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Apr

9

Eric Cantor’s bully tactics: Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should

Filed Under Congress, conservatives, Culture, democracy, Ethics, Government, Politics, Republicans | 15 Comments

Making that choice – between doing something you can do or are allowed to do when all indications are that you really should not do it – is often the difference between having and not having a conscience. In fact, restraint, when you could do some things that are allowed but not generally helpful and intended primarily to be harmful, shows a far greater sense of leadership.

No doubt there are examples of this way of thinking on all points along the political ideological spectrum and I welcome comments highlighting others, but currently, we have the case of House Minority Whip, Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia.  For him, it’s the difference in defining what is best for your constituents: deploying tactics intended to make others fail or fumble and hiding behind them as permissible under the rules. Big deal – the rules allow it – so that means you misuse and abuse those rules? This article in Politico has the details and you can watch Keith Olbermann (h/t Blue Ohio Blog) deconstruct how Cantor actually gives the attackers scripts to follow. Oy.

Lovely. I think that’s how Wall Street and many other political and white collar criminals got their just desserts too, Rep. Cantor.

Sigh.

I hope he gives his strategies a long thinking tonight at his second seder, wherever he is.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:42 am April 9th, 2009 in Congress, conservatives, Culture, democracy, Ethics, Government, Politics, Republicans | 15 Comments 

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Apr

9

NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice releases final report on Ohio elections, 2008

Filed Under Announcements, Elections, Law, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Research, Voting | Comments Off

I attended and spoke at the first of two summits organized by the Brennan Center for Justice, so I’m very pleased to provide links to the final reports produced by the Center.  

First, you can read the Center’s release.  Also, there is this endorsement of the report from the Ohio Associaion of Election Officials:

According to OAEO President, Marilyn Jacobcik, “The Ohio Association of Election Officials supports Norden’s conclusions in the executive summary to his final report on the summits.”

The association concurs with the report’s identification of several broad categories of elections administration, which are ripe for review and reform prior to the 2010 election year, and that the framework detailed in the executive summary should serve as the basis for the future of election reforms in Ohio.

…

The Ohio Association of Election Officials is a bipartisan organization representing the members of Ohio’s 88 county boards of election, their directors and deputy directors. OAEO is a professional organization dedicated to the training and education of its members, thus ensuring fair and accurate elections for all Ohioans. Marilyn Jacobcik is Deputy Director of the Lorain County Board of Elections. Jeanette Mullane is Director of the Stark County Board of Elections.

Read more at Progress Ohio.

Or read all the documents directly from the Brennan Center for yourself:

Click here to download report as a PDF.
Click here to download executive summary.
Next Steps to Reform.
Framework for Reform: Priority Issues.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:06 am April 9th, 2009 in Announcements, Elections, Law, leadership, Ohio, Politics, Research, Voting | Comments Off 

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Apr

9

Carnival of Ohio Politics #161 now posted

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

Please spring over to the most recent edition of the Carnival of Ohio Politics #161, expertly crafted by The Boring Made Dull.  I honestly don’t think he knows much about being dull, given the image and intro he produced for the carnival this week.

Everyone, again, have a good holiday weekend and thank you for participating in the carnival.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:19 am April 9th, 2009 in Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics, Writing | Comments Off 

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Apr

9

[updatedx3] Mandel: Is he or isn’t he, and Ohio House Bill 123

Filed Under Blogging, Campaigning, conservatives, Education, Elections, Government, Media, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Predictions, Republicans, Statehouse, treasurer | 3 Comments

Update: FYI, both the print version of this week’s Chagrin Herald Sun and the online link to its article use the headline, “Mandel: I’m not seeking treasurer”:

mandelsun

Updatex2: As you can read in a comment below, Greg Helms kindly pointed out that the Google Web result to which I link above when you click on the image of it no longer has that headline.  It now reads, “Mandel not focused on treasurer speculation” as you’ll see if you click on it.

However, both the Google News result and the cached version of the original result are still able to be seen as displaying the “not running” headline.  Also, I’ve scanned the print version for anyone doubting that someone, somewhere within the Sun News operation got the idea to headline the story, “Mandel: I’m not seeking treasurer” and then, someone, somewhere changed that headline for the Google results – though, of course, not in the print version:

mandelnotrunningsun

I’m a stickler for using specific words and phrases that accurately reflect what I said and what I want to say and what I want people to infer.  So I can understand why a headline might change.  However, the political side of me says that this is about wiggle room.  Some readers of this blog have expressed unhappiness with my blogging about my statehouse rep’s activities around and outside Ohio, as well as issue positions.  Several even know that over the summer, I was threatened by another blogger (who appears to be on hiatus), specifically, to stop writing about Josh and his then-race for re-election.

But the fact is, residents of the 17th Ohio House District only see what papers like the Sun News or the PD (which has had only a blog entry here or there about Josh) choose to publish online or in print, and that’s just not that much, given the state of news right now.  Blogs, for one, can fill in a lot of that space. And everyone has the ability, through a variety of devices, to keep track of their elected officials.

FWIW, and that really isn’t much but this is my blog, I believe Josh is trying to have it both ways but his words and his acts simply do not match up: he is going all around the state and outside of Ohio on trips that members of his own party consider to be on behalf of feeling out a run for Ohio treasurer.

Ignoring speculation and focusing on working for the people that elected you and who you represent is one thing – and it is totally acceptable and probably very, very beneficial. But ignoring what the chronicling of one’s activities portrays is a completely different thing and trying to say that these two things are the same leads to this kind of review that pushes back on that assertion and says, respectfully – no.

Ignoring speculation to focus is not the same as saying I’m not running for treasurer.  If they were the same thing, then there would have been no change in the headline.

In Josh’s defense, the last thought I’ll add is that what I believe he is trying to do is no different than what our system demands of elected officials who seek another office, who are career politicians: they must maintain their one job while seeking another. And this also is no different than other job seekers, except for the demand the jobs place on the individual. Goodness knows I’m trying to juggle my inside and outside the home responsibilities, which include three school-aged children, w/my run for Pepper Pike City Council and it is challenging, to say the least. I can’t imagine what it is like to be seeking an office such as Ohio treasurer while also needing to respond to and act on the needs and desires of the constituents who elected you.

Honestly, I would just think that the best policy is to outright acknowledge all this and continue to demonstrate that what makes you (Josh) unique, if that is the case and what he needs us to see, is that he can do both and that to do both is okay.  But to try to imply otherwise, thinking we’ll just say, “Oh – ok – he said he’s just focused on us – he must not be running for treasurer” and be done with it is extremely superficial in today’s world: voters can get and voters expect more transparency than that.

Updatex3, 4/18/09: A Cleveland.com blog entry, dated 4/14/09 (last Tuesday), has the following headline:

mandel414109

That article was to be published in the 4/16/09 edition of the Sun Messenger, though the article I’ve covered in the original post and Update and Updatex2 involved the Chagrin Herald Sun – which did not contain this “breaking news” article this week (Pepper Pike is the latter and that’s what I subscribe to).

The communities served by the Chagrin Herald Sun, which is the one with the headline that Mandel was not running (see above) are: Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Orange & Pepper Pike.

The communities served by the Sun Messenger, which is the one with the headline that Mandel is “very seriously considering” running for treasurer are: Lyndhurst – Mayfield Village – Highland Heights – South Euclid.

The communities in the Ohio House 17th district: Bentleyville, Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Falls Township, Glenwillow, Hunting Valley, Independence, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights (part), Moreland Hills, Oakwood, Pepper Pike, Seven Hills, Solon, Valley View, and Walton Hills (I’ve highlighted the ones in one of the two Sun News papers involved).

I imagine some of this “he isn’t running/he isn’t listening to the speculation that he might run/he is very seriously considering running” could be chalked up to the fact that the Sun papers cover many communities, and the Ohio House 17th covers many communities as well and editorially, they must decide where to run what.  However, it’s a real conundrum – shouldn’t all residents of the district get the same news about their house rep?

Original post:

Quote from a video of Ohio State Rep. Josh Mandel’s address to the Butler County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, 4/3/09:

“And I want you to know, should I pull the trigger and run for state treasurer, I will stand on principle, I will stand up for conservative values, I will do my best to protect your tax dollars and I will never be outworked.”

From this morning’s Sun newspaper (4/9/09):

Mandel told Sun News he is focusing on the 17th District and not the speculation.

“I’ve been approached by many different community officials about running for many different offices,” Mandel told Sun News Tuesday.

“But right now my only focus is being the best state representative I can be.”

Sounds to me like Josh is speculating right along with everyone else – that’s not a crime or a sin and I’m not sure why he would deny it, especially given the myriad items – in the mainstream media, not only blogs – about his campaigning for and making statements about the treasurer’s race like the one he made at the Butler County GOP. Read more

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:28 am April 9th, 2009 in Blogging, Campaigning, conservatives, Education, Elections, Government, Media, OH17, Ohio, Politics, Predictions, Republicans, Statehouse, treasurer | 3 Comments 

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