Awwww…Rob Portman Hearts Jon Husted
Great…Secretary of State Samsonite spreads the dysfunction (via an emailer):
In what must be a part of some quid pro quo deal (help me in Clermont, I’ll help you wherever), Rob Portman wrote a shining letter of support to the Clermont County Republican Chairman on behalf of Jon Husted, who then sent copies to the Committee with his “endorse me even though I’ve never been to your county” request.
Why? Because the Clermont County Republican Committee endorses in a few weeks, and if anyone on the committee actually knows Jon Husted, they are skeptical at best.
- He is running for Secretary of State, the office charged with enforcing the very election laws whose spririt he broke.
- Until they started shielding him as State Senator, he voted for every budget & tax increase passed (including the CAT).
- He did not attend Clermont’s Lincoln Day last year because he was not given the microphone.
So what’s our motivation here?
Sigh…clearly Rob hasn’t been paying attention.
For the record, I don’t personally dislike Jon Husted, and to his credit, he rocks on school choice. Kevin DeWine will be shocked to know, however, that I am not a one-issue voter (eyeroll). I do think it’s crucial to point out glaring concerns that people have so that everyone knows what they’re in for…so that we don’t have to revisit 2006’s purging process again…you know, that whole “over promise, under deliver” problem plaguing establishment republicans.
I’ve seen Husted speak. You’d think he’s the most conservative guy in the room, lol, which relates to the emailer’s second point. Husted has insufferably blasted Senate republicans who voted for the recent 4.2% retroactive tax increase in an attempt to look like he’s not an establishment republican. What we now know, however, is that the whole thing was a ruse orchestrated by establishment republicans; and the senators who voted for the monstrocity, were picked as “cowardly lions” based on term limits and who does/does not want to run for statewide office. More betrayal and political posturing at its best.
So why use Portman to coerce Clermont?
Background: Clermont County is a pain in Columbus’ keester. Not only does it have a large number of “coveted” independents (who swing right when republicans are governing conservatively), but the Columbus establishment needs the Clermont GOTV machine to win elections. Unlike Hamilton, Warren & Butler, however, Clermont doesn’t have a lot of “big money” to thow Columbus’ way. As such, the ORP harbors a visceral love/hate resentment toward Clermont. No money, no respect…which is why Clermont doesn’t take the ORP’s crap. End background.
So how does the ORP help their [unknown] “favorite son” cross that impasse with Clermont in 2010? Well, rather than telling him to get off his duff and earn it by reaching out to actives inside the county, they enable his laziness by strong-arming Clermont’s “favorite son,” Rob Portman, to get the job done. The bigger headline in my opinion, is that Rob so eargerly threw his peeps under the bus with the BLATANT inferences that they are either too stupid to evaluate candidates themselves and/or they’re to forego any conclusions at which they arrive and blindly support someone because he said so. I’d be offended, too, especially when any other candidate wishing to use Rob’s name and/or picture must dot “i’s,” cross “t’s,” jump on one leg four times while spinning clockwise and – well, you get the picture. Now his campaign blindly cranks out a letter without any discretion whatsoever, which is exactly what got this nation into this mess.
At any rate, I wish the ORP (and any subscribing candidate) luck with their “strategy” of getting entangled in some primaries while ignoring the ones that won’t work out to your heart’s desire.
Lol…the ORP is as transparent as we want the federal government to be…
“Husted Hugs Strickland” pic obtained from Weapons of Mass Discussion.
At a minimum, anyone who participated in said “sacrificial lamb” orchestration should not be considered for a promotion. That would clearly include Husted.
Comment by TBlumer — January 4, 2010 @ 10:28 am
This was Paduchik for sure…
Comment by Anonymous — January 4, 2010 @ 6:30 pm
OH stands for O’Brien before Husted. Sandra O’Brien is a well qualified and honest candidate. Sandra O’Brien says what she means and means what she says. She is a breathe of fresh air in these polluted political times.
Please go to http://www.sandraobrien.com to find out about more about Sandra O’Brien and get contact information.
Comment by gopflame — January 5, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
Not only am I not inclined to support Husted for the GOP primary, I’m also not inclined to support Rob Portman. At this point, I’m favoring Tom Ganley in that U.S. Senate race.
Comment by Daniel Jack Williamson — January 5, 2010 @ 2:49 pm
The emailer claims he broke the spirit of our election laws. Actually, he seems to have complied well with their spirit as written: a very loose standard allowing simply a future intent to live somewhere is enough to vote. Complaining about “the spirit of the law” distracts, in my humble opinion, from the Strong Need to revise these laws to a clear non-subjective non-futuristic standard.
An example of a clear standard, based on the past instead of future intent: tie voting to your payments of property taxes, and taking of household exemption, and to income taxes.
For the rest of the background on Husted, I agree with Mr Blumer and others — I don’t personally dislike Husted. Yet, for my vote, I agree with Rose, the commenters above, and et al: his tax-raising votes, linkage to the ORP establishment, et al mark him as Needs-to-Go. Time for Sandra as SOS.
Comment by Cornfed — January 6, 2010 @ 8:46 am
#5, I think we’re letting “the law” become a distraction here.
The point is that Husted hasn’t lived in the House District and now the Senate district he represents for many years, and is rarely there. I refuse to believe that he intends to return to Kettering. His second wife and his kids are from suburban Columbus. The kids are going to stay in Columbus or scatter, and Jon and real estate agent wife will more than likely hang in Columbus after his career in public life is over to be a lobbyist, lawyer, consultant, whatever.
If you aren’t living in your district and aren’t visiting it often (here’s a challenge to Jon — open up your Franklin planner to the public; I dare you), you end up being out of touch. For example, this might partially explain why NCR’s exit from Dayton was such a shock to so many, including Husted.
If Husted were honest about his situation, he would have plainly told voters in his district(s) what he had done when he did it instead of playing charades and keeping it from them until the press and Democrats exposed it. But he didn’t. In fact, he denied it for a long time. If his voters want to keep electing him to the Senate, and if no one wants to put up a challenge to his seat, I can’t do anything about that. But I get to have some say in this once he sets his eyes on statewide office. Based on his handling of all of this alone, even before getting to the issues (although my point in Comment 1 pretty much eliminates Husted on the issues as far as I’m concerned), Husted sure as bleep doesn’t deserve a promotion, and especially not to SOS.
More fundamentally, the ORPINO (Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) should have taken Jon aside and said, “Son, you can live where you want and take whatever chances you want, but we’re going to stay away from your SOS candidacy while you’re doing what you’re doing. For the primary, you’re on your own, and we’ll let primary voters throughout the state decide how important all of this is.” Instead, they’re boosting him, and compromising the ticket.
Comment by TBlumer — January 6, 2010 @ 9:12 am
Good discussion, thanks everyone!
Comment by Rose — January 6, 2010 @ 9:46 am