Dispatch rapid-response team fuels presidential speculation

NOTES FROM THE SECOND MORNING AFTER...

Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about  two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John  Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.

In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".

Smashing?  But only if you merely consider the raw numbers  after the governor ran up the score against  Ed FitzGerald's  posthumous  campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord.  You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money.  On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.

To speculation about his future,  Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing  the question. He said  he's not "thinking about the future''.  As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors",  a process that could take  months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.

Meantime, let the speculation roll.

Political experts quoted in the story  agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left  in his tenure following the 2008 election.

 A cautionary footnote:  The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin  went for Obama.

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More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The  Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to   spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh?  With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?

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While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated  his Republican opponent, Jack Schron,  for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron.  The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan".     And for years I thought that partisanship  was high up on the to-do list of a politician!

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Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare:  "One of these days  the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":



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Plunderbund threatened with suit by Plain Dealer

Plunderbund  reports that the Plain Dealer/Northeast Ohio Media Group has threatened to sue the blog for publishing a short clip of a 40-minute video that the  paper had shown online - and then removed.

The flap involved the PD 's editorial board's  group interview of Gov. Kasich, Democratic candidate Ed FitzGerald  and Green Party candidate Anita Rios.

Plunderbund reported a letter from Chris Quinn, vice president of content of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, demanding the removal of the clip from the blog, accusing it of " illegal use" that "entitles us to statutory damages,  which can be quite steep".  In other words, criminal copyright infringement.

I saw a few stray (?) clips that found their way to  Cleveland TV telling me that Kasich was not taking the interview with aplomb.  With FitzGerald trying to say something, the governor turned his head  away and laughed.

(His dodge-em campaign  mode recalls the TV commercial in which a car makes crazy   turns while a squib warns the viewer that it is  a " professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt".)

Plunderbund said the governor "slumped in his chair, refused to acknowledge the other candidates and ignored repeated attempts by the PD staff to answer even basic questions about his policies and programs."

That insufferable imperious attitude  convinced me that  he should satisfy his ego  and run for president, as he did once before.  Unshielded by the friendly Ohio media, he would find a much different reaction (and distraction) from a national media that would soon become impatient with his bullying style  and short temper.

So guv, as you have said, this is halftime in the governor's office so go for the big one in
Washington.  That would be painful to watch.  But we're getting used to painful politics in Ohio.

There's a big difference between white hat and white hard hat

Re-posted  from Plunderbund

Having declared Ed FitzGerald's gubernatorial campaign DOA on several occasions, the Plain Dealer  still persists in digging into  his distant past in the hope of handing the election to Gov. Kasich by acclimation. In less-polite circles, it's known as piling on.

There's never been any doubt that the PD, the voice of the city's controlling business and religious establishment, was on board with Republican  Kasich way  back when it endorsed him against Democratic incumbent Gov.Ted Strickland.  When I asked an influential source at the paper how they arrived at that decision, he gave me his raw  assessment:

"Kasich scares the shit out of me.  But Strickland never did anything for Cleveland."

 Oh. Another glimpse of Cleveland's fantasy of statehood?

 In today's moment, the contest is no longer about re-electing the governor.   Heavens, no!   It is about having their guy win by such a crushing margin that he can immediately set out to run for the White House. (Kasich denies interest in higher office  about any of his motives other than blistering his opponents in temper tantrums. Meantime, secretive big- money  committees are gathering to pay for his trip to Disney World.

 What a selling point in the heavy-footed swing state.  To suppose that the Blue Collar Kid would be the savior of the party that has lost two presidenticsl races to an African American, well, you might know how those things go, rather softly among his caterers in the state media.   .

So on Saturday,  there was PD politics writer Henry Gomez  talling us on front page that 15 years ago, FitzGerald  didn't mention any  traffic violations when he ran for a seat on Lakewood City Council.  Yes, FitzGerald should have. And in a race that might have been a dead heat, that could have rolled some eyes.

But. hey, what does it matter to be sniffing arournd for more flaws from 15 years ago?  And to have the Columbus politlcal writer writing the story with a Lakewood dateline.

From experience  I can suppose that the Republican leak machine is working overtime while the governor, in one of those white hard hats from the central casting stock room,   is appearing in TV commercials  with his delighted Smilies with a shovel to stress how many jobs he has created in Ohio. (When will he - or the media, for that matter - admit that whatever success he's enjoyed with the state economy can be immeasurably traced to the comeback around the country from the Bush recession?)

Careful, there, Guv.   Your right wing has long insisted that government doesn't create jobs. Even when the governor is decked out in a hard hat and flanked by a bunch of happy-go-lucky Republican achievers.

GOP convention in Cleveland? Credit Democrat FitzGerald

Re-Posted from Plunderbund 



Days in Northern Ohio have become much livelier in the heat of summer.  The past week or so, for example, has produced three tornadic events:  A real tornado in Medina County, LeBron James' epic decision to return to the Cavaliers,  and, of course, the Republican eruptive choice of Cleveland for its 2016 national convention.

So far, the GOP hasn't found a way to blame the tornado nor LeBron's flight from Florida - a key battleground state - on President Obama.   But Marco Rubio is doubtless still working on it  in James' case, including it in a new immigration reform package that will ship him back to Miami in cuffs.

The most interesting  response, however, is how the mainstream media  virtually ignored Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic candidate for governor, in the symbiotic local effort to  lure all of those Republicans to the oft-maligned city on the lake.  The hometown paper, with one major exception, handed out huzzahs for the efforts by the convention bureau, Cleveland companies and the Cleveland 2016 RNC Host Committee, headed by Terry Egger, the PD's former publisher.

The Beacon Journal, on the other hand, delivered to its readers a puffy Page One story from the Washington Post that "affirmed the influence of Sen. Rob. Portman"  in the GOP's decision  under the headline "GOP's choice of Cleveland reflects power of Portman".   The Republican senator, the article said, "pushed for months for the city as the site". Hint:  Portman was again elevated as a potential presidential candidate.  For now, it couldn't hurt. Or could it?

(About presidential politics: The Columbus Dispatch, which appears to be torn between advancing Gov. Kasich or Portman as the paper's choice for the Oval Office, focussed on Kasich, satisfied  that the convention would be a perfect national stage to dramatize  the "revitalization and fiscal turnaround that Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich has managed to pull off in a few short years...")

And as for Kasich himself, he had nothing to say at all to the Dispatch's  Joe Vardon who asked about FitzGerald's role.   Said the governor:  "That's a question - I'm not in the middle of that kind of question.  I have no answer to that right now."

That non-rsponse measures well against one of George W. Bush's when a reporter asked a question about a nominee:  " I would have to ask the questions...I haven't had a chance to ask the questioners the question they've been questioning."

And where was FitzGerald in the planning and rollout of the convention site?  It wasn't until veteran writer  Brent Larkin, who retired as the PD's editorial director five years ago, stepped up.

Summing up his column in the subhead over his commentary:  "Credit FitzGerald with leadership, vision in landing 2016 GOP convention."

Larkin noted that FitzGerald, with Positively Cleveland CEO Dave Gilbert as early as two years ago engaged in  planning for a convention proposal.  Wrote Larkin:

"And Republicans may  not like it, but FitzGerald, a Democrat,  deserves far more credit than any other elected official for the city landing  the GOP presidential nominating convention.  Anyone who tries to suggest  a public official other than FitzGerald is the father of this process is simply not telling the  truth."

Well, now.  Larkin's incisive observation certfainly bumps up against the PD's own editorial page think tank that recently devoted a full page to questioning  FitzGerald's  ''leadership".

Having worked  in the field with Larkin for years, I'll take his word for it.

Vardon arrives in Akron with a Dispatch mission

Joe Vardon, the Columbus Dispatch's poliltics and government writer, turned up at a news conference Wednesday following Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald's luncheon speech at the Quaker Square Inn.  Actually, it wasn't so much a news conference as we have come to know them.  With notebook and pencil in hand, Vardon turned it into an inquisition of the candidate regarding questions raised by the other side of the Cuyahoga county inspector general who has been accused of doing  campaign work on  public time.

In fact, State GOP Chairman Matt Borges has called for  the inspector's resignation, which was a little odd inasmuch as he once paid a $1,000 fine after he admitted "misusing public office".

That aside, Vardon was on a mission, determinedly consuming most the news  coference with  his repeated refusal to accept FitzGerald's reponse as several reporters stood around waiting for turns that never came. Way to go, Joe. The event was about you.

As we have commented in past posts,  Vardon is the apparent designated hitter for a paper that will unsurprisingly endorse Gov. Kasich's re-election  He has written glowingly  about Kasich's ubiquitous out of state appearances, which only counts if your paper is hoping to stage his rise to the Oval Office someday.

But my point today, having covered one or two or these things in a half century of political reporting, is that there are some unwritten rules of courtesies to your colleagues that exclude boorishly pigging out on the candidates.   Say, a question and a follow-up. In Vardon's case, he was the transparent story, not FitzGerald.    Tsk. Tsk.

I gave up and left the room as he was asking still another question.  But I was later told the Beacon Journal reporter did manage a single question as time was running out.

Vardon did write a piece about the inquisition in which he dwelled on inspector general  Nailah  Byrd,  leading his  report with Borge's call for her resignation. Vardon obviously didn't come to report the speech itself, because there wasn't a word in the story about the Democrat's questioning references to  Gov. Kasich.

P.S. I didn't plan to ask a question anyway, so no sour grapes here. Over the years, my questions too often turned up on TV with the camera showing the station's own reporter.  So I stopped asking questions.

When a story didn't make it to BJ's crossword puzzle

Saturday's Plain Dealer ran a story and photo across the top of the front page that reported Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald had chosen a running mate: Sharen Neuhardt, a lawyer from the Dayton area .

On the other hand, readers of the Beacon Journal didn't see a word of it unless it might have been a clue in the crossword puzzle.  FitzGerald's action  had been making the media rounds by early Friday afternoon.

Oh, I see.  The story arrived on the BJ's online  Ohio.com page by late afternoon. Sorry, I'm still trying to get used to the idea that news really isn't  printworthy until it appears on my computer.  Maybe  I had better first double-check the crossword puzzle.

legislative rumors to cancel 2014 gubernatorial election

With encouraging predictions from the GOP's resident gurus, Karl Rove and Dick Morris, that Gov.Kasich would defeat Democrat Ed  FitzGerald by 47 points, several low-ranking Republican lawmakers from southern Ohio are rumored  to be putting the final touches on a bill that would eliminate the 2014 gubernatorial election altogether.  One of the probable legislative  sponsors, an entry level statistician in JobsOhio, the secret Skull and Bones-style fraternity,  said he was impressed by crunching the numbers of campaign dollars and votes.  "It would save the state  money and create 627,492 - maybe even 627, 501 - jobs," he said. "Who could be against jobs?"  he asked rhetorically. Who, indeed?

GOP's Schrimpf; Only investors qualify for governor

When anybody tells me that Republicans are cold-blooded predators and don't have a sense of humor, I look for ways to disagree.  For example, there's Chris Schrimpf, who is proving to be  good for a laugh now and then.

Never heard of this fellow?  Well, he's the communications director of the Ohio Republican Party.  His career  path included a stint as communications director for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the anti-union exec who was reported to have exchanged high priority  conversations with Gov. Kasich before  the ill-fated Senate Bill 5 was left for dead by the Buckeye voters.

Who could have a greater sense of humor  than Schrimpf , who decided to strike a fatal blow at  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed  FitzGerald's  core values by disqualifying him as a worthy candidate.

Here's where the humor begins:  Schrimpf said  FitzGerald doesn't have "investments," no portfolio and stuff that would prepare him to handle the grave business of the state.  Kasich, we know, not only had investments; he also had the experience of being a managing director of Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt Wall Street investment firm.

In one shattering breakthrough from politics as usual, Schrimpf has decided: No portfolio, no governor."

He's kidding, right?

Alas, upon further reflection, I don't think so.