From an Ohioan

[johnnie]

I understand that you are all pissed off at my state, but I just want to make some points here. First off, georgie "won" by a lesser of a margin than he did in 2000. Where I live (Cuyahoga) he got clobbered by Kerry voters. With all the talk around here about voter fraud in Ohio and how close it actually was here in Ohio, I feel like the State of Ohio is being found guilty without the facts.
I'm not one to be a "rah rah for my state" type guy, but it sucks enough to know the results we might have to live with, let alone hearing the bashing from people who I thought were on the same team.
The numbers in my state just don't add up and I am waiting for the day of the inauguration before I find the people in this state guilty of being idiots.
That's all.

[manic expression]

1. I don't think people "hate" Ohio

but they are probably frusturated. That's all. By the way, that is a really good point.

[johnnie]

18. I guess hate is a strong word

I'm just trying to think positive and hope that they find the errors in this state.

[kikiek]

2. I sure don't blame you or Ohio. Lets get going on our work to get

control on 2006. Good idea was posted to start our write in campaigns about first off this wasn't mandate.

[skylarmae]

5. don't accept these tallies. They can't get away with this or we

will never have an election we can trust. No rollovers -

[kikiek]

17. Oh I agree 100 pct. We need to keep hitting the media though.

Don't let them pass out the WH propaganda. The news has become lazy. They prefer using press releases rather than write their own stories. You can tell word for word it is the same channel to channel. It isn't about reporting the news. It is about money. It is cheaper to let them write the news. They don't have to pay someone to do it then.

[skylarmae]

3. Is Ohio doing anything to demand proper tally - who is working

the numbers over there?

[Catherine Vincent]

4. There are a few DUers that are waiting until that time to expose the

fraud in Ohio but to me that would be too late. It's not like Bush will leave the White House. You guys won't get the backup you need from the media.

George is there to stay, unfortunately.

[Demit]

6. there was a bit of piling on, wasn't there?

I'm in the camp that thinks they stole your state. I think Ohio really did go for Kerry, and I hope our dedicated muckrakers can mount enough evidence, and get decent press coverage for it, to prove it.

[johnnie]

19. Me too

I hope this is exposed...and soon.

[PDittie]

7. There's an ongoing search for scapegoats

Don't take it personally.

If you REALLY want to experience some geographic discrimination on these here boards, come on down to Texas.

That's where these Christian Taliban got their foothold, after all, and no, not of all us voted GOP last Tuesday either -- unlike, say, Oklahoma ;-)

[johnnie]

20. Oh...I was just in Texas in August

LOL, it's not easy being a liberal Yankee down there. But yeah, you guys take some heat now and again :)

[CBGLuthier]

27. 504,0000 okies

I know you put a smiley, but as I have been posting all morning, over half a million Oklahomans voted for Kerry. And evertime someone bashes Oklahoma (not you :-) ) it is an insult to the half million who did the right thing.

And just for a funny kicker, I live in Oklahoma but I was born in Ohio.

[PDittie]

30. You da man, n.m.p.

or woman, as the case may be.

[GRLMGC]

8. I can't blame Ohio

I'm distressed that it was so close but I also see that a big percentage of people DID vote for Kerry. I'm not too fond of those extra 136,000 who voted for Bush though ;)

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Your state is not the problem. BLACKWELL and FRAUD are the problem!

n/t

[maxrandb]

29. Yes, but wasn't Blackwell elected by Ohio?

I'm from OH too, and I'm out of state while in the military. The simple fact is that if we do nothing! If we say, "oh that's OK Ohio, we'll get you next time", where is the incentive for change?

You think we should reward the red states? Look at the numbers. The majority of the "red states" get more back from the government teat than they put into it. I'm going to fight long and hard to end red state welfare. Like we've all been taught since being toddlers..."actions have consequences".

Don't stick your finger in the light socket, and you won't get burned.

[atreides1]

10. Not Pissed at Ohio, Just the Idiots That Voted for Bush

But it was reported that what put Bush over the top was the fact that the elderly and white evangelicals in Ohio voted for him.

So I agree it's not Ohio that is at fault, but those two groups were
instrumental in the Bush victory, and that already puts them into the idiot line.

It was posted here in DU that the Ohio Attorney General is planning to cut 11,500 state workers to save money. Now we all know that this is not the kind of thing that can be planned for in a day, and that it was sitting on a back burner.

It is my fondest hope that some of those losing their jobs were ones who also voted for Bush, I am sorry for those who voted for Kerry, and I know that they and their families face a rough road ahead. As for those who voted for Bush, I have nothing for them, no sympathy, no compassion, for them or their families.

[PSU84]

11. Ohio was the key to winning.

Everyone on both sides knew that whichever candidate wonf 2 out of 3 in Ohio, PA, and Florida would win the election. Well, Jeb delivered Florida for the Corleone - oops, BUSH - family.

It is only natural that Democrats should be disappointed and angry that a majority of Ohians voted for Bush - or so we were told. Ken Blackwell will reap his rewards from the GOP. We can only hope that someday he will end up in prison, where he belongs.

[glarius]

12. Not being American I'm not sure how things work down there but I heard

Tucker Carlson and Bob Novack each say, in the afternoon of Nov 2nd, on CNN, they had just been on the phone talking to Republican contacts in Ohio, and they were told by these contacts that Kerry was going to win.......How did all this change so quickly?

[johnnie]

13. I saw a popular politician here on a local station

It was maybe 9 o'clock EST, he stated, Kerry is up by 20% in all the big counties and it was even a surprise to the Kerry people that it was by that much.

[many a good man]

14. Love Ohio. Hate "Uh-hi-uh"

There are two Ohios: one that voted for Kerry and another that pronounces it "Uh-hi-uh".

I spent my first 18 years in Ohio and have watched the Democratic dream fade everywhere in that state. My grandfather was Chairman of the Cleveland Democratic Party in the '50s and he was inspired by the reforms of Mayor Tom Johnson. He ran for office in the '20s on a platform to keep Muny Light, a legacy maintained today by Dennis Kucinich.

Ohio is a microcosm of the country, so we can't blame anything on one poor state. Race and religion are the barriers preventing a Democratic breakthrough there. There is a populist surge waiting to be unleashed in Ohio. Four more years of bush* will uncork it.

Good luck counting all the ballots. Hope you have a magnificent surprise for all of us...

[Lindsay]

16. Hey, TorchesAndPitchforks!

I betcha your grandfather knew my grandfather. Mine was big time in the Typographical Workers Union in Cleveland, and a strong liberal and union man all his life.

(Sorry for the OT, y'all.)

[gennifer6]

15. Kerry took Cuyahoga by 66%

and as soon as you leave Cuyahoga County, Ohio becomes rich suburbs full of sheltered white people and uneducated farm freaks and southern drawls. You don't have to go too far from the city to find them. Us Clevelanders are proud of our progressive attitudes and city-fied lifestyles but we are surrounded by "the others".

[johnnie]

21. I know a lot of people from the Akron/Canton area...

And they were all for Kerry. I even heard that Cincy was leaning Kerry. That would have guaranteed a win for sure.

[Neverarepublican]

22. Please don't hate Ohio

I've been trying to send this all morning to Michael Moore.
It keeps coming back that his mailbox is full.
I thought I would share it with all of you.

Dear Michael,

Please don't hate Ohio. I live in Strongsville, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland. I proudly put my John Kerry yard sign in my front yard and put my John Kerry bumper sticker on my mini-van that I shuffle around in with my three boys.

I had been getting psyched for Kerry since he was chosen. I could see
Something in Kerry that was great. Through many conversations with co-workers and friends, we could see that change was needed.

My next door neighbor in September said she and her husband were voting for Bush. I felt sorry for her that she was not enlightened.
A couple days before the election I caught her outside and she told me she was now voting for Kerry. She said she saw your movie F-911. I was overjoyed, my faith in her as a thinking, understanding person was restored.

Another time an employee who I work with who has always voted republican told me he saw Bush in Westlake shortly before the election but told me he was still voting for Kerry.


Election day came, it really looked like things were going to go our way in Ohio.

Michael, I really feel that Bush cheated in Ohio. There is all this talk
Of the voting machines being rigged -check out www.blackboxvoting.org -I'm sure you already know about it.

As I sit here and write you, I'm sick to my stomach. I don't want to slash my wrists but I have impending dread. My husband tells me to focus on other stuff, but I feel that if the cheating really happened, this is so big and if we try to expose it, no one will listen. You exposed so much in your movie, and Bush was still put in. I am so scared for us. The Bush Administration is so corrupt.

Just don't hate Ohio because there are so many that have seen the light. Maybe more than you think.

I don't know if you will personally read this but I just had to try.

Sincerely,

Ohio Mom

[johnnie]

23. Hi there

:hi: I grew up in Middleburg, so we are almost next door neighbors. I hope you can get that letter of yours thru to Mr. Moore. Keep trying and it is bound to get in there. Take care. :)

[Neverarepublican]

24. Thanks

I'll keep trying.

[calico1]

25. Try not to take it personally.

I don't think most people mean it personally because we all know that a lot of people in Ohio voted for Kerry. I think THAT's what frustrates us--that it was so close, and probably stolen and that it would have made the difference. Its like last time with Fla. We knew the State was stolen but people out of frustration blamed Floridians. Can't Cuyahoga secede and become part of PA or MI? Just kidding. According to the CNN map, a Southern county--Athens, also went strong for Kerry, surrounded by Red counties. Well, it is good to know that Ohio voted in higher numbers for the Dems this time than last. And at that a "Liberal from Massachussettes." I think Michael Moore is right. If all these people from Ohio and surrounding states and from the South voted for a Liberal from Mass. in those numbers (remember people saying it couldn't happen?) and voted despite all hateful campaign waged against him, then we are on to something. I have a bunch of cousins, aunts and uncles in Ohio. They are from Lorain, Cleveland, Youngstown and my favorite one lives in Columbus. Not sure which counties these are. But I sure don't hate Ohio. I spent a week in Columbus once visiting a friend. Very nice city.

[johnnie]

26. As I said..

I guess I shouldn't have used the word "hate". The other thing is, Ohio is very much like PA, and look what they did there.

[archineas]

28. another cuyahoga county DUer

...completely agrees!

...as a gay person living in greater cleveland, i'm at least comforted by the idea that this area isn't as hate laden as other parts of the state.

...when the rest of the northeast secedes, they have to take us with them!

j

[Chili]

31. yes, please redraw that secession map!

Include Cuyahoga county... and not only that, but Kerry went blue all the way down to Stark county, which was a real accomplishment - and Athens county all the way near the Kentucky border includes Ohio University, where many liberal students stood for hours to vote for Kerry. Move the campus if you have to, but Leave No Liberal Behind!

[JPace]

32. I don't hate Ohio, I saw those long long lines

of people waiting to vote and I have respect
for that. The repugs stole the vote again
plain and simple. No fault of Ohio residents.

[sergei kirov]

33. Ohioan from Kerry

I voted for Kerry in Hamilton county and did canvassing in Warren County. My parents, grandmother and uncle all live in the more rural counties and supported Kerry. My Mother who is so apolitical that she can not even remember the candidate that she voted for in 2000 even made a giant homemade sign for Kerry on the barn.

[Senator Lamb]

34. i feel bad

all the lost jobs, and crappy economy, what does it take to win Ohio?