When the Ohio State Buckeyes play Florida in the inaugural BCS Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, The Ohio State University will have a very large contingent of guests in attendance. The Columbus Dispatch has published the list of all official guests of the university, and there are no real surprises, simply a lot of the likely suspects (suspects may be a bad choice of syllogism when speaking of politicians, eh?). Ohio GOP and Ohio Democratic Party Chairmen are both on the list, with ORP Chairman Bob Bennett taking his wife Ruth Ann Bennett, and ODP Chairman Chris Redfern taking his fiancee Kim Kahlert. Among other Ohio politicians in the General Assembly attending include:
-Speaker Jon Husted (R)
-State Rep. Steve Reinhard (R)
-State Rep. Michelle Schneider (R)
-State Rep. Robert Hagan (D)
-State Sen. Steve Stivers (R)
-State Sen. Jay Hottinger (R)
-State Rep. Jim Carmichael (R)
-State Sen. Steve Austria (R)
-State Rep. Jon Peterson (R)
-State Rep. Tom Letson (D)
-State Rep. Jim Hughes (R)
-State Rep. Matt Barrett (D)
-State Rep. Ross McGregor (R)
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman (D) is attending, as is outgoing City Council President Matt Habash (D). Ohio Secretary of State-elect Jennifer Brunner (D) will be on the flight, as will Ohio 5th District Congressman Paul Gillmor (R). All of the politicians are paying their own way, at $2,100 per person. Other notables include ambitious OSU Student Senate President Nick Benson, whose trip is being paid for by the university from the bowl payout, and Undergraduate Student President Ryan Fournier, whose trip is covered because he is working on the trip. The Board of Trustees also is on the list, part of which will be paid for by bowl proceeds. Notable Republicans on the Board of Trustees include RNC Co-Chair JoAnn Davidson, outgoing Auditor of State Betty Montgomery, disgraced former Taft aide Brian Hicks, and GOP campaign treasurer extraordinaire Bill Curlis. Of these four, only Curlis is paying his own way.
One interesting side note to this list are the few Republicans who will get to spend a plane ride and a weekend with Chairman Bennett, no doubt discussing 2008 ambitions and beyond. State Sen. Jay Hottinger, rumored candidate for Congress in the 18th District is one of these to note, as are Speaker Husted and Rep. Hughes, who have both been rumored replacements for 15th District Congressman Deborah Pryce if she retires. State Rep. Steve Reinhard is also a rumored candidate to replace term-limited State Sen. Larry Mumper in 2008. It also is not known if Governor-elect Ted Strickland will be making the trip.
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4 comments:
Looks like Stricklands first day will be overshadowed at least.
Yeah, the Buckeyes had to go and ruin the new Governor's big day. Probably a GOP ploy to undermine his authority and administration.
The University is also paying for Nick Benson's girlfriend. Your tax dollars at work.
Well, this is true, but everyone else gets to take a guest, regardless. Granted, Ryan Fournier's listed guest is Kate Christobek, his second-in-command, but who is Benson going to take besides his girlfriend? Aside from that, our tax dollars are not paying for Mr. Benson to attend the game; his trip is one of the ones paid for through the bowl payout. Nick Benson sits on the Athletic Committee, and he is not only an official OSU delegation member to the BCS, but a member of the much smaller party from the Big 10 conference. For the record, I like college students and people in general to be ambitious and have goals, but I think Nick is overly (and even obnoxiously) so. His stated goal is to become the youngest ever Speaker of the US House of Representatives, for those who may not know. Anyhow, regardless of what I think of the kid personally, I am at least going to take him on with something more factual. Everyone got to pick a guest, and the Big 10 is paying for his trip and ticket out of their bowl check, not your tax dollars.
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