Afternoon links

–> Guess which former Senator is running for office in Ohio?

–>Portune not running for U.S. Senate; endorsing Fisher

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune told The Cincinnati Enquirer today that he is endorsing Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for U.S. Senate.

In making the announcement, Portune also said he would not run himself for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Cleveland. Portune had been testing the waters and considering whether to form an exploratory committee for the race.

–> Dann settlement gets political

–>Gubernatorial Power Rankings: Crist, Freudenthal Top List

Who’s the most popular governor in the land? A fairly well-informed observer might guess Jon Hunstman, Jr. of Utah (who won’t be a governor for much longer), Charlie Crist of Florida or Sarah Palin of Alaska. Those would all be pretty good guesses, except for Palin, who was once extremely popular in Alaska, but no longer is. The answer, however, appears to be governor Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming, who when his approval was last tested back in August, was viewed favorably by some 81 percent of voters.

–> OEA putting kids before politics?

That would certainly be a first!  On their website, the Ohio Education Association is declaring the need to “put our kids ahead of politics”.  Oh the irony!

I can still hear Albert Shanker’s famous words ringing in my ears.  It’s burned in my memory, because it’s the most honest statement I’ve ever heard from the teachers’ unions:  ”I’ll start representing kids when kids start paying union dues.”