at in person absentee voting locations.  While some will no doubt use this 4 – 3 divided ruling to support claims of partisanship in election administration, we will do our best to fairly provide for observers at these locations.

At the same time we will endeavor to protect the rights of voters against voter fraud arising from voter suppression and intimidation and from jeopardy to the secrecy of voters’ ballots in cramped voting locations at small county boards of elections.”

This move came due to legal action pursued by the Ohio Republican Party and is view by many (Democrats in particular, of course) as opening the door to voter intimidation.  I don’t have a statement from the Ohio Republican Party, who filed the original suit but I think we can pretty much guess what it will say about protecting from voter fraud etc.

From the Akron Beacon Journal:

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that outside election observers must be permitted at polling sites during early voting.

In a 4-3 decision Thursday, the court ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by the Ohio Republican Party against Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

Brunner had argued that she wasn’t opposed to having observers present during the early in-person absentee voting but that Ohio law did not provide for them. Republicans have accused Brunner of working against transparency during elections.

Brunner had previously won a battle over observers in a federal appeals court, but the GOP filed a separate suit with the Ohio Supreme Court.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:41 pm October 16th, 2008 in Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008 | Comments Off 

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Oct

16

Obama bars surrogates from engaging with Republican Jewish Coalition

Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Jewish, Politics, Republicans, WH2008 | Comments Off

I don’t blame him, to be honest. I wrote about the “message polls” which were darn close to push polls here, for which the RJC took responsibility.

Politico’s Ben Smith provides the specifics on the latest move by the Obama campaign:

Obama’s campaign has barred his Jewish surrogates from debating representatives of the Republican Jewish Coalition after the group launched a series of ads raising questions about his national security credentials and commitment to Israel, and a recent ad attacking his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

“The Obama campaign has established a rule that, as a result of the dishonest campaign tactics of the RJC, its official advisors are no longer authorized to debate RJC representatives,” wrote Mel Levine, an Obama supporter, to an RJC official in an email. “I do believe the policy decision is correct, in light of the RJC’s dishonest tactics and assertions throughout the campaign. The campaign has authorized its official representatives to debate any legitimate McCain surrogate.”

The RJC drew the ire of Jewish Democrats when it took responsibility for a poll testing negative messages about Obama, including the suggestion that he is overly friendly with anti-Israeli terrorists.

FWIW, my state rep., Josh Mandel, a Republican who is Jewish, spoke at an RJC function in late July 2008.  He also spoke at a California RJC chapter function where at least one attendee got the impression that the race to be re-elected would be difficult and cost upwards of $400,000. I didn’t agree with that assessment, at all.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:00 pm October 16th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Jewish, Politics, Republicans, WH2008 | Comments Off 

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Oct

16

ODP to use “Average” Joe (the Plumber) as poster child for voter disenfranchisement

Filed Under Democrats, Elections, Ohio, Republicans, Voting | 3 Comments

Without comment, from my inbox:

PRESS CONFERENCE:  GOP LAWSUIT SNARES AVERAGE JOES

If GOP Lawsuit Succeeds, Voters Like Joe the Plumber Could be Disenfranchised

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern will hold a press conference this afternoon to discuss the potential impact of Republican lawsuits on voters in similar circumstances to “Joe the Plumber” whose last name  – Wurzelbacher – appears with an “o” instead of a “u” on registration rolls.  Since he is not a new registrant, Joe himself would probably not be among the 200,000 cases who Republicans claim are possible cases of fraud – but other Ohioans in similar situations who are newly registered could be disenfranchised.

WHO:  Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern
WHAT:  Press conference to discuss the impact of Republican lawsuits on voters like Joe the Plumber.
WHEN:  THURSDAY, October 16, 2008 – 3:00 PM
WHERE:  Ohio Statehouse (State Street Steps), Columbus

November 5, where are you?

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:32 pm October 16th, 2008 in Democrats, Elections, Ohio, Republicans, Voting | 3 Comments 

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Oct

16

SCOTUSBlog, WaPo on Brunner appeal to US Supreme Court re: registration matching

Filed Under Politics | Comments Off

This would be holding breath time.  From SCOTUSBlog and from the Washington Post.

Again, please take a look at this post.

At issue: new voter registration information that does not match with other database information on potentially and most likely the same people.

Want an example of such a mismatch? None other than Joe the Plumber.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:09 pm October 16th, 2008 in Politics | Comments Off 

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Oct

16

Nora Ephron offers mental status exam: Is McCain projecting his anger onto us?

Filed Under Campaigning, John McCain, Mental health, Politics, Sarah Palin, WH2008 | 1 Comment

I’ve been framing the campaign of John McCain and Sarah Palin as one that projects its own worst characteristics onto the opponent for a while now, most specifically in this post from over a week ago,
“Projecting “unknown quantity” meme from McCain/Palin campaign shows weakness.”

Nora Ephron, at Huffington Post, seems to like the concept too:

[John McCain] gave the game away in his first answer when, in talking about the economy, he said that Americans were angry. But Americans aren’t angry, they’re poleaxed. They’re terrified. They’re afraid they’re going to lose their jobs or their homes or their pensions. They’re worried they won’t be able to send their kids to college. If John McCain thinks they’re angry, it’s either because he’s projecting, or else he’s simply been going to too many of his own rallies.

I observed something just like that during the live-blog last night, too.  Also, last night, Terry Gross aired an interview on Fresh Air with Anchorage Daily News columnist Michael Carey.  And during the conversation, particularly in the context of Todd Palin’s role in the Alaska governor’s office, he talks about the lack of boundaries Sarah Palin has between the personal and the professional.

If I were giving a mental status exam for the two campaigns, naming the healthier one would not be difficult.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:24 pm October 16th, 2008 in Campaigning, John McCain, Mental health, Politics, Sarah Palin, WH2008 | 1 Comment 

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Oct

16

Ohio’s Joe the Plumber’s voting status: HAVA matching requirement victim?

Filed Under Courts, Media, Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008 | 3 Comments

Now, it’s really a matter of curiosity which Joe the Plumber could put to rest if he desired.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  In the meantime, here’s the latest research from the Plain Dealer on Joe’s voter registration status (and here’s information on the Natural Law Party and is described there as center-left):

Public records databases examined by The Plain Dealer, including those for voter registration, indicate that Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher (note the “o” instead of the “u”), with the same street and age as the now famous Joe the Plumber, voted in 2002, 2005 and 2007. But he listed the Natural Law Party as his party.

…

Other records, however, show there is a Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (with a “u”) at that address. Based on people who appear to be his relatives, that is probably the correct spelling. Which raises the question: Is Joe the Plumber given a provisional ballot when he votes? Since there is a bit of confusion, obviously, would his registration be held out for scrutiny?

Precisely.  The brouhaha over the new and mismatching voter registrations in Ohio will likely be found to involve similar kinds of discrepancies, which are not uncommon throughout the country.  As this July 20, 2008 post on Equal Votes explains,

One of the big under-the-radar issues this election season has to do with the state registration databases required by the Help American Vote Act of 2002. Before HAVA, registration lists were often compiled and administered at the local level. HAVA now requires a statewide registration database. Section 203 of HAVA (42 USC 15483) also requires that states “match” information in the database against motor vehicle and social security records, to verify accuracy.

The problem is that there are all sorts of reasons why voters’ names might not match, despite the fact that they’ve provided accurate information on their registration form. That can include data entry errors, transposition of first and last names, and the use of middle names and nicknames. It’s not very clear from HAVA how the matching should be done, or what should happen if the information in the registration database doesn’t match motor vehicle and social security records. As the Brennan Center has documented, a too-stringent matching procedure could result in the exclusion of eligible voters. According to the Brennan Center, which has litigated this issue in the states of Washington and Florida, matching in some states has failed 20-30% of the time. [emphasis added]

It’s a must-read if you want to know what you’re talking about and also understand why the Ohio Democratic Party considers the action of the Ohio Republican Party to be voter intimidation.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:52 pm October 16th, 2008 in Courts, Media, Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008 | 3 Comments 

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Oct

16

[audio] WLST on KPOJ Portland, OR: Voter registration, fraud, suppression

Filed Under Democrats, Elections, Media, Ohio, Politics, Republicans, Voting | Comments Off

Thanks to Carl Wolfson at Portland, Oregon’s KPOJ for asking me to chat with him this morning about election issues related to Ohio.  Here’s the description:

KPOJ POJ-cast 7-8 am 10-16-08
Ohio progressive blogger Jill Miller Zimon w/ “Writes Like She Talks,” Palin calls New Hampshire part of “great Northwest,” Joe the REAL Plumber calls in from Tacoma, Dave Zirin-”A People’s History of Sports in the United States,” and listener calls.

I took some time installing an audio player plug-in but either the file is too large or you know, I just don’t get it.  I really wanted one of those nifty player things to show up in the post.  Another day.  For now, just click on the link to listen.

WLST on KPOJ

Also, apologies to Carl – he has a co-on air person, Christine Alexander.  She wasn’t on the air with us, but I referred to Carl as “Chris” at one point.  Having people mispronounce “Zimon,” I should know better but my bad – sorry about that Carl.  And Chris.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:14 pm October 16th, 2008 in Democrats, Elections, Media, Ohio, Politics, Republicans, Voting | Comments Off 

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Oct

16

Carnival of Ohio Politics #138 now posted

Filed Under Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics | Comments Off

Check out the image Lisa Renee chose for this week’s Carnival of Ohio Politics #138.  Wow.

And the contributions from Ohio’s political bloggers are pretty cool too. Thanks again to everyone and especially the co-editor for a great edition.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:48 am October 16th, 2008 in Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics | Comments Off 

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Oct

16

[updated] Joe the Plumber: Not likely a voter, very likely in the tank for all things conservative

Filed Under Barack Obama, Campaigning, Debates, John McCain, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, WH2008 | 22 Comments

UPDATE from Toledo Blade: Joe the Plumber might be registered, but if it’s him, he voted Republican in the Ohio 3/08 primary.

I like Mara Liasson of NPR very much, but she opens her story about Joe the Plumber in the hourly news recap by calling him a “real voter” from Ohio (her longer story is here).  Some reports say he’s from Toledo, but the Toledo Blade reports that he’s from Springfield Township which is in Clark County, Ohio, considerably south of Toledo and west of Columbus.  But the Ohio part seems more or less accurate.

The problem is, it appears that Joe Wurzelbacher is not a registered voter in the state of Ohio, according to this Politico post but also my own search in the public records of Ohioan’s voter registration information, which you can access here. Comments in the Politico item suggest that Wurzelbacher may even be a close relation to someone connected to the Keating Five and Lincoln Savings & Loan collapse (here’s another post suggesting the Keating connection.)

You can read this lengthy and seemingly candid interview that was done just before the debate with Wurzelbacher.  It was conducted by an editor of the conservative Family Security Matters. SourceWatch describes FSM as a front group for the Center for Security Policy think tank which may sound familiar to anyone who lives in a state whose legislature has pushed for its pension plans to divest from Iran (see more here about the efforts of Ohio State Rep. Josh Mandel (R-17, Lyndhurst) and Center for Security Policy to do so in Ohio).

Some background on FSM that bears on the differences between Obama and McCain: FSM has listed as the ten most dangerous organizations groups such as include ACLU, the Family Research Council, MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress, “Universities and Colleges” and the blog Think Progress.  Although the FSM link no longer seems to work, fellow The Ruckus blog, Crooks and Liars, has a corroborating post here.  Also, FSM publishes a list of the ten most dangerous college courses which includes, “Whiteness and Multiculturalism,” “Intro to Labor Studies” and “Movements in Social Justice.”

Wurzelbacher’s interview with FSM portrays a man with a plan when it comes to speaking with Obama.  “The American Dream” as a goal that Obama will keep from happening and the notion that “socialiam” and entitlements, without using the word “entitlements” – aking to evil four-letter words, all arise frequently as themes.

As for the notion that maybe Joe’s a conservative?  Well, up until last night, the conservative talking heads were showing some love, according to Wurzelbacher himself:

Neil Cavuto, I was on his show earlier today, just a phone interview for about five minutes. He asked a couple of questions. Then a talk show – Trey Ware – he has a conservative talk show down in San Antonio, Texas – he picked up on it. I’ve had friends call me from all over the nation, saying they heard Rush Limbaugh quote something from me or they’ve heard Hannity quote something. I guess it’s getting quite a bit of play.

Sigh. I don’t know if Joe is registered somewhere. I don’t know who Joe has voted for in the past or if he’s voted in the past. And there seem to be no records of any political contributions ever made by Joe.  Ultimately, only Joe knows Joe.

But here in Ohio, we have a history of political reporters picking out people at rallies and suggesting that they are stand-ins for an idea when in fact it turns out that they are ringers. A history that exists because bloggers did some checking on the MSM.  And so this use of Wurzelbacher as a standardbearer for…something – an undecided voter? An average American voter? A voter of any kind? Just seems very, very…not standard or average.

Since, in the meantime, we have only the words that Joe, so far, has put on the record, I feel confident in concluding that he’s a fiscal and social conservative who, logic would tell us, was never going to like much of what Barack Obama proposes. In this regard, then, with last night’s debate performance, John McCain successfully baited the media and the public with a ringer.  And where I come from, that’s just plain old deception.

Quick update: Joe won’t tell us who he’s voting for, according to Reuters:

The morning after he emerged as the unexpected star of Wednesday night’s presidential debate, Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, declined to say who he will vote for in the November 4 election.

“It’s a personal decision, and myself and the button I push will know the answer,” the 34-year-old plumber said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.

Could that be because he isn’t registered to vote?  Again, only Joe knows for sure.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:48 am October 16th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Debates, John McCain, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, WH2008 | 22 Comments 

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