Ohio GOP fights for its life in Congress

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1162460533208740.xml&coll=2

Thursday, November 02, 2006
Stephen Koff Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Reporters

Columbus - In a suburban banquet hall filled with several hundred cheerful Republicans on an overcast day, first lady Laura Bush and Columbus-area congresswoman Deborah Pryce extolled the virtues of voting for Republicans. They talked about what's at stake on Nov. 7 - low taxes and job growth, and support for America's troops.

But left unsaid at the rally Wednesday was something else that could matter for Ohio. Republican congressional seats are in such jeopardy that Ohio Republicans who survive next week's election might find themselves in a minority twice over.

That is, not only might Democrats from across the country rule the U.S. House, but Ohio Democrats might outnumber Ohio Republicans there, too.

That would be a drastic change, since Democrats currently occupy only six of Ohio's 18 U.S. House seats. Enough seats are competitive that when the next Congress is sworn in, it is possible, though far from certain, that up to 10 of the members from Ohio could be Democrats...




A political tsunami in Ohio

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/783027.html

By Shmuel Rosner

COLOMBUS, OH - ...


Not even Kerry can ruin it

Two years ago, Kerry lost Ohio and, as a result, the presidency - but now his party is in very good standing in several races across the region. Even Kerry apparently cannot ruin it. Twelve of the eighteen Ohio seats in the House of Representatives are now held by Republicans, but Democrats look poised to take two, three, maybe even five of them away in what is becoming known as the political tsunami.

Ohio's Jewish community - including the 20,000 in Columbus - will vote almost straight Democratic down the line. A visit from Virginia's Eric Cantor - the only Jewish Republican in the House - is not about to change that. He was here last week but met mostly with the believers - the few who already intended to vote Republican. Today, Minnesota's Jewish Republican senator - Norm Coleman - is slated to pay a visit, but he will not be able to change the trend either...

Rudy Giuliani is the well-known Republican chosen to try to save the dying campaign of the party's gubernatorial candidate, Kenneth Blackwell. The ad tells us that "America's mayor" - the man who was mayor of New York City on September 11, 2001 - wants Ohio to elect the man who was mayor of Cincinnati. But polls show Blackwell lags 20 percent behind. Ohio, according to almost every passerby, waiter or grocery clerk, has decided to dump pervasive corruption. And right now, the corrupt ones are those that have been in power: Republicans.

[angstlessk]

1. I heard a rumor that the new voter requirement in Ohio is a family

portrait painted by Thomas Kinkade. I am not sure if this is just a rumor since all the other requirements are just as STUPID!

Edit to make sure I got the spelling of artist correct!

[madmom]

2. I also heard you have to drive a car worth at least $80,000.

[torrentprime]

3. This one made my blood boil

I do not oppose voter ID in principle, as the concept is valid (ensure that voters are who they say they are), but efforts like "copy one of the two numbers from a driver's license onto your ballot; if you use the wrong one, we toss your vote" are SO transparently designed to drive down voting.
Reason #826363 I left the GOP.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Welcome onboard torrentpine!

We have many former Republicans posting here. Voter fraud is important, but election fraud is where the real crime to our country resides.

[Robbien]

4. Wasn't there a court decision late last night

which put a hold on all the crazy requirements and ruled that all votes cast should be counted?

[torrentprime]

7. Yes, but

It was then reversed again. So we have a horrible situation where the rules changed during absentee voting, twice, and votes were sent in under both rules. No decision on whether to accept the votes that may have been sent in under the more relaxed rules: do they get tossed? How do you tell when they came in? When they were filled out? Basically, it got worse.

http://www.dispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/11/01/20061101-A1-03.html

[cyclezealot]

6. hope you are right.

The neighboring state of Michigan used to be the home of the UAW. Most unionized state in the union. with deindustralization and Engler redistricing it has not a single competitive district. Unemployment one of the highest in the union and the Repugs think they could pick up a Senate seat. Unlikely, but polls show possible. Crazy. And Ohio used to be one of the most Repug.