Ohio AG Dann experiences need to compensate for shortcomings

Photo taken from today's edition of The Columbus Dispatch.

The Columbus Dispatch reports this morning that Ohio's new Attorney General Marc Dann (D-Warren) has purchased a new 2007 Chevrolet Surburban LT, valued at well over $40,000 for use as his personal transportation while in office. He bought the SUV from a campaign donor, to boot, and your tax dollars will foot the bill. It is five times more valuable than former AG Jim Petro's personal car, a 2003 Mercury Sable. The Dispatch also reports on the other statewide office holders' choices of vehicle, all of which besides Governor Strickland's are cheaper and get better gas mileage. Kudos to Treasurer Rich Cordray for using either his own vehicle, or a pool vehicle for his transport rather than springing for a new ride. But for Marc Dann, this is simply the latest in an embarassing line of decisions since being elected. No word yet on whether Dann will be speaking out against global warming from his new SUV ot not.

Marc Dann: Providing Comedic Fodder Since Birth

During a recent search of editorial pieces from the past few weeks in Ohio newspapers, I came across a piece that the Warren Tribune-Chronicle published a week before Christmas on Ohio Attorney General-elect Marc Dann. The Tribune-Chronicle predicts that Dann, currently a State Senator from the 32nd District, will play politics during his term upcoming as Attorney General. Earlier in the week, we at Red State Rampage reported on the selection of Tom Winters, former attorney to Tom Noe, as Dann's right-hand man in the AG's office. Previously, Dann recommended Capri Cafaro, failed Congressional candidate and daughter of shady character J.J. Cafaro, as his replacement in the 32nd Senate District. Members of the Cafaro clan, Capri included, have been big patrons of Mr. Dann in the past, and this election cycle was no exception.
Anyhow, as if two major gaffes before even taking office were not enough, the editorial from the Tribune-Chronicle reports that the AG satellite office in Youngstown promised by Dann during the campaign will be located in a mall owned by the Cafaro family themselves! One could not make this up! The guy who made his name criticizing Republican corruption in Ohio, and won his campaign by tying his opponent to that corruption, is diving headlong into the game of pay-to-play? No. Never! Marc Dann is clearly not going to perform his duties based upon who gave him a campaign contribution, right? Well, given these three moves in the past month, before he has even taken office, Dann is on a fast track to becoming a cellmate of Jim Traficant and Tom Noe.

Marc Dann's upcoming term as Ohio's Attorney General should provide material for yours truly until at least 2010, and likely beyond, as we see how quickly Mr. Dann is able to screw up one of the top AG's offices in the nation. One piece of advice to anyone looking to do business with or stay on the good side of Marc Dann: Get those donations in early and often or be left out in the cold!

Photos below courtesy of the Lorain County Democratic Party, taken at the Marc Dann-Barbara Sykes "Harry Buffalo" fundraiser in October.
J.J. Cafaro, taking a rare break from buying his daughter a district and shopping for politicians to line his pockets, seen here with defeated Democratic Auditor of State nominee Barbara Sykes. Please note that they are wearing Dann for AG stickers, but that Dann and Cafaro are not seen together in any of the pictures, likely to avoid any suspicions.
Defeated 13th (and 14th) Congressional District candidate Capri Cafaro with the woman she lost the May 2006 Democrat Primary to, US Rep.-elect Betty Sutton.

Ohio Politics: My Late Two Cents

Over the last week, between traveling twice for Christmas and working on other side-projects, I have neglected a few rather important Ohio stories. Most of them are still topical, and everyone is still talking about them, so I will throw in my two cents, albeit slightly tardy.

-One of the measures passed by the General Assembly before the end of this session was HB 690, essentially the enacting/enabling bill for this November's Issue 2, which raised the minimum wage in early 2007 to $6.85. Issue 2, which also requires a yearly raise of the minimum wage to adjust for inflation, was backed by groups who did not even pay their petition circulators the current minimum wage. No one ever accused liberals of being intellectually honest, though. Issue 2 passed in November, and so the General Assembly reacted with HB 690, the language of which enables the enforcement of Issue 2. The issue was penned with sloppy language (a la the TEL Amendment that was dropped earlier in 2006), so the legislature cleaned it up as they saw fit. If you don't want the issue you put on the ballot to be messed with, then learn how to write legislation! All of these half-cocked issues campaigns kill me, because half of them are ill-conceived, and the rest are written so poorly that they are never enacted in the manner intended. As far as minimum wage increases go, I will go ahead and tell you that this hike is another nail in the Ohio economy's coffin. Prices will rise, benefits will fall, and the inflation alone caused by this will negate any of the short-lived benefits.

-After running a campaign for Attorney General here in Ohio against Betty Montgomery, during which he lambasted her for perceived ties to felon Tom Noe, Attorney General-elect Marc Dann wishes to have Noe's attorney as his second-in-command. Tom Winters may be a fine lawyer, and he may do a great job in the end. However, picking a guy who worked for Tom Noe as your number two, especially when you ran your race almost entirely against Noe's GOP connections, is high hypocrisy. Dann, a camera seeker if there ever was one, is not off to a good start in his AG tenure.

-All outgoing politicians are given farewell speeches, sort of like their last meal, and outgoing State Rep. Geoff Smith (R-Upper Arlington) was no exception. He raised a few eyebrows, especially Speaker Jon Husted's, during his nearly half-hour diatribe with several off-color comments. Most notable among the shocking remarks was a quip about fellow Columbus-area State Rep. Larry Flowers (R-Westerville), involving his wife needing "more hose" in the bedroom. I am all for our politicians speaking their mind and against most all political correctness, but Smith went a little bit over the top in the whole speech. He even had the audacity to call his speech brief, and say that he hated droning on, after 26 minutes! That is long, even for a politician! Smith also was very brash in saying that he often did not do what was best for his district, being very easily talked into voting otherwise. I am not a very big fan of Smith, in full disclosure, but this was a bit much to keep quiet about.
H/T to Right Angle Blog on the YouTube clip of the speech, found here.

-Columbus City Councilman Mary Jo Hudson (D) was appointed to be Director of Insurance under Governor-elect Ted Strickland. Hudson will still have to be approved by the Ohio Senate, but I am not too surprised by this move. First of all, given the ineptness of the GOP in Columbus municipal elections of late (0 GOPers on City Council and no candidate for Mayor in 2003), incumbency is not even a needed advantage for Columbus Democrats. Secondly, Hudson has a background with the Ohio Dept. of Insurance, so this makes sense. Anyhow, a lot of my fellow GOP and conservative bloggers are up in arms over this appointment, because Hudson is openly gay. I say this: who cares? So long as she does her job, why does it matter? If Hudson strays from her duties, I will be sure to call her out on it, but I would do that with anyone not doing their job. Get over it, and move on to more important things.

-Another bill under consideration in Ohio would cap union donations to political campaigns under the premise that unions are businesses. Anyone who still sees a union as a non-profit entity should ask themselves why all of the union bosses are getting rich quick off of their membership dues? I will not get into the relative irrelevancy of unions in modern America, as one must only look to their flip-flop on illegal immigration to see their own desperation. That is another topic for another day. I personally am not a big fan of campaign contribution limits and all of the ridiculous restrictions that McCain-Feingold brought us nationally, but if we are going to cap donations, unions should not be exempted. If you will go back a year to 2005, it was Democrats in Ohio who were trying to limit personal and business contributions further, and they were soundly rejected. It is also telling that Democrats have railed against corruption in Ohio, yet when given the opportunity to end a form of pay-to-play, choose not to do so.

Ohio Political Roundup

-My Congressman, Deborah Pryce, has (almost) officially won her bid for re-election, but due to the close margin of victory, another automatic recount will be taking place. Ever the optimist (or opportunist, you pick one), Mary Jo Kilroy is waiting to concede until after the recount is complete. I would post the still frame of her press conference in the Dispatch today, but it sent me in search of Pepto Bismol after a just a quick glance so I will spare you that misfortune. By the way, their 'recount strategy' is to make sure every vote counts, even the fraudulent ones. How dare Deb Pryce and the GOP disenfranchise fraudulent voters!

-Ohio Senate Democrats have filled two vacant seats left by Charlie Wilson's election to the US House and Marc Dann's election to Attorney General. It really showed that they searched high and low, near and far, for the best and brightest candidates to fill the posts; their commitment to cleaning up corruption and qualified politicians shines through brightly. Failed Congressional candidate Capri Cafaro is finishing up Dann's term, and Jason Wilson, who happens to be Charlie's son, will serve out his time. If Cafaro decides to become a media whore a la Marc Dann, at least she will look good on camera. Besides that, she will be a great fundraiser, and I will go ahead and guarantee that all of the cash will come on the up and up. I am sure that the donor gave it freely after being knee-capped and fitted for concrete shoes. The junior Wilson will also prove to be a great asset to petition drives taking place in neighboring districts; he did great work while coming up short on 50 valid signatures for his dad's last campaign (after which he was fired). He is a true scholar.

-The Ohio GOP Headquarters building on South Fifth Street in downtown Columbus has been vandalized no less than five times in the past month; it is clearly not politically motivated. Evidently, the latest in Democratic campaign strategy (or what qualifies for strategy) is to bankrupt the GOP by forcing them to make repeated costly repairs to their facilities. ORP spokesman, John McClelland, claims that they caught the culprit on video camera, which is not surprising because of the plethora of surveillance cameras on site there. My theory is that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman is still perturbed at the GOP for running out of coffee at March's St. Patrick's Day Parade. He was told that there was Irish coffee available, but apparently his wife is the only one who likes it Irish.

-Look for a better sense of where the next General Assembly will be headed after session begins in January. The budget will be on the table (dripping with pork, to be sure), term limits will likely be addressed, and redistricting and campaign contribution reform will likely be broached by springtime as well. In order to get anything accomplished, there will have to be some cooperation due to the divided government coming into power.