Citizen journalism

When newspapers die, this is what we’ll have to get used to.

Column: Ken Blackwell, as steady as the breeze

My Jan. 8 print edition column, posted early as a reaction to Monday’s RNC debate.

I’ll say one thing about J. Kenneth Blackwell: The man can work a room.

Blackwell and five other contenders for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee faced off Monday in a debate at the National Press Club in Washington. Blackwell had his zingers ready.

One of his favorites is the following: He has little use, he said, for Republicans “who campaign like Ronald Reagan and then govern like Jimmy Carter.”

This line leaves conservative Republicans weak in the knees, and, improbably, Blackwell is gaining some real momentum in his quest to become national party chairman. The former Ohio secretary of state and failed gubernatorial candidate has locked up endorsements from some important, right-wing leaders, such as anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly, Focus on the Family leader James Dobson, American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene and others.

The funny thing about Blackwell’s frequent Carter riff is the part he leaves out: Blackwell, in 1980, backed Carter for re-election over Reagan. He became a Republican after Reagan won.

As Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Quite right; you just need Blackwell.

Blackwell has such a tendency for changing his stripes that he was known in his hometown, Cincinnati, as “Switchwell,” said Charlie Luken, a Columbus lobbyist and Democrat who defeated Blackwell in a tight congressional race in 1990.

More recently, Blackwell pushed for a constitutional amendment limiting state spending growth. In early 2005, he vowed that “in one form or another, it will be on the ballot this November.” It wasn’t. Nor was it on the ballot in 2006, because Blackwell, conveniently after winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination, went along with a legislative compromise worked out by the moderate Republicans he loves to decry.

In his defense, Blackwell’s acolytes cite the flimsy statistic that Blackwell has won 13 of 17 elections in his political career.

“I know how to win elections,” Blackwell said during the debate.

Those victories include some City Council races as a member of Cincinnati’s hardly conservative Charter Committee, a third party, and down-ticket statewide races for treasurer and secretary of state. But Blackwell, like the Ohio State football team, gets worse as the stakes get higher. He narrowly lost to Luken in that 1990 congressional race. And he was blown to pieces by Democrat Ted Strickland in the governor’s race in 2006, losing 60.5 percent to 36.7 percent. To put this in perspective, it was the worst performance by an Ohio Republican running for governor since 1912, when Robert B. Brown took 26.3 percent of the vote in a crowded six-way field.

My enduring memory of Blackwell’s gubernatorial campaign was an appearance he made at the Tusco Rifle Club in Dennison, near New Philadelphia, in early October 2006. Amongst the country folk, Blackwell, a giant of a man, threw his shotgun over his broad shoulders, walked out to the range and proceeded to shoot 13 of 15 clay pigeons in between telling me about how he wanted to crack down on abortion.

Blackwell, on that day, was the caricature of a conservative Republican. In the months and years since his colossal defeat, he’s honed the caricature by joining seemingly every conservative organization under the sun — seriously, read his bio at kenblackwell.com — and writing column after column of conservative boilerplate. But a party chairman doesn’t make policy; rather, he plots how to elect candidates, who then make policy. There’s a difference.

In 2006, Blackwell destroyed the Ohio Republican Party by tacking too far to the right in his inept gubernatorial campaign; in 2009, he offers the same to the national party.

Luken said he’d be pleased if Blackwell became RNC chairman. Among Democrats, Luken surely isn’t alone in that sentiment.

UPDATE: An irate reader told me that Blackwell had to be carrying not a rifle, as I previously wrote, but a shotgun, which is true. I changed that.

Blackwell

Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state and failed 2006 gubernatorial candidate, appears to be making some real strides in his quest to become chairman of the Republican National Committee: A number of  party heavyweights have rallied to his candidacy.

He’ll be debating his opponents today at 1 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington. Watch it live here.

Marc Dann used to hang out where?

My Dec. 25 print edition column:

It’s Christmas morning, which means that many readers probably are opening gifts or recovering from hangovers. So my guess is that most people aren’t going to even read this column, which, I have to say, is a relief. Because I have a confession to make, and it’s not one I’m proud of.

On several occasions, I’ve hung out in Columbus at a bar called Zeno’s. If’ you’ve ever been to Zeno’s, well, you know. But if you haven’t, take my word that it’s not a place any upstanding member of the community should visit. It sure is fun, though.

Having walked into Zeno’s, I apparently have something in common with former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, a Democrat. You see, according to a report released earlier this week chronicling Dann’s pathetic management of the attorney general’s office, Dann was hanging out at Zeno’s when he came across Jessica Utovich. He later hired Utovich as his scheduler and had an affair with her. Dann and I have company in our selection of raunchy night spots; according to a Columbus Dispatch article from 2005, former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, who represented much of southeast Ohio in Congress earlier this decade before being sent to federal prison for corruption, used to go to Zeno’s as well.

The tidbit about Zeno’s is but a small detail in state Inspector General Thomas P. Charles’ damning report about Dann and his disastrous tenure as Ohio’s top lawyer. The report documents how, under Dann, the attorney general’s office fell into an appalling state of debauchery, cronyism and incompetence.

Much of it is, I think, comical. I mean, that is, if one can laugh at the debasing of a bedrock foundation of this state’s government. (I can!)

Dann and his Youngstown goon squad — communications director Leo Jennings and general services director Anthony Gutierrez, among others —hired staffers the way the Dallas Cowboys hire cheerleaders. Brains and qualifications were trumped by, umm, certain other considerations:

“Dann hired into his office a coterie of young women who were dubbed ‘the Dannettes.’ So unprofessional was the dress and conduct of some of these women that a project assistant in the office was assigned to conduct etiquette classes for them,” according to the report.

Gutierrez, who began Dann’s downfall when he was accused of sexual harassment, is the report’s most pathetic case. A Dann crony, he reportedly intimidated staffers by “referring to his alleged Youngstown mob connections and claiming that he associated with people who could have (others) buried in concrete.” Gutierrez, who apparently modeled himself after Al Pacino in that awful “Dick Tracy” movie, made about $87,500 per year.

The entire office seemed to be run like Satriale’s pork store from “The Sopranos”:

“Displeasure with subordinates, we were told, was expressed by screaming, yelling, breaking phones and other office property and by backing up individuals against walls and threatening them.”

And I’m just noting the instances of intimidation and lewd conduct. The more serious parts of the report deal with Dann’s misuse of campaign funds — Dann used them as a “personal honey pot,” the report claims — and his disgusting disdain for taxpayers’ money. For instance, Dann allowed Gutierrez to spend $1.9 million to buy 99 vehicles for the office, which was a “waste of state funds,” according to the report. Dann also reportedly passed out Blackberry devices like candy, which cost the state almost $30,000 per month.

Attorney General-elect Richard Cordray, also a Democrat, will take over the office next month. Dann’s is not a tough act to follow.

All Cordray needs to do is keep his nose clean. Oh, and stay away from Zeno’s.

A new treasurer

Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, will appoint Columbus Councilman Kevin Boyce as state treasurer, The Associated Press reports.

This isn’t particularly a shock. Strickland was under pressure to appoint a person of color to this seat; Boyce will be the state’s first non-judicial Democratic statewide black officeholder.

Boyce won’t be the first black treasurer; Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell holds that distinction.

Boyce has two years until he must stand for election.

Dann, continued

Former Attorney General Marc Dann met the scheduler he later had an affair with, Jessica Utovich, at a bar named Zeno’s in Columbus, according to the Charles report. Without going into any details, I can say that I’ve been to Zeno’s, and therefore can say with confidence that any public official who gets within 100 yards of that bar isn’t particularly bright.

The Dann report

State Inspector General Thomas P. Charles today released the findings of a massive investigation of former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. The Democrat, readers will recall, resigned in May after he admitted to having an affair with a subordinate and generally was found to have run the attorney general’s office into the ground.

The report, which can be found here along with a news story, contains some pretty funny nuggets. Well, funny and despicable. Dann used campaign funds as a “personal honey pot,” according to the report, with which “he used to pay his everyday living expenses.” He also hired a “coterie of young women known as the ‘Dannettes.’” The professionalism of some of the Dannettes was so lacking that “a project assistant in the office was assigned to conduct etiquette classes for them.” The Dannettes? Paging John Waters.

At the very least, give the executive summary a read. It sums up succinctly Dann’s now well-known penchant for mismanagement, cronyism and sleaziness.

Dann, fortunately, is gone. Newly-elected Democrat Richard Cordray soon will take over the office. He won’t have to do much to improve on Dann’s sorry, embarrassing performance.

Column: Good luck on school-funding change

My Dec. 11 print edition column. Note: I’ll be out of town until the middle of next week, so I might not be posting.

State Rep. Joe Koziura says “it’s not about money anymore” when it comes to improving Ohio’s public schools. He better be right, because right now there just isn’t more money to be had for schools or, frankly, anything else the state might want to fund. That means that those looking for a fundamental change to alter a school-funding system the Ohio Supreme Court has said is over-reliant on local property taxes should ready themselves for disappointment.

Koziura, an affable and proud Lorain Democrat, is a consistent populist. He decries the pernicious influence of lobbyists in Columbus — and the legislative term limits that aid and abet their work — and public spending he cannot defend. For instance, his party’s soon-to-be-former leader in the Ohio House, Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, will make $320,000 after Ohio State University created a position for her. “Outrageous,” Koziura said.

Yet when it comes to the thorny issue of public school funding, Koziura takes a different view than many other liberals across the state. Look at a child’s family, he said. If the parents are concerned about their kid, then that child probably has a better chance of succeeding; if not, the student is going to have a harder time. Koziura would like to see a system less reliant on property taxes, but he doesn’t see money as a magic bullet.

He’s right, at least to a point. If money was the sole answer, the Lorain school district, which spends among the most money per pupil in the county, would be among the county’s best school districts. Instead, it’s the worst, based on state ratings. My point isn’t to dump on Lorain; it’s merely that the town’s intractable problems wear off on the school district.

Don’t, however, tell districts across this county that it’s not about money. Rich and poor districts alike face looming deficits or painful cuts. The property tax-poor Lorain district recently failed to pass a levy, so it must reckon with a $2.7 million deficit next year. On the other end of the spectrum, voters in the affluent Avon school district recently renewed two levies, but the district still faces a deficit early next decade. Everybody’s present, or future, is gloomy.

And I mean everybody. Median household income adjusted for inflation is down both in rich and poor parts of the county, according to recently reported figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. From 1999 to 2007, Avon Lake’s median household income fell from $82,144 to $78,703; in the same time period, that figure fell in Elyria from $47,481 to $41,318. Whether you eat steak or Spam, chances are you’re buying less of it then you were a decade ago.

The state’s hurting too. Ohio faces a projected $7 billion shortfall in its next two-year budget; considering that the last two-year budget was roughly $50 billion, the state is going to have to do some serious shedding, no matter what help comes from Washington’s seemingly bottomless coffers.

All of this seems to make school funding reform a costly afterthought.

The state Board of Education recommends that the state allocate an additional $1 billion to schools, which would go toward extra help for poor and special needs students, among other extras. John Bender, Lorain County’s state Board of Education representative, likes the proposal, but says it’s “pie in the sky” because of the state’s budget troubles.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, said he will offer a school-funding suggestion next year. He can offer the most grandiose plan in the world, but it won’t mean anything if the Republican-dominated Ohio Senate doesn’t like it.

Even if Strickland or the school lobby tries to bypass the Legislature to take a proposal to the voters, it’s hard to see stretched voters supporting any big-money proposal.

Contrary to popular belief, local school districts have been learning to go without for awhile now. Their lessons continue.

Voinovich’s future

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has ranked all 34 U.S. Senate races in 2010, and he has Ohio’s as the third-most likely to switch parties.

Here’s his analysis:

3. Ohio (R-Voinovich)

Approval/Favorability Ratings: George Voinovich (R)
Poll               Date    Approve   Disapprove    Net
Strategic Vision   11/1      53          37        +16
SurveyUSA          10/18     51          39        +12
Quinnipiac         8/8       51          32        +19


60%    Generic D vs Voinovich (R)                  30%
20%    Generic D vs Portman (R)                    50%
20%    Generic D vs Generic R                      60%
--------------------------------------------------------
Combined Probability of Democratic Pickup        40.0

This parallels the Specter race in certain respects, winnable either through retirement (Marc Ambinder has suggested that Voinovich might hang it up) or through a straight-up takeover (Voinovich is in fact a bit less popular than Specter). But there are a couple of mitigating factors. Firstly, there’s no indication that Voinovich will face a serious primary challenge, which removes at least once concern for him. And secondly, if Voinovich retires, the Republicans have a fairly strong potential alternative in Rob Portman, who has suggested he might be interested in the position.

With that said, Voinovich still probably represents the Republicans’ best chance of holding onto their seat. The structural advantages of incumbency are worth something, whereas Voinovich’s mediocre approval ratings likely reflect the tough climate for Ohio Republicans in general right now rather than anything about Voinovich in particular; those cooties would probably transfer to any potential Republican alternative, in other words. Portman, meanwhile, while a capable administrator, is relatively unproven electorally.

One thing to remember about Voinovich is that he’s a real survivor and a proven vote getter. After his disastrous 1988 U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, Voinovich has run four races — two for governor, and two for Senate — and cruised comfortably in each. His 1994 re-election was one of the great beatdowns in Ohio electoral history. Republicans grumble about Voinovich, but it’s very difficult to envision a credible GOP challenger trying to take down this sitting senator. Voinovich will be 74 in 2010, but I’ve seen no indication that he’s ready to retire.

The Democrats have a large stable of potential challengers — many promising U.S. House representatives and statewide officials. Of those, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a veteran of several statewide campaigns, might be the best potential candidate. It’s probably too early to say who the nominee ultimately will be, but whoever it is, that person will receive lots of money from national Democrats, who might think that Ohio is trending blue. It is, although that might just be a reflection of the national picture.

Democrats take House delegation

Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy of Columbus was declared the winner of a razor-thin Columbus-area congressional seat. More than a month after Election Day, provisional ballots pushed Kilroy over the finish line.

Democrats now hold 10 of the 18 congressional seats that represent Ohio. Pretty incredible, considering that Republicans drew the districts earlier this decade and, going into the 2006 cycle, they controlled 12 of 18 seats.

Kilroy’s fate now appears tied to Democratic President-elect Barack Obama. A bad two years for Obama will put Kilroy and other new Democratic congressional representatives in tough shape. A new president’s party typically takes losses in midterm congressional elections, although Republicans bucked that trend in 2002.