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Profiles in Cowardice: Lee Fisher
So what exactly is going on with Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner in the Democratic primary for the US Senate seat? The two candidates seem intent on ignoring each other and the party and its interest groups seem to have sworn an oath to avoid talking about the primary (the biggest in this important state in a critical year).
First, there was some confusion over whether Brunner was or was not at the President’s visit to Strongsville yesterday. It turns out she was there but President Obama apparently snubbed her! As I noted on Twitter, Obama snubs a women but praises the men? Good thing the president doesn’t have a history of belittling women …
We do know that Lee Fisher was definitely not at the rally. Why? Well, he said he had to attend the meeting with the Plain Dealer. But obviously Secretary of State Brunner was able to attend both while the former jobs czar used it as an excuse to miss it. Interesting. What is Lee up to?
But then Fisher was supposed to be on WFIN in Findley to discuss the health care debate. But it turns out he was a no-show. Let’s go to the transcript:
Not sure exactly what happened to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. Of course we mentioned not only the current Lieutenant Governor and candidate for US Senate seat now being held by Sen. George Voinovich was scheduled to be with us on the program in this half hour. [HE] scheduled to be with us to talk about his campaign hand the key issues he saw in terms of the important stuff for Ohio moving forward especially in this period of economic recovery .
We were planning on talking to him about that in this half hour but nothing, not sure what happened. We did confirm yesterday that he was supposed to be with us and then this morning nothing.
So not sure exactly what’s going on there. Hopefully we can reschedule and maybe get the Lieutenant Governor on the program yet this week because one of the things I wanted to ask him about was this health care vote in Washington. He wants to go to the Senate so wanted to ask where he stood on this whole healthcare debate that seems to be coming to a head this week.
Wow, that’s embarrassing!
Rob Portman right, Democrats wrong on health care reform
A few days ago I posted on how the Democrats were attacking US Senate Candidate Rob Portman for supposedly supporting the “status-quo” on health care (instead of the health care monstrosity currently being debate in Washington).
The ODP rolled out some nonsensical attack quotes that missed the whole point. Portman has been saying since the beginning that a bill that raises costs and hurts business is the last thing we need right now. He has been calling for reform that reduces costs and allows for greater access. But Democrats insist on ramming their plan down our throats even if they have to ignore the constitution to do it.
Anyone who knows him knows that Portman is no raging populist – nor is he in the pocket of big insurance companies like the Democrats insist – but he is an intelligent politician and he knows his public policy. So he knows the public doesn’t want a government take over of health care that leads to higher costs and more bureaucracy. And he knows that the proposal the Democrats are pushing will lead to just that. So he opposes it.
This is neither trolling for campaign donations nor mere campaign rhetoric. It is common sense. And you know what? He is right.
What part of “No” don’t they understand?
Jim Jordan talks about the effort to ram health care reform through congress:
Seth Bringman & ODP fail reading comprehension and logic
This story from DDN is revealing in so many ways:
On a day that brought President Barack Obama to Ohio to make a final appeal for congressional approval of his health care overhaul plan, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman had a different message.
“I pray that it will not pass,” Portman said on Monday, March 15. His comments came in a meeting with members of the Dayton Daily News editorial board.
Portman said the plan that Obama is trying to get the Democratic-controlled Congress to approve would increase costs.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Portman. “…We’re going to have higher, not lower costs.”
[emphasis mine - KH]
Now, for those of you slow on the uptake Rob Portman is saying he is opposed to the current health care proposal because it will lead to the opposite of what is needed: higher not lower costs. With me so far? Good.
Enter Seth Bringman and the Ohio Democratic Party who apprently struggle with these basic concepts:
Seth Bringman, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, lashed back at Portman in an e-mail.
“While Rob Portman is praying for the status quo on health care, we will be praying for the millions of Americans without health insurance and the millions more middle class families who can’t afford rising health care costs,” said Bringman.
Um, except that isn’t what he said at all. He isn’t praying for the “status quo” – whatever that is at this point – but for the current proposal to be stopped.
Notice too, how Bringman tries his typical rhetorical Jedi mind trick asserting that Portman is opposed to helping middle class families who can’t afford “rising health care costs.”
One small problem: Portman is arguing that the bill will in fact raise costs and therefor is bad for American families and businesses – which is the obvious point of his comments.
In fact, Portman has been consistently making this point for months as the health care debate has played out and has said that what is needed is not Bringman’s big bad bogeyman of the “status quo” but reform that lowers costs and provides greater access. Anyone with a elementary school ability to read and process basic logic would understand this.
But it again appears that Seth Bringman and the ODP lack these basic skills. Sad isn’t it? But education reform is the topic of a whole ‘nother post.
Attn Democrats: gotchas are not going to cut it this cycle
Just a little bit of advice to Democrats in Ohio: gotcha politics and lame fake scandals are not going to change the political dynamic this cycle. No matter how hard you try to catch Republicans in awkward situations or try to paint Tea Party folks as extremists it will not change the fundamental fact that unemployment is over 10%, your popularity is droping like a stone and you have no answers.
The latest example of this strategy is some bad jokes at a fundraising event. Yes, the jokes were in poor taste and not even funny. Yes, that is a headline if there ever was one: politicians are not funny! Anyone who has ever attended any of these events could tell you that. Most politicians are just not funny and they don’t have a history of timely humor either.
As an aside, let me just say to any and all political activists, Tea Party organizers, and others involved in campaign events:
Please just shut up about the birth certificate! LET IT GO!
I don’t think these type of things matter a great deal but why waste everyone’s time and energy on this. Focus on what is important.
But in the end all these little controversies are just distractions. The fundamental issue of this election is jobs, jobs and jobs. Out of control federal spending and big government solutions that will only further hamper the economy are undercurrents that reinforce the jobs issue. Any candidate who doesn’t get that is in trouble.
Rob Portman gets it. And he has focused his campaign like a laser on the issue. And that is why he is leading in the polls despite running against two experienced candidates holding state wide office.
And this is why the left wants to attack him anytime anyone in his general vicinity says anything remotely controversial. This despite the fact that the left – both elected officials and activists – has smeared an entire populist movement of active citizens by making vulgar sexualized and derisive comments. Despite the history of poor taste and outrageous accusations that liter the history of the left and Democrats in this country.
Heck, most leftist blogs are unreadable thanks to their angry vulgarity and mouth frothing style. And yet Democrats stumbled over themselves to praise them when they need their money. And no one required denunciations. The hypocrisy here is staggering. The GOP is the only party who is required to distance themselves from any possible scandal or comment in poor tastes. Democrats compare President Bush to Hitler: perfectly fine. Republicans make a joke about Obama’s birth certificate: outrage!
But in the larger picture these gotcha attempts and fake scandals are just media moments and they won’t sway any votes or impact the campaign in any real way.
So on second thought, Democrats keep focusing on them while Republicans focus on the issues that matter. We will let the voters decide what is important.
Brunner Fisher most boring primary in history?
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Speaking of Lee Fisher and Jennifer Brunner is this the most boring primary evah? I mean this is supposed to be a battle royale for a crucial Senate seat. Democrats fighting for their political lives. Progressives showing their might, etc. This race is pretty important in Ohio and even nationally. And yet … nothing.
I will confess I have not trolled the lefty blogs for the latest talking points or arguments but it seems to me this primary is producing absolutely nothing of interest. Not debates between candidates no juicy arguments about the direction of the party or why either candidate is clearly superior. The media seems bored by it as well.
Are the Dems afraid of taking shots at each other? Is Fisher just going to assume his money and his establishment support makes him the winner? I she afraid if he attacks Brunner he will lose the leftist base?
Is Brunner counting on support from the base and from women putting her over the top? Is she afraid to take shots at Fisher? Has she done any polling? Can she afford to?
I find it interesting that sixty days out we have a critical primary but one which is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Fisher and Brunner absolutely clueless on job creation
- Image by niq77174 via Flickr
Read this article and weep at the Democrats conception of economic development:
Fisher said he is the only candidate who has been on the ground creating and saving jobs under the leadership of Gov. Ted Strickland. He said he is part of the team that helped convince V&M Star Steel to build an expansion on the border of Girard and Youngstown and helped secure the Chevrolet Cruze for the General Motors plant in Lordstown.
Fisher said he has championed for health care reform and a patient bill of rights.
“I believe I can take my experience with job creation and retention in Ohio to Washington, D.C., where I can help move Ohio into the field of green technology and help take advantage of the state’s strong manufacturing base,” Fisher said.
Seriously? Did “Job Czar” Lee Fisher actually say that outloud? And people didn’t laugh him off the stage?
Just a reminder, folks. Ohio unemployment stands at 10.8% worse than the national average. How many jobs do you think V&M Star and Lordstown plants involved. Well, Ohio has lost something on the order of half a million jobs since Fisher was elected. Created or saved indeed.
But wait, Jennifer Brunner might be worse:
Brunner said Ohio needs to move away from manufacturing and into the fields of clean energy and biomedical technology. She also said the nation needs to solve its health care “crisis” to ease the strain on small businesses.
“There is no silver bullet to create jobs. It will take cooperation among many levels of business, government and advocacy groups to grow Ohio’s economy again,” Brunner said.
Ah, the brilliant insight! Move away from a manufacturing into clean energy. Sure, that will fix the economy. Oh, by the way, the manufacturing of medical devices is a potentially strong field for Ohio so moving away from manufacturing isn’t so simple. High technology manufacturing is different than traditional manufacturing.
John Kasich: Ohio’s Next Governor
Yes, I just claimed that John Kasich is going to be Ohio’s next governor. This is not meant as hyperbole. I really believe Kasich is going to beat Governor Strickland in November.
This is not based on deep study of the polls or a county-by-county analysis or anything of that sort. It is more of a gut feeling based on how I see the campaign playing out. Now, of course, a great deal could change in the intervening months: scandals, gaffes, the political environment, etc. But right now I don’t see any of that happening in such a way to change the underlying landscape.
I have begun to think that elections are determined in many ways by some pretty basic elements. What is the mood, what is the central issue or issues, how the candidates are perceived and what are their one sentence arguments for running.
On these basics Kasich is simply better situated to win than Strickland.
Details – such as they are – below.
Leveraging the power of social media in Ohio campaigns
Interesting article at the Daily Caller: What’s social campaigning got to do with it?
In the 10 states where leading political prognosticators deem the Senate seat a “tossup” (Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania) an analysis of social media tools being employed by the various candidates from Jan. 29-Feb. 6, 2010, revealed some striking results.
Here is the section on Ohio:
Ohio provides yet another example where both candidates could be doing more to launch the social campaign strategies. The presumptive GOP nominee, former Congressman Rob Portman, is only utilizing some bare-bones social media tools; while Portman’s campaign is showing strong Facebook (4,018 fans) and Twitter (1,210 followers) numbers, he has thus far failed to incorporate YouTube, SMS/text, MySpace, LinkedIn, Digg or Widgets. To his credit, all the following are also being used by his campaign: a blog, Flickr, email sign-up and grassroots/action center.
Fortunately for Portman, his two rivals in the Democratic primary—Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher—appear similarly situated with their weak social media strategies. Brunner has 2,208 Facebook fans, compared to Fisher’s 2,817 fans; Brunner has 1,286 Twitter followers compared to Fisher’s 806 followers; and both have nearly the same number of YouTube channel views (585 vs. 518, respectively). While Brunner is using SMS/text and a campaign blog, Fisher is a rarity in that he’s using Digg—but neither Brunner nor Fisher has embraced MySpace, LinkedIn or Widgets.
What do you think? Will social media play an important role in Ohio campaigns? Will it be a difference maker or just another component? Who do you think is best utilizing these tools right now?
Chart of the Day: What Unsustainable Looks Like
In 2010, Medicare and Medicaid cost 5.0 percent of GDP and Social Security cost 4.8 percent of GDP. Combined, that’s less than 10 percent of GDP. By 2020, the combined cost of these three programs is already projected to grow to 11.4 percent of GDP; extrapolating forward at constant growth rates, their cost will be at about 14.4 percent of GDP by 2030.
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