Against Coughlin, Alex opts for lesser of two evils

How painful it must have been for Summit County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff to join the elections board majority in its unanimous decision to hire former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner as an "elections expert." Her advisory assignment is to determine whether Kevin Coughlin, Arshinkoff's old Republican nemesis, should be granted a spot on the ballot as an independent candidate for Stow Clerk of Courts.

It was Brunner, you may recall, who dismissed Arshinkoff from his elections board seat for being a disruptive kind of guy. He's now back.  And had to choose between  Democrat Brunner, whom he despises, and Coughlin, whom he despises, in the current set-to at the Board.  A longtime poker player, Arshinkoff put his money on Brunner, now out of office,  as the minimally lesser of two evils and doubtless went to confession afterward to expunge the sin of ever supporting any Democrat.

Brunner's endorsement of Kasich policies

THERE ARE DAYS when it's impossible to follow the bouncing ball. Take Jennifer Brunner's behavior these days in the political universe, for example. In case you've forgotten, Brunner had become the poster candidate for the progressive women's movement - some of it inspired by her assurances that she didn't mind that distinction at all. Still, it wasn't enough for the former Ohio Secretary of State to defeat Lee Fisher in last year's Senate primary and she headed to her law office in Columbus, apparently to sulk awhile.

Today, the media have been wondering about how she could now be so charitable to

Gov. Kasich's policies. Hey, she says, stop complaining about the guy because he's out there fighting for Ohioans. Or as the Plunderbund blog quoted her remarks at the Columbus Athletic Club after she nodded approvingly during a Kasich speech:

"Not everyone agrees with those [Kasich's] changes, but he's making an effort. You can tell that he cares...[He is] dedicated to reforming Ohio.'"

But wait! Is that the same Jennifer Brunner who Kasich has just appointed to the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission - not a role that will give her many photo-ops. The 12 -member Commission describes itself as a means to look after the "development and performance" of cutural and sports facilities with no power over the expenditure of public funds.

As the Columbus Dispatch twitted the Kasich-Brunner moment:

"Not long ago, Jennifer Brunner said something nice about John Kasich. And today, the Republican governor appointed the former Democratic secretary of state to the Ohio Cultural Commission."

With Lee Fisher, he's talking experience

Lee Fisher's appearance at the Akron Press Club this week concluded the club's program series of U.S. senatorial candidates that served more as preliminaries to next May's Ohio primary election. Fisher, the Democratic lieutenant governor and former Ohio attorney general, carefully crafted a talk that, much like an experienced chess player, moved confidently from an opening gambit to a solid endgame and one didn't have to listen that attentively to know that he is marketing his governmental experience to the fullest in his encounter with Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

"I've been on the ground doing the things that we've been talking about," he said, noting that he has been working as the state' economic development chief during a period of deep economic stress nationally and in Ohio. On that score, one doesn't need a high priced political guru to point to the most effective option to win the voters hearts these days: J-O-B-S. Fisher spent a good portion of his talk on the topic., voicing a number of economic initiatives he supports. For example, some relief could come from giving tax credits to the businesses capable of spurring employment, he said. And no tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

He also sent a strong signal that the Democrats will not let anybody forget that Rob Portman, the leading Republican candidate in the field, came out of the Bush administration as the president's trade and budget director - an administration that left a mountainous economic mess. He characterized Portman as a "nice guy" who was an architect of "policies that harmed millions of workers."

On this score, Brunner, his Democratic primary opponent, will have to play catch-up to Fisher in articulating the clear differences between Democrats and Republicans in fixing the economy. Although she is running well behind Fisher in fund-raising, she is nonetheless a popular figure in the state, particularly among women voters. In her talk to the Press Club, she spoke more as an efficient Secretary of State than as a senatorial candidate. That will gain little traction as the campaign wears on.

On the Republican side, although Portman is the Republican establishment's choice , there has to be unease in that camp over the fact that Ganley, a wealthy auto dealer, is committing millions of dollars to a campaign drawing the attention of the party's right-wingers. It could sap campaign funds from Portman that would be more productive against the Democrat in the November. As they have already demonstrated, the Tea Partyers will not go quietly. It promises to be a boisterous campaign. I may find myself watching it.

Look for the opening bell to ring clearly on both sides in January, offering fewer than four months for a made-for-TV campaign. Will Sarah Palin show up for a Ganley rally. Better chance of that happening than George Bush showing up for a Portman shindig.

Morrison Saga lingers on and on and on...

THE BEACON JOURNAL'S editorial call on Monday for Jack Morrison to give up his seat on the University of Akron's Board of Trustees was the latest attempt to persuade him to leave short of trussing him up and wheeling him off the campus. Don't count on that happening any time soon, if ever. For months, Morrison, the Akron lawyer whose resume now includes two misdemeanor convictions on ethics charges, has been impervious to any suggestion by high ranking officials that he pack up and leave the UA board as well as the Summit County Board of Elections, where he is the chairman of the often rancorous four- member panel.

His critics have included Gov. Strickland, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, some Democrats and Republicans in the Ohio legislature and a silent cadre of trustees who whisper there there's not a damn thing they can do about it.

Morrison, an influential Republican who serves as the lawyer for the Summit County GOP, knows all of this quite well and assumes that so long as his conviction is being appealed, any attacks on his status as a UA trustee are, well...purely academic.

As everyone surely knows, his legal problems evolve from his son's purchase of a derelict home near the University's new football field and Father Morrison's interest- bearing loan to his son to underwrite the transaction for a house that has since been torn down after it was resold for a profit. The Ohio Ehtics Commission insisted that the elder Morrison was less than candid about these details.

Since July, when the court ruled against him, Morrison has drawn more attention in political and academic circles than one would expect of Sarah Palin, the newly arrived literary sensation who has been known to draw a crowd or two in Ohio, as elsewhere - in a losing cause.

Morrison is not really the only issue anymore. It's the negatives that he's heaped on the University simply by stonewalling. He probably correctly concludes that if the University can live with it, so can he.

Brunner's low-key quest for the U.S. Senate

JENNIFER BRUNNER stepped up to the Akron Press Club podium Thursday as the third in the club's series of four candidates engaged in a senatorial quest to succeed Republican George Voinovich. It was a low-key 20 minute speech (plus a Q&A period) in which she seemed trapped more in her role as Secretary of State than as a potential Democratic U.S. senator with an eye on the national issues that would command her attention in an Obama Administration. (Her opponent in the Democratic primary next year is Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who will close out the Press Club series on Dec. 8.)

Well, we're still in the preliminaries for the senate races and there is still much to learn from the candidates of both parties, although it does seem that on the GOP side, the litany will be tax cuts and more tax cuts, notwithstanding the fact that such holier-than-thou promises, when infused into the Bush administration's agenda, did nothing more than worsen the federal deficit and set the stage (along with Iraq's extravaganza) for a recession.

Brunner is an intelligent, thoughtful person who is less than forceful from the podium. She tends toward long answers to questions from her audience, each response becoming a rambling mini speech in itself. (Such was the case of Rob Portman, the bell cow of the Republican senate race hereabouts.) But as a career journalist, I can't pass up her remarks about the horrendous costs of political campaigns today.

She was absolutely right to note that the changing media culture has left candidates few alternatives to circulate their messages to mass audiences. As newspapers continue to shrink, relatively few political advertising dollars are spent in the print media. Cable networks, she said, reach far fewer audiences than the major mainstream broadcasters. So high-cost networks and local affiliates feast on political ads while spending very little on the coverage of the statewide campaigns.

So TV remains largely an entertainment medium? So what else is new?

Morrison's defiance more than guilt or innocence?

TODAY BROUGHT another dismal chapter in the tale of Jack Morrison's continued defiance of all moving parts since he was convicted of two ethics charges as a member of the University of Akron Board of Trustees. On Page One of the Beacon Journal he's reported to be glued to his seat on the Summit County Board of Elections despite Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's initiative to remove him. He continues to defend his innocence, which is usually the refrain of prisoners heading to the gallows. He has used the same excuse to remain on the UA's Board of Trustees.

What gall! Morrison, an influential operative who knows his way around the inner-sanctum of Republican politics as the party's lawyer, obviously has elevated politics to a disgracefully high level. Folks, this is less about guilt or innocence and more about retaining a Republican seat on the Board of Trustees until the day that a Republican might get elected governor.(Governors appoint trustees on the recommendations of local pols.) That is at least GOP County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff's rationale in defending Morrison's continued presence at the university. A former board member himself, Arshinkoff has long been involved in the university's and party's interests in tandem. I wouldn't be surprised if other higher-ups in the party have worked back channels to get Morrison off the hook. A man of his wealth and power always has friends.

Now the chairman must choose: Is a single seat on the Board of Trustees (the election board is another matter since it has always been a political instrument for both parties) more important than the recurring negative stories that will accompany the Morrison saga and further dent the university's image, partricularly those enrolled in ethics classes? .

It shouldn't be that hard to answer the question. But unfortunately, it apparently is.

Summit Board interns get zero pay!

FIVE COLLEGE STUDENTS who have worked as interns at the Summit County Board of Elections are learning early in their young lives that, as Jimmy Carter once put it, life can be unfair.  Having worked part--time at the Board for two to three weeks, their promised paychecks are now being held up by Republican Board chairman Jack Morrison, who doesn't think they should have been hired in the first place.  In other words, the students are being treated as hostages while  Morrison insists on  some kind of unlikely compromise with the two Democrats on the Board.  

Morrison, an Akron lawyer and member of the University of Akron Board  of 

Trustees, is in enough hot water following his indictment on seven misdemeanor ethics charges and has rejected calls for his resignation from  as high up as Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut.   Now this.  How exciting can one's life be?

He had asked Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to resolve the interns issue, but she sent it back to Summit County and called for the Board to take care of its own business.  But it's not likely he'll gain any ground with Wayne Jones, a Board member and chairman of the county Democratic Party who supported the summer hirings.  The blood on the board is darker and murkier than the stuff old men dig up in the Irish bogs.  

Oh, regardless of the political feuding,   it will eventually be resolved, which shouldn't be the point here.  If the kids were promised a paycheck, shouldn't they be paid for their work? It's an old-fashioned idea no matter how modern the world is.  I wonder how far Morrison is willing to go to ignore the Board's obligations.  Or as the legal advisor to the County GOP, is he counseling the interns to learn  the value  of pro bono work?  Jeez.  

A diversionary Ohio poll on a rainy day

ALTHOUGH THERE are still mega-miles ahead in the major 2010 Ohio races, you can bet your rusty Wendell Willkie button that insiders from both parties will be carefully digesting the latest Quinnipiac poll for beneficial spins.  At this stage of the long journey,  polls tell us very little - unless, of course, they come in handy to influence the big early donors that their generosity would not not be forgotten.

The Q poll for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican George Voinovich, shows Lt. Gov Lee Fisher with a comfortable lead over Republican Rob Portman, 42 pct-31 pct, while Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who is competing with Fisher in the Democratic primary, is ahead of Portman, 40- 31.  Both also have double digit leads over State Auditor Mary Taylor,  who is not expected to run at this point.

Gov. Ted Strickland has a 51-32 lead over former Republican congressman Republican John Kasich.   More important than the one-on-one matchups is the context in which Ohio politics is currently being played out.  President Obama has a 62-31 approval rating in the Buckeye state; Strickland, 52-37.  

The Democratic senate primary remains the focal point among the party's movers and shakers, with a back-channel effort by some  inside chess players to persuade Brunner to withdraw and run for the Ohio Supreme Court instead.  You might keep an eye on that opening gambit.

A strong word of caution:  A year before the 2008 presidential election in Ohio, the Q poll reported that Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani (!!!!) were in a virtual tie.    We all know how that turned out on Election Day.  

  .    

Kudos and grumps

KUDOS:  Here's a vote for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner as the  star of Election Day in Ohio this year.  Even with Cleveland still in the Ohio mix, the balloting was a relatively smooth exercise despite repeated attacks on Brunner by Republicans who wouldn't take NO for an answer.  She was vindicated by separate refusals by the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Justice Department - hardly the most liberal renegades  these days - to  uphold the legal challenges to her in the moments  leading up to Election Day.    It was  a remarkably cool contrast to the confusion and sloppy decisions by Brunner's predecessor, Ken Blackwell, in 2006 as he futilely sought the governor's office.  Nice going, Ms. Brunner!  Democracy needed that.  After  Mr. Blackwell, did it ever!  

CHANGE THE MEDS:  This provocative  post-election headline appeared in SF Gate, the online San Francisco Chronicle:   The country is still a disaster.  Why is is everyone smiling?  

NAMING NAMES:   I found this gem in my email from a reader:

"How bad must the GOP feel right about now?  It portrayed Obama as a socialist, communist, a Muslim and a friend of terrorists, and a majority of Americans said, 'Y'know, we're OK with that, as long as he's not a Republican.'"

SOUND ADVICE:  I hope that when the Bidens met with the Cheneys today,  Joe resisted the urge to accept an invitation from Dick to go duck hunting.  Dick may be vengeful these days. 

RADIO SLAP-HAPPY TALK:   Surfing my FM in the car, I happened to hear the Akron-Kent  area falsetto-voiced talk-show whiner cheerily dismiss the current  economic trainwreck as "mind over matter"  and insisted that if the media stopped using the word "recession"  consumers would feel much better and start spending money again.  So, what do you suggest that we call it?  A receding boom?   

DIEHARD ECONOMICS:   The trickle-nowhere economics theorists are still insisting that the new administration will guarantee a socialist America.  Limbaugh, for one, in an early senior moment, has already blamed Obama for the economic crises weeks before he is even seated in the Oval Office.  And minor analysts in the print media continue to lament government "intrusion" into our lives on the day that the Wall Street Journal is reporting more than a half-million new jobless claims and General Motors is pleading for government(welfare)  help.  Hey, diehards,  back off. It's  time to find out whether  compassionate conservatism, the untested Bush model, really works. 

AFTERSHOCK:   Sarah Palin continues to invoke the name of William Ayers while at the same time saying she would be "honored"  to assist Barack Obama in his new administration.  That's the consistent thing about Palin.   Neither she nor anybody else else ever knows what she is talking about.