The Cuyahoga Rough Writers Blog

Sutherland v. Peter Lawson Jones; Sutherland Draws Stark Differences

An already hotly contested race for Cuyahoga County commissioner got even more heated Wednesday as Debbie Sutherland, who is white, accused black incumbent Peter Lawson Jones of playing the race card.

The jab came during a debate at the City Club of Cleveland in response to an audience member who asked how the mayor of suburban Bay Village would lead such a diverse county.

"It doesn't matter if you are black, white, rich, poor, East Side, West Side -- we have got to work together to move this county forward," replied Sutherland, a Republican, who then added: "My opponent would like to [make this] about race and class, and it's not."

Jones, a Democrat, scolded Sutherland for the remark in his rebuttal.

"How dare you?" he said. "I have done nothing in this race to play on race and class."

After the debate, Sutherland accused Jones of planting someone at debates to ask her questions about diversity. Jones' response: "Give me a break."

The tone was much the same during their hourlong showdown.

Jones, who has held the job since 2002, focused largely on his efforts to create and retain jobs in the county. But Sutherland repeatedly scrutinized her opponent's character and questioned his leadership in the wake of a federal corruption probe of county government.

"Patronage, cronyism, lack of leadership, mismanagement -- and let's not forget the chauffeur and strip club manager," Sutherland said, rattling off a list of complaints.

The chauffeur dig involves the county car and driver Jones has used for county-related meetings. The strip club manager is Rosemary Vinci, a county employee and political ally of Auditor Frank Russo and Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, both focuses of the corruption probe.

Sutherland asked Jones several times during the debate to explain what he has done and would do to address patronage charges and concerns about the ongoing FBI investigation.

Jones never answered her. Instead, he emphasized his record of supporting county funding to create jobs and promote other economic development...

Each candidate borrowed a label from the rival party's presidential nominee.

Sutherland cast herself, much like Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, as the "change" candidate. Jones, alluding to Republican Sen. John McCain, called himself a maverick.

"I said 'no' to raising the sales tax to pay for the medical mart," Jones said, citing the first of two examples of his lone opposition votes on the county's three-member commission. "Then, when we talked about tearing down the Ameritrust Tower, I said 'no' to that."

Sutherland, this time doting on Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, won some hearty laughs after landing a quick rebuttal: "I may not know how to field-dress a moose," Sutherland said. "But I know a maverick when I see one -- and Peter's not it."

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Campbell Brown: Obama breaks promise on campaign finance

(CNN, CNN?, Yes CNN) -- You may have heard that Wednesday night Barack Obama will be on five different TV networks speaking directly to the American people.

He bought 30 minutes of airtime from the different networks, a very expensive purchase. But hey, he can afford it. Barack Obama is loaded, way more loaded than John McCain, way more loaded than any presidential candidate has ever been at this stage of the campaign.

Just to throw a number out: He has raised well over $600 million since the start of his campaign, close to what George Bush and John Kerry raised combined in 2004.

Without question, Obama has set the bar at new height with a truly staggering sum of cash. And that is why as we approach this November, it is worth reminding ourselves what Barack Obama said last November.

One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits.

Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word.

He broke his promise and he explained it by arguing that the system is broken and that Republicans know how to work the system to their advantage. He argued he would need all that cash to fight the ruthless attacks of 527s, those independent groups like the Swift Boat Veterans. It's funny though, those attacks never really materialized.

The Washington Post pointed out recently that the bad economy has meant a cash shortage among the 527s and that this election year they have been far less influential.

The courageous among Obama's own supporters concede this decision was really made for one reason, simply because it was to Obama's financial advantage.

On this issue today, former Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, an Obama supporter, writes in The New York Post, "a hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue -- who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. And that, it seems to me, is what we are doing now."

For this last week, Sen. Obama will be rolling in dough. His commercials, his get-out-the-vote effort will, as the pundits have said, dwarf the McCain campaign's final push. But in fairness, you have to admit, he is getting there in part on a broken promise.

Gee, I hadn't noticed.  Thanks for pointing it out.  Get used to it.

Jim Trakas Endorsed By The Plain Dealer

Dennis J. Kucinich,

62, was elected to Congress in 1996. The former Cleveland mayor also served in the Ohio Senate and on Cleveland City Council. Kucinich unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Jim Trakas,

43, was term-limited out of the Ohio House in 2006. He has since worked as a public relations and political consultant. Before going to the legislature, he was an Independence city councilman. He was the Cuyahoga County Republican Party chairman from 1996 to 2005. He has a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University.

The edge: TRAKAS

Kucinich brought a three-inch binder detailing his work in the 110th Congress to our endorsement interview. The first page said it all: Kucinich "won passage of two bills signed into law." One was an innocuous measure to support education related to the Underground Railroad. The second renamed a post office. Bottom line: After a decade in Congress and with his party finally in control of the House, Kucinich remains a sandlot-league legislator, with little ability to make things happen for his struggling district or the myriad causes that consume his time and attention.

Perhaps the story would be different if Kucinich had not spent more than half his term pursuing a second, doomed run for the White House. Or if he had not devoted so much time to an impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that the House leadership has no interest in pursuing. Of course, Kucinich considers not being a team player a badge of honor. He stood almost alone in opposing the critical Great Lakes Compact on specious grounds. He already is hinting that he will oppose the kind of health care reforms Barack Obama favors - for Kucinich, only single-payer is pure enough.

Independence is an admirable quality in a politician. Being so contrary that you cannot get things done is not. And you can be sure Kucinich's attitude gets noticed: When Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Cleveland this month to learn about alternative energy efforts, her guide was freshman Democrat Betty Sutton of Copley.

Republican Trakas was a middling legislator in Columbus, marginalized by the far-right members of his own party.

The people of the 10th District deserve an advocate focused on their needs. This is a tough call, but we think Trakas can be that advocate. He is conscientious, pragmatic and unlikely to be diverted by the bright lights of national politics. His roots on a city council suggest that he'd deliver strong constituent services, as Kucinich has.

Kucinich seems unfazed that his politics have strayed so far from reality that half the Democrats in his district voted against him in the March 4 primary. Perhaps that's because he is virtually certain to win re-election. What Kucinich should understand is that his uncompromising, unrealistic brand of politics is hurting the community he professes to love.

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See Full Plain Dealer Endorsement

Learn More About Jim Trakas

 

Wake Up Cleveland, Demand More!

 

See the interview the Obama campaign doesn't want you to see

The Obama campaign was so upset by this interview of Joe Biden by Barbara West on Orlando's WFTV that they have excommunicated the station.  Watch and see why...

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How dare she criticize The One!?

U.S. Justice Department May Get Involved On Potential Voter Fraud

  The flap over Ohio voter registrations stepped up a notch Friday, with President Bush forwarding a GOP leader's requst for help to the Justice Department.

U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, of West Chester, asked the White House to direct Attorney General Michael Mukasey to get involved after Boehner got no response from an earlier request he and other Ohio members of Congress sent to Mukasey. With less than two weeks until Election Day, Boehner said he felt he needed to go directly to the president.

So he sent Bush a letter Friday saying that unless the Justice Department takes action immediately, "thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, of names whose information has not been verified will remain on voter rolls during the Nov. 4, 2008, election." Bush in turn sent the letter to Mukasey.

The White House characterized Bush's action as routine, and it is not clear whether Justice will get involved. But U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown was among those saying they were "disappointed that the president chose to interject partisan politics into the election."

Boehner's complaint refers to the roughly 200,000 Ohio voter registrations that do not match other records containing residents' identities, such as drivers' licenses. Democrats and voting rights groups say that all but a tiny fraction of the mismatches are typos or similar errors. And Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner says that an excessive focus on voters whose mismatches can be easily explained is unnecessary and could even disenfranchise some legitimate voters.

But the Ohio Republican Party and Boehner say they worry about potential fraud, especially in light of false voter registrations turned in by some workers for ACORN. They want Brunner's office to direct checks of the 200,000 registrations against a database with driver's license and other information.

Brunner and the Ohio Republican Party disagree as to whether the Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires her office to conduct such checks. The U.S. Supreme Court last week dismissed a suit that sought to force Brunner to conduct the checks.

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The Final Push, How Can You Help Win Ohio

12 days to go and we need you to ensure that Ohio once again turns red on Election Night.  We are in the final push of this campaign and a strong effort these last days will send John McCain and Sarah Palin to the White House.

 

Here is how you can help

 Visit A Victory Center

Sign-Up To Volunteer

 

  

Obama Allies; "Bring Back Ohio" Resorts To Sleazy Tricks

Bring Ohio Back, the liberal special-interest group trying to rally Democrats behind Barack Obama, is using "violence" to launch a negative attack on Republican John McCain.

The group is mailing to voters a glossy flier featuring a picture of a battered woman who is suffering from a busted lip, black eye and bruised forehead.

The picture is accompanied by the claim that McCain voted against the Violence Against Women Act.

The flip side of the flier adds the charges that McCain "thinks it's OK to say no to protecting Ohio women and children" and that he supports the position that "women who are the victims of sexual assault should pay for the rape evidence kits and medical exams."

BOB, which is also airing four humorous ads about McCain, grossly misrepresents McCain's record in the fliers. It also mirrors false claims made in ads elsewhere by Planned Parenthood.

An examination of McCain's Senate record and a analysis by PolitiFact.com of the Planned Parenthood ad shows the following:

McCain voted against a crime bill in 1994 that included the Violence Against Women Act. The act itself called for states to provide free forensic exams for rape victims. But McCain opposed the crime bill because it included extra spending McCain deemed unrelated to crime and it contained a ban on so-called assault weapons.

PolitiFact points out that nine months earlier, McCain supported the original bill, which included the Violence Against Women Act, when it passed the Senate 95-4.

McCain has supported reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

A McCain spokesman called the BOB mailer "one example of the many extreme attacks against John McCain that have never been repudiated by Barack Obama."

McCain's campaign also provided copies of McCain testimony in 2005 praising the 1994 Act. McCain made the statements when he introduced a companion bill to provide protections for Indian women.

The BOB flier is classic cherry picking of a politician's record.

Bring Ohio Back, the liberal special-interest group trying to rally Democrats behind Barack Obama, is using "violence" to launch a negative attack on Republican John McCain.

The group is mailing to voters a glossy flier featuring a picture of a battered woman who is suffering from a busted lip, black eye and bruised forehead.

The picture is accompanied by the claim that McCain voted against the Violence Against Women Act.

The flip side of the flier adds the charges that McCain "thinks it's OK to say no to protecting Ohio women and children" and that he supports the position that "women who are the victims of sexual assault should pay for the rape evidence kits and medical exams."

BOB, which is also airing four humorous ads about McCain, grossly misrepresents McCain's record in the fliers. It also mirrors false claims made in ads elsewhere by Planned Parenthood.

An examination of McCain's Senate record and a analysis by PolitiFact.com of the Planned Parenthood ad shows the following:

McCain voted against a crime bill in 1994 that included the Violence Against Women Act. The act itself called for states to provide free forensic exams for rape victims. But McCain opposed the crime bill because it included extra spending McCain deemed unrelated to crime and it contained a ban on so-called assault weapons.

PolitiFact points out that nine months earlier, McCain supported the original bill, which included the Violence Against Women Act, when it passed the Senate 95-4.

McCain has supported reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

A McCain spokesman called the BOB mailer "one example of the many extreme attacks against John McCain that have never been repudiated by Barack Obama."

McCain's campaign also provided copies of McCain testimony in 2005 praising the 1994 Act. McCain made the statements when he introduced a companion bill to provide protections for Indian women.

The BOB flier is classic cherry picking of a politician's record.

***

See Full Plain Dealer Article

Butler takes on Mason

Yes, Bill Mason bothered to show up at the City Club yesterday... and probably wished he hadn't.  Here's the report from WCPN:

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office is up for grabs this November and Annette Butler would like to take the seat off Bill Mason's Hands. In an unprecedented move, Mason had previously refused to debate Butler, but yesterday the pair squared off in downtown Cleveland. ideastream®'s Gretchen Cuda reports.

Mason, who has held the prosecutorial post since November of 2000 (sic), refused to debate Butler on two separate occasions on the grounds that she wasn’t a serious candidate. But Butler finally got her chance when Mason agreed to debate at the City Club of Cleveland.  She spoke plainly about her concern that the current prosecutor’s office is not applying justice is not being applied with an even hand, that it is dysfunctional and needs reform.

BUTLER: We have an honorable prosecutor.  We have some honorable prosecutors.  But something is very wrong.  And maybe it’s the style.  Maybe it’s the commitment.  Maybe it’s the practicing fairness that I’ve done for 24 years that’s missing in the county prosecutors office.  Well I’d like to add it to the county prosecutors office.

And when it comes to style, perhaps the most striking differences between the two candidates was in the way they handled several emotional audience members who claimed Mason refused to see them or properly address their court cases Mason kept his cool and denied any personal knowledge of the case details, and scoffed at Butler’s suggestion to assemble a community advisory board.

MASON:  We already have a community advisory board currently. It’s called the Grand Jury.

But Butler said she believes the prosecutor’s office should pay much closer attention to the people it is supposed to serve.

BUTLER: It’s your law firm.  YOU should have everything to say about how it operates.

Gretchen Cuda, 90.3
Listen to the report at WCPN.org
Or listen to the entire debate on the City Club Podcast at CityClub.org

New Poll: McCain & Obama, Dead Heat In Ohio

A new round of NBC/Mason-Dixon polls shows Obama leading in the battleground state of Wisconsin, McCain ahead in West Virginia, and the two candidates essentially tied in the swing state of Ohio.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia -- a state Republicans have won in the last two presidential elections, but the Obama campaign is now targeting -- McCain is up six points, 47%-41%.

And in Ohio -- the state that decided the last election -- McCain has a slim one-point edge over Obama, 46%-45%.

In each state, per the polls, the economy is overwhelmingly voters' top concern. And the candidate that's leading in each one is seen as better handling the issue. In Wisconsin, Obama bests McCain on the economy, 51%-38%; in West Virginia, it's McCain that's ahead, 44%-41%; and in Ohio they're tied, 45%-45%.

The polls were conducted in each battleground state of 625 likely voters from Oct. 16-17, and they have a margin of error of plus-minus 4%

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See Full MSNBC Article

2008 Cuyahoga County Republican Slate Card

                                       

                                       Print Your Slate Card

For President/Vice President

John McCain
Sarah Palin

For Attorney General

Mike Crites

For United States Congress

James Trakas
Thomas Pekarek
Dave Potter
Steven LaTourette

For Ohio Senator

Timothy Grendell
Tom Patton

For Ohio House

Beverly Valencic
Jerry Powell
Charles Drake
Rosalind McAllister
Bryan Glencer
Mary-Louise Kirk
David Morris
Nan Baker
Josh Mandel
Colleen Grady
Matt Dolan

For Cuyahoga County

Deborah Sutherland
Annette Butler
Cathy Luks

For State School Board

Robin Hovis
Angela Bennett

For Ohio Supreme Court

Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
Maureen O’Connor

For Judge

Brian Moriarty
Richard J. McMonagle
Robert C. McClelland
Sam Zingale
Pamela Barker
Kathleen Ann Sutula

                                               Print Your Slate Card