Wait,wait ... don't say anything. We all know what the answer is: Just when you think he has hit the rock bottom, he manages to break through bedrock to yet another layer of sleaziness and dishonesty.

He's got another lying ad on the air attacking Sherrod Brown, this one about his allegedly poor attendance record and attention to his job in the Senate, claiming among other things that he has missed 350 votes.

I'll wait while you stop laughing before I go on.

I know what you are saying: Is this the same Josh Mandel with the obvious total lack of interest in his elected job as state treasurer from day one? The Josh Mandel who missed 14 straight Board of Deposit meetings and from what I heard from someone that when the bad publicity finally forced him to go to one, he squirmed and fidgeted and made an early exit? The Josh Mandel who took every Monday off in June to fund raise for his Senate race while drawing a taxpayer-funded salary?

Yeah, THAT Josh Mandel.

And never mind that his ad is totally WRONG.

Here's the Plain Dealer with some truth:
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/01/sherrod_browns_attendanc...

He claims incorrectly that Brown misses hundreds of votes and dozens of sessions, when Brown has been almost ridiculously attentive to his work and his constituents — something Mandel cannot claim in his work at the treasure's office, his four years as state legislator, or his four years in Lyndhurst City Council. Mandel can't point to a single major vote Brown has missed, and he certainly can't fault Brown's record of being available to his constituents at townhall meetings, forums, candidate events, listening sessions etc. I don't think I have seen Mandel out there meeting a constituent group that wasn't handpicked to be friendly to him (teabagger groups, for instance).

This year, some of Ohio's more useless congressmen — Republican rubber stamps unresponsive to constituent interests — are being aggressively challenged, some of the first time.

One of those is former Dayton mayor Mike "Who?" Turner, who inexplicable popularity (or maybe it's lack of unpopularity because people are hard-pressed to say what he has done, bad or good) and lack of strong Democratic challengers has kept him in office way too long.

This year things have changed. Thanks to redrawn district lines (the new district is 10, the number of the district in Northeast Ohio currently represented by Dennis Kucinich) and a strong candidate in Sharen Neuhardt, who previously ran for Congress in 2008 in a much more Republican district, there's a shot at ending Turner's tenure.

Following Joyce Healy-Abrams, who launched an over-the-air ad last week in her race in district 7 against Teabaggin' Bob Gibbs, Sharen has now gone on the air with an ad.

It's very similar to Joyce's. It talks about the candidate's background, saying that Sharen was the first in her family to go to college and that she cam back home to start businesses.

It says "She understands the American dream in a way most congressmen never will."

Like Joyce's ad, Sharen's says she's all about creating jobs, with a handful of vague details: eliminate tax breaks for outsourcing, cut taxes for businesses that "keep and grow jobs in the Miami Valley."

It's basically one of those warm-n-fuzzy ads designed to get you to feel good about the candidate and to get her name out there. The significant thing is that she is on the air.

Here's the ad:

It seems like more than anything, Ohio Republicans want to defeat Issue 2 aka Voters First Ohio. It's a rational, sensible constitutional amendment that would take redistricting out of the hands of politicians — all politicians of any party — and put it in the hands of a bipartisan citizens commission with guidelines to create fair, balanced, coherent districts. I'm really getting tiring of telling you that I can't describe the district Joyce Healy-Abrams is running in.

Voters First Ohio makes so much sense it should be supported by people of all political stripes. And it IS support by Democrats, Libertarians, and Greens. But it's not supported by Republicans — because it would immediately suspend the excessive, unbalanced advantage they awarded themselves in congressional and legislative races, an advantage drawn behind closed doors in a process that shut out both citizens and legislators.

Republicans have lied, nitpicked, distorted and misled in their statements about Voters First Ohio. They've blown up tiny potential flaws into major disqualifiers, never mind that the current system is 100 times worse. They have smeared the League of Women Voters, one of the issue's lead groups, as a "special interest snake in the grass group."

And they wrote ballad language so deceptive and confusing that voters not well informed on the issue would have no idea what it was about — and automatically vote no.

Now the Ohio Supreme Court has said NO to the ballot language, agreeing it's deceptive and doesn't accurately describe the amendment.

http://votersfirstohio.com/ohio-supreme-court-says-ballot-summary-for-re...

It's ordered the ballot board to go back to the drawing board and draft new summary language. Ohio GOP leaders are probably meeting behind closed doors right now trying to figure out just how misleading they can be without triggering a smackdown.

Wouldn't it be nice if Republicans actually believed in democracy?

That would be YOU ... and you and you and you.

While Republicans wince and cower and hope that Romney can get through the day without making a complete ass of himself or revealing either how little he cares about non-rich people or how insincere he is in his backing of extremist right-wing policies, Democrats are fired up and ready to go. The "Obama didn't give me a pony (or a dressage horse)" purity progressive crowd is vastly outnumbered.

And apparently the Obama campaign intends to open a campaign office on virtually every street corner. It should be easier to find a place to volunteer than a Big Mac — and it's better for you! (Full disclosure: I'm a longtime vegetarian)

Look at this:

Cuyahoga County 2012 Obama Office Openings

Now open
Lakewood Office
11822 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH 44107
Contact: John Welle, 216-262-8451

September 12
Cleveland Wards 7 and 8 Office Opening
3740 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
5:30 - 7:30 pm
(program starts at 6:00 pm)
Contact: Cha Edmunds, 330-357-7598

September 14
Cleveland Ward 9 and East Cleveland Office Opening
12414 Euclid Avenue, East Cleveland, OH 44112
5:30 - 7:30 pm
(program starts at 6:00 pm)
Contact: Cha Edmunds, 330-357-7598

September 19
Richmond Hts.Office Opening
468 Richmond Road, Richmond Hts, OH 44143
3:00 - 9:00 pm
(program starts at 6:00 pm)
Contact: Juana Silverto, 614-371-8267

September 20
Euclid Office Opening
22800 Lakeshore Blvd, Euclid, OH 44117
3:00 - 9:00 pm
(program starts at 6:00 pm)
Contact: Juana Silverto, 614-371-8267

These are just the NEW offices. The one in Parma opened in February. The one on Shaker Square never totally closed after the 2008 campaign; it had a "grand reopening" back in 2010. I think there are some others too.

Since the Republican convention and people’s amazement that in his acceptance speech, Romney — who appears so eager to start a war with Iran that would make Iraq and Afghanistan look like a fist fight between two 8-year olds — did not mention Afghanistan or the troops fighting there, his campaign has gone into a nose dive. And each time I started to write about it, it seemed like Romney took aim at his foot yet again.

Whatever you may think of the war or America’s worshipfu attitude toward all things military, this was a major political gaffe. It could have been survivable since against all odds and evidence, Republicans have managed to image themselves as the manly party of all things military and security-related.

But on Sunday, I started to see posts and emails claiming that Romney on Meet the Press had defended himself by saying his speech wasn’t a “laundry list” and that he only talked about what was “important.”

He couldn’t possibly, I thought. If a Democrat had said that, he’d be conceding the race, and honestly, it’s the sort of thing that could even kill off Republican election hopes. I figured it must have been taken out of context, the way Hillary Rosen’s remark about Ann Romney never working was, or the entire Republican “You built that” convention theme, lying that President Obama had said business owners didn’t build their own businesses.

So I looked it up.

Here’s the full context of what Romney said,

When you give a speech, you don’t go through a laundry list. You talk about the things you think are important, and I described in my speech my commitment to a strong military, unlike the president’s decision to cut our military. I didn’t use the word ‘troops,’ I used the word ‘military.’ I think they refer to the same thing.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/birtherpalooza_cancele...

Damn. Is this heartbreaking or what? Even in Arizona, they couldn't find 2,000 people who wanted to come hear a racist 80-year-old sheriff and a washed-up 78-year-old crooner babble about President Obama's birth certificate.

Organizers of the gala, which would have featured [Pat] Boone alongside Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and some of the nation’s other prominent conspiracy theorists, broke the news online Friday that it was canceled “due to inadequate ticket sales.”

What's this world coming to? An outbreak of Sanity in Arizona? I mean, how could they reject THIS:

The Sept. 22 event was meant to bring together people from throughout the nation who believe Barack Obama’s birth certificate is fake and therefore he is ineligible to be president. Organizers planned to use it to call on Congress to take up Arpaio’s yearlong investigation into the documents.

Somewhere, Orly Taitz is weeping.

The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union, leans conservative. They endorsed Bush twice; they endorsed John McCain despite his babbling idiot running mate. Mitt Romney met with the group in June, hoping to continue the tradition. But for the first time in nearly a century, the group declined to endorse a presidential candidate.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/09/07/national-police-union-turns-dow...

And oh look — what's this?

People familiar with the group’s decision said leaders had been disturbed by Mr. Romney’s statements of strong support for several antiunion initiatives, particularly the move in Ohio to restrict the collective-bargaining rights of public-union employees, including police and firefighters. The measure was overturned by voters in Ohio last year.

Remember all those cops last year who said they'd voted for John Kasich but would never vote Republican again? Maybe memories aren't as short as some people pessimistically suggest.

The group's president Chuck Canterbury moaned and wailed about the lack of bipartisanship, compromise and cooperation, then said, "We urge our members to exercise their right to vote in this election."

The Ohio FOP group has already endorsed Sherrod Brown, which also goes against their grain. It's starting to look like the Sb 5 chickens could really come home to roost in Ohio — and be a significant factor in the election. Thanks, Governor Kasich!

I got an email from my sister today with a photo of a fundraising mailer she had received:

Meanwhile, I noticed friends of mine here in Ohio commenting on Facebook abut getting the same letter — all, like my sister, good Democrats. Why was Mitt Romney wasting all this money?

Well, he wasn't. When I asked my sister what was in the mailer, she fished it out of the wastebasket, where it seemed like most people had pitched this solicitation. It turned out to be from the progressive group People for the American Way. Their convoluted rationale was that you had already donated to Romney via products you buy or businesses you patronize that contribute to Republicans, so make a donation to them to make up for it.

But take a look at it the envelope — wouldn't you have tossed it in the trash unopened too?

Apparently, the GOP strategy for running for Congress in Ohio is "Make yourself scarce and voters won't figure out what you're about."

We wrote a few weeks ago how Congressman Bob "Who?" Latta made himself scarce during a debate in Ohio's 5th district, apparently preferring not to share his accomplishments with voters — perhaps because he doesn't have any. (He said he was notified too late, but organizers said they had contacted his office in March). That left Democratic challenger Angela Zimmann and Libertarian Eric Eberly to share their viewpoints.

http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/content/angela-zimmann-msnbc-tomorrow-latta...

Latta seems to think this tactic will continue to work for him. From Angela's campaign:

Perrysburg, OH – Angela Zimmann, Democratic candidate for Ohio’s newly competitive Fifth U.S. Congressional District, accepted an offer to participate in WGTE’s candidate forum and is urging her opponent, Republican incumbent Bob Latta, to also attend the forum. ...

The WGTE candidate forum, sponsored by WGTE Public Media, Buckeye CableSystem, and the Lucas County League of Women Voters, will be moderated by WGTE’s Jack Lessenberry. The program, which will feature Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, will air Friday, Oct. 12 at 8:30 pm.

Angela has also accepted an invitation to appear on September 18 at a Toledo League of Women Voters candidate forum at the University of Toledo Scott Park Campus; supposedly Latta has a "scheduling conflict." She'll also be at an October 11 Meet the Candidates event at the Paulding County Senior Center, and an October 14 forum sponsored by the Wood County League of Women Voters at First United Methodist Church in Bowling Green. No word on whether Latta will attend.

Seriously, people of Oh-05, do you really want a congressperson who won't even talk to you?

http://zimmannforcongress.com/

Joyce Healy-Abrams is one of the dynamic Democratic women running for Congress in a GOP-leaning district. Her advantage, as I've noted before, is that her opponent Teabaggin' Bob Gibbs, is really only an incumbent to about 25% of the district. He formerly represented Oh-18 which was mostly in southeastern Ohio. The new district is Oh-07, which I am not even going to try to describe. It's Exhibit A for why we need Voters First Ohio — vote YES on Issue 2 November 6. Joyce is from Canton; Gibbs is from Holmes County.

http://www.healyabramsforcongress.com/home

Joyce has just released her second ad. Her first went on the air last week. They're OK — pleasant and vague. They introduce Joyce as a successful businesswoman who has a plan to create jobs. But you can't exactly outline a jobs plan in 15 or 30 seconds. (There are plenty of details on her website, linked above). They establish Joyce as likable and competent. They don't mention her party affiliation. I don't know if that's good or bad.

But she's no Blue Dog, and she's worthy of any support you can give her. For all you Democrats out there saying that in light of the escalating Republican war on women choice is a non-negotiable issue (and I understand how you feel!), Joyce served on the board of her local Planned Parenthood.

Check out her ad:

I am not a big fan of obsessing over every little poll fluctuation. I am especially not a fan of getting those emails emphasizing bad polling news, with the message "The sky is falling — send us money." (Hate to say this but the Sherrod Brown campaign is guilty of this. They send a freakout email over every not-so-good poll while not sharing the good polls or the fact that Josh Mandel hasn't led in any of them)

But this is nice to see this evening, after all the talk about convention bounces or non- bounces or whatever, this new polling from PPP:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/09/obama-leads-by-5-in-ohio...

PPP's first post-conventions poll in Ohio finds Barack Obama with a 5 point lead over Mitt Romney, 50-45. This is the largest lead PPP has found for Obama in an Ohio poll since early May. Last month Obama led 48-45.

PPP found that the President's favorability/unfavorability rating is even at 48/48 while only 44% have a favorable opinion of Romney against 49% who have an unfavorable opinion. And this is good news as well:

Obama's leading in Ohio because he's not as weak there with some large voter blocs as he is in other states. He trails only 48-46 with men and 50-46 with whites, and actually leads 49-47 with seniors. His performance with those groups is far better than it is nationally- Romney would need much wider leads with them if he was going to take Ohio.

PPP concludes,

It's hard to see a path to victory for Mitt Romney without Ohio, and Obama continues to be in a strong position there with eight weeks to go.

http://www.propublica.org/article/revealed-the-dark-money-group-attackin...

Public interest journalism site Pro Publica has an excellent piece up today where they reveal some new information about one of the sleazy, secretive groups pouring money into lying about Sherrod Brown on behalf of Josh "The Empty Suit" Mandel.

They've delved into the background of something ironically called the Government Integrity Fund ("ironic" because no candidate more totally lacks integrity than Josh Mandel) which has spent over a million dollars pulling the old "smear you with what we're doing" tactic, claiming that extremely populist Brown, who has consistently and vocally opposed unaccountable Wall Street power, is a tool of Wall Street. Meanwhile, Joshie is owned by every corporate special interest you can name, including Wall Street. They love to pull this "upside down" stuff to try to dupe voters.

Today Pro Publica reports,

Previously unreported documents filed with an Ohio television station pull back the curtain a bit: the Government Integrity Fund is run by a state lobbyist who in turn employs a former top Mandel staffer.

Yeah, I'm so sure "government integrity" is their pressing concern. (This "Mandel staffer" is one of those former campaign staffers he hired in the treasurer's office for which Mandel received well-earned publicity for his crony-favoring practices).

Here's what the former Mandel staffer had to say:

“I can’t talk to you about this. I’m not going to comment on any kind of involvement I have with anyone.”

Yeah, because it's only OUR U.S. Senate seat you're trying to steal and place in the grubby mitts of the most dishonest and unaccountable candidate Ohioans have seen in many moons.

Honestly, this is one of the major things we need to press to change:

This 14-minute interview with Youngstown Congressman Tim Ryan, done at the convention this week, covers issues such as why he thinks SB 5 will have an impact on helping President Obama and Sherrod Brown carry Ohio, the future of manufacturing, winning over blue-colalr white men, and protecting Medicare and Social Security.

My favorite part is where the interviewer, clearly not up on Ohio politics, says "I don't know if your district is competitive or not." Ryan just smiles and chuckles and says "We're working hard."Even without the grotesque gerrymander, Ryan represents a solid blue region. And his token opponent is a crazy wingnut teabagger who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Thank goodness.

The Democratic National Convention has wrapped up in Charlotte, North Carolina. While the media grapples to unearth and inflate fake "controversies" over nothing (seriously? A completely written passage omits the meaningless phrase "God-given"? WHATever.), it's clear that the DNC was a rousing success. Ratings show it had a higher viewership than last week's Republican convention. And no one got upstaged by an aging actor prattling to an empty chair.

In fact, the contrast between THEIR doddering actor and the Hollywood actors who spoke at the DNC was stunning. The eloquence of Ashley Judd, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria, and especially Kerry Washington revealed that this cadre of young women known mostly for their beauty and their on-screen portrayals are also thoughtful engaged citizens.

Of course, everyone is talking about the headline speeches, and each of the major speeches was a major hit: the President's tonight, President Bill Clinton's yesterday, and First Lady Michelle Obama's Tuesday. Each added a significant layer to the message of who we are as Democrats.

We hear all the time what brilliant messagers Republicans are and how we Democrats are too muddled, too complicated, too wonky, too unclear. The last two weeks have blown that out of the water. Can anyone tell me what the Republican message was? The Democratic message was clear: we will only make a better, stronger nation by working together to make everyone better and stronger. Or as Sherrod Brown's 2006 campaign slogan had it, "We're all in this together."

Convention Proceedings at Time Warner Cable Arena
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM (LOCAL)

Remarks
The Honorable Kay Hagan
Member of the US Senate, North Carolina

The Honorable Walter Dalton
Lieutenant Governor, North Carolina

The Honorable G.K. Butterfield
Member of the US House of Representatives, North Carolina

The Honorable David Price
Member of the US House of Representatives, North Carolina

The Honorable Mel L. Watt
Member of the US House of Representatives, North Carolina

Remarks
James Rogers
CEO Duke Energy

Live Performance
James Taylor
Singer/Songwriter

Call to Order

The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Chair of the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee
Mayor of Los Angeles, California

Invocation
Reverend Gabriel Salguero
President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition

Presentation of Colors
American Legion Post 400 of Charlotte, North Carolina
Darrell B. Bonapart, Joe Michalic, Robert E. Welch, Marvin R. Weber

Pledge of Allegiance

National Anthem
Marc Anthony
Singer/Songwriter

Progress for People Video: Seniors

American Voices Remarks
Carol Berman

Remarks
The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
Member of the US House of Representatives, Maryland

The Honorable Barney Frank
Member of the US House of Representatives, Massachusetts

In Memoriam Video and Remarks
The Honorable Harvey Gantt
Former Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (LOCAL)

The Honorable John Lewis
Member of the US House of Representatives, Georgia

Stronger Together Video: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

American Voices
Jason Crow

Live Performance
Mary J. Blige
Singer/Songwriter

Remarks
The Honorable Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Member of the US House of Representatives, Florida

The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Chair of the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee
Mayor of Los Angeles, California

The Honorable Tammy Baldwin

I've been amused by national political convention roll calls since I was a little kid, with their litany of self-praise, a mixed bag of the important and the trivial. "Minnesota, home of the female basketball Lynxes," "Maryland, where violent crime is down 30%," "Montana is proud to have eight tribal nations within its borders," "Nebraska, the only state with a red legislature that beat back an oppressive voter ID law," "New Mexico, home of the best chili in the world." "We're proud to be home of America's poet, Woody Guthrie." "Oregon, where anyone eligible to vote is actually allowed to vote."

Following Bill Clinton's galvanizing speech, the convention got down to the business of casting its votes for its one and only nominee for President and its only nominee for Vice President.

"Alabama .....!"

Halfway through the roll call, Mississippi deferred its turn to Ohio, and it soon became obvious why. Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern, flanked by such noted Ohio Democrats as Frances Strickland and future 3rd district congresswoman Joyce Beatty, stepped up to the mic to praise Ohio "from Put in Bay to Portsmouth, Ohio, the battleground state, Ohio, home of American heroes and American icons, home of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, home of Senator Sherrod Brown and Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio, in spite of Mitt Romney's efforts, home of the Chevy Cruze and the Chrysler Jeep ..." and to cast its 191 votes to officially make Obama his party's nominee.

When the count returned to Mississippi (despite the preordained result, every state got its opportunity to boast about its assets and/or its historical significance), the delegation's leader said, "Ohio, you're now charged with making sure that Barack Obama carries your state."

You got that right. And let's not forget it. Hang a picture of Jon Husted on your wall for inspiration, and keep thinking about foiling all his nasty tricks on November 6.

Well, we'll see.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/judge-orders-jon-husted-to-a...

Ohio Secretary of State, acting with all the thoughtfulness, class, and reasonableness of a sulky two year old, has said he won't follow the order of federal judge Peter Economus to reinstate the three-day in-person early-voting window the three days before the election. Instead of graciously conceding that it makes sense to allow Ohio's citizens this addition time to vote during the most popular early voting period instead of rolling back the opportunities they had in 2008, Husted has already announced his intention to squander our tax dollars appealing Economus' decision.

Now, Husted hasn't filed for a stay of the decision. He's just decided on his own that he doesn't have to follow the court's order because after all, in Ohio, Republican elected officials don't have to follow the law, do they? Husted and Governor Kasich may hate each other, but they sure do share this belief!

The judge may not see things that way though. According to Talking Points Memo,

It isn't just the Obama campaign that is upset over Ohio's decision to ignore a federal court order instructing them to reinstate early voting during the three day period before the November election. The federal judge who issued the decision seems pretty perturbed too, ordering Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to show up to a Sept. 13 hearing in-person.

"This Court hereby ORDERS that Defendant Secretary of State Jon Husted personally attend the hearing," U.S. District Judge Peter Economus wrote in an order Wednesday afternoon.

We will be eager waiting to hear if Husted tells the judge "You can't tell me what to do! I'm putting my hands over my ears and humming! I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

After watching Simone Campbell, one of the people who participated in the Nuns on the Bus tour speak, I'd have to say I'm on the bus with them. If you watch the following and you're a rational minded person, I think you will be, too.

Here's this evening's schedule:

http://www.demconvention.com/schedule-wed/

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (LOCAL)
Call to Order
The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa
Chair of the 2012 Democratic National Convention Committee
Mayor of Los Angeles, California

Invocation
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, 10th Episcopal District
First Woman Elected Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Presentation of Colors

Pledge of Allegiance

National Anthem
Branford Marsalis
Saxophonist, Composer, and, Bandleader

Remarks
The Honorable Luis V. Gutierrez
Member of the US House of Representatives, Illinois

The Honorable Diana DeGette
Member of the US House of Representatives, Colorado

The Honorable John A. Pérez
Speaker and Member of the California State Assembly

The Honorable Thomas M. Menino
Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts

The Honorable Judy Chu
Member of the US House of Representatives, California

Steve Westly
Former State Controller and Chief Financial Officer of California

An Economy Built to Last Video: Small Business

Remarks

The Honorable John Larson
Democratic Caucus Chair and Member of the US House of Representatives, Connecticut

Ken Myers
Deputy Sheriff, Carroll County, Iowa

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (LOCAL)

Remarks

Richard Trumka
President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO)

The Honorable Steve Israel
Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Member of the US House of Representatives, New York

The Honorable Patty Murray
Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Member of the US Senate, Washington

The Honorable Pedro R. Pierluisi
Chair of National Community Mobilization for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Non-Voting Member of the US House of Representatives, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico

Ted spoke for nearly ten minutes, on super high energy setting the whole time, getting a rapturous reaction in the hall and kudos on the blogs. What a great speaker!

He got especially high marks for his line "If Mitt Romney was Santa Claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves."

Ted pulled no punches at all. He called out Romney hard, actually using the word "lying" and making clear how exactly how sleazy his tax evasions were and how unpatriotic.

Ted, Ted, why did you make those minor but costly missteps in 2010?? How different would Ohio look — and how much stronger it would be — if Ted had been reelected.

Here's the transcript of his remarks:

The following is a transcript of a speech, as prepared for delivery, by The Honorable Ted Strickland, Former Governor of Ohio at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, September 4, 2012.

I'm Ted Strickland, and I come from Duck Run, Ohio. Let me tell you, folks in Ohio know what happens when you have a president who stands up for average working people.

Ina Sidney is a grandmother who lost her ability to provide for her family when they closed down the auto plant in Perrysburg, Ohio. Ina says thanks to Barack Obama for having the courage to back an industry that others had given up on. She's an autoworker and a breadwinner once again.

As he celebrated the birth of his newborn baby boy, Brian Slagle lost his job just at the moment he needed it most. But today he's back making auto batteries in a factory in Springfield Township, Ohio. And he said there's one reason he has a steady paycheck again: Barack Obama refused to let the American auto industry die.

With all the BS that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have been spewing that President Obama hasn’t turned around the economy, I’m glad speakers at the Democratic National Convention are reminding people of the following. If the Republicans are pissed that Barack Obama hasn’t been effective, maybe they should look in the mirror for the reason. Expect to see this post again - - it’s important that people realize how hypocritical their criticisms are.

I'm Joyce Beatty, and I'm running for Congress from the great state of Ohio to move America forward. Moving America forward means higher education that's affordable and prepares our young people to lead in the 21st century economy. Moving America forward means affordable health care and equal pay for equal work.

And to unleash the power of moms in the economy, it means quality, affordable child care. We will move America forward on behalf of you: your families and communities, your aspirations and your hopes for your children.

That's because America's success is dependent on the success of women in education, in business, in the military and in public service. Women will lead us to victory—for strong Democratic majorities in Congress, and to re-elect Vice-president Joe Biden and President Barack Obama. The Democratic women of the House are ready to move America forward.

http://beattyforcongress.com/

http://palmettopublicrecord.org/2012/09/03/bummer-anti-dnc-rock-concert-...

Damn. When it comes to music, the Republicans just can't get a break. Phil Lynott's mom eviscerates the Romney/Ryan platform; artists ranging from Twisted Sister to Al Green to Silversun Pickups have asked them to stop using their music – and now this.

As part of its little "counter convention" in Charlotte, Republicans were planning a "Rock the Red 2012" concert, "a rally for people with conservative values," that more accurately should have been called "Twang the Red." It was to feature country music oldie Charlie Daniels, Grammy-winning country artist Travis Tritt, who career has pretty much been in the toilet the last 6-7 years, and a newcomer named Lee Brice who had a big country hit earlier this year — the type of thing that doesn't put people in seats.

And apparently that was a problem that not even a promised appearance by crazy, corrupt Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio could fix.

The event was originally scheduled to be held in the 11,000-seat Bojangles Arena, according to WSOC-TV’s Linzi Sheldon, but just 300 tickets were sold

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/rock-red-canceled-organizers-and-l...

Darn. I hate when that happens!

Joyce Beatty, who will soon be representing the Columbus area in Congress, was the final speaker among a group of women who came onstage with Nancy Pelosi to talk about issues impacting women and what Democrats had done and were doing about them.

The first half dozen speakers were all current congresswomen, each speaking about an issue such as reproductive freedom or equal pay. They were followed by two current congressional candidates, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawai'i who talked about women in the military (she's a National Guard captain), and Beatty. Beatty was sort of the "cleanup" speaker, emphasizing the importance of women in the community and concluding "Women will hand us victory with strong Democratic women in Congress."

Joyce is assured victory, where she will join Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Marcia Fudge of the greater Cleveland area. Those are the sure shots. Hopefully she will also be joined by Congresswoman Betty Sutton, defeating teabagger Jim Renacci in a new district, Oh-16; Canton's Joyce Healy-Abrams (Oh-07), Angela Zimmann in Oh-05 in northwest Ohio, and Sharen Neuhardt in the new 10th district in the Dayton area.

Some could slip through if everything goes their way; some are long shots. But all are great candidates who deserve support. Go read up about them, and think about supporting one or more of them.

http://www.bettysuttonforcongress.com/

https://healyabrams.ngpvanhost.com/

http://www.neuhardtforcongress.com/

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It probably won't happen but if all should win, that would mean that 7 of Ohio's 16 congresspeople would be women. There is one woman running on the GOP side: a wackjob teabagger running against Tim Ryan in Youngstown. She has no shot.

Alas, the great Phil Lynott of the wonderful Irish rock band Thin Lizzy died in 1986. They left behind such unforgettable songs as "Jailbreak," "Whiskey in the Jar" and of course, the 1976 hit "The Boys Are Back in Town," one of the most electrifying rock tunes of all time. The song courses with energy, aggression and momentum.

What a wonderful song to use as an intro to a candidate's arrival onstage, right?

Not so much, according to Phil Lynott's 81-year-old mother. She takes a dim view of Paul Ryan using her son's composition in this manner at the Republican National Convention last week.

http://www.hotpress.com/Philomena-Lynott/news/Philomena-Lynott-rejects-M...

Among other things Philomena Lynott said,

Mitt Romney's opposition to gay marriage and to civil unions for gays makes him anti-gay – which is not something that Philip would have supported. He had some wonderful gay friends, as indeed I do, and they deserve equal treatment in every respect, whether in Ireland or the United States.

"Neither would Philip have supported his policy of taxing the poor and offering tax cuts to the rich, which Paul Ryan is advocating. There is certainly no way that I would want the Lynott name to be associated with any of those ideas.

Oops. I guess All Lyin' isn't the rockin' hipster he tries to make himself out to be.

But I think I've just become an even bigger Thin Lizzy fan.