RWNJ » Ohio

2008 Ohio Issues – Calling a Couple

admin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:06:25 +0000

Just a couple Ohio initiatives that can be called.

Issue 6 – The Clinton Casino issue will fail.

Issue 5 – The Payday Lending issue will pass.

The “Battle of the Steves” is still undecided as of now. I expect that this will be close and might not be called tonight. Chabot is currently trailing Driehaus, but very few precincts have reported. It’s too early to call this one.

Obama Workers Withdraw 13 Illegal Ballots in Ohio

admin — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:59:14 +0000

The New York Post is reporting that 13 campaign workers for Obama withdrew their registrations and ballots in Ohio. It appears that the prosecutor’s kind reminder that temporary residents aren’t allowed to vote in Ohio prompted the withdrawal. I guess the threat of a felony charge is a good motivator.

It’s a shame to see either side illegally moving votes to try to steal a battleground state. It will be harder for the Obama camp to separate itself from this like it did with ACORN. So far I have not seen anything come across the wire for McCain volunteers facing the same issues.

Chabot and Driehaus Race Too Close to Call

admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:20:29 +0000

Chabot is running for his 8th term from Ohio’s 1st District, but the most recent poll data I can find shows Driehaus is up by 2 points. That’s within the margin of error and shows that this race is a dead heat. Now, to make things a bit more interesting, tonight’s debate may not be televised because a write-in candidate has complained that he was being left out.

Although there is plenty in common with Chabot and Driehaus, there are many differences too. Chabot voted against the bailout, Driehaus would have voted for it. Chabot supports letting workers invest some of their Social Security money on their own, Driehaus doesn’t. Chabot wants military leaders instead of lawmakers to make decisions on when to withdraw from Iraq, Driehaus wants to start “responsible, phased redeployment from Iraq.”

From what I can tell, aside from Issue 6, Chabot and Driehaus have the most local political ads on TV. Finance reports showed that Chabot had raised $2.2 million to Driehaus’s $1.1 million. I guess I’ll have to suffer through more ads before election day.

Chabot won a close race two years ago against John Cranley. Chabot has the highest percentage of black constituents, 27.5%, of any Republican district in the state. The race looks to be much more difficult this year than 2006.