Politics Extra: GOP: Cranley's congressional bid sets record

Monday, December 05, 2005

GOP: Cranley's congressional bid sets record

Brad Greenberg, executive director of the Hamilton County Republican Party, had this statement today on Councilman John Cranley's announcement Saturday that he would run against Steve Chabot in the 1st Congressional District:

John Cranley must have set a record for the shortest amount of time between being sworn into one office and announcing plans for the next office. To wait only 48 hours is disrespectful to the voters of Cincinnati. John Cranley cares more about his own advancement than fulfilling his duties on City Council.

Cranley told the Cincinnati Post today that a congressional campaign won't interfere with his ability to serve as a councilman.

25 Comments:

at 2:21 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Great! Greenberg is right on.

at 2:37 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

The Republicans don't have any valid criticism of Cranley, so they go for his timing? That's rich. Wasn't it earlier this year that the golden child of Fourth Street, Pat Dewine, was asking voters in the Second District to elect him to a third office within about 16 months? Greenberg doesn't know what he's talking about.

at 3:23 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

What did Chabot do before running for congress? It's not like he just fell from the sky, you know.

at 3:30 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Erich: and that worked so well for the Golden Child of Fourth Street, didn't it? I expect Mr. Cranley will find out the hard way just like Pat, the guy you pretended to run against, did.

at 4:02 PM, December 05, 2005

Andrew Warner said...

Erich,
He's got a valid point. It now appears that Cranley ran the race to hold the seat for David Pepper.

He says he will not let all of this get in the way of his job on council, but that is wishful thinking if not a blatant lie.

at 4:07 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Who cares whether or not it worked for Dewine? The point was that Greenberg's statement was hypocritical. You cannot deny that.

at 4:54 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Cranley endorsed Reece for Mayor not Pepper. He stayed neutral in the race between Mallory and Pepper. So, I don't think he was running to hold the seat for Pepper.
Also, many members of council have run for higher office after being elected to council. For example: Todd Portune ran for Commissioner while on council as did Heimlich and DeWhine. Chabot ran for Congress while on council too.

at 5:27 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Cranley didn't endorse anyone for mayor.

Cranley's declaration that he is running for congress one year from now is very different from Dewine. First, Dewine was running for his third position in a very short period of time. Plus he had only been on the job as county commissioner for a few weeks. Additionally, Dewine was running for a position that would have required him to leave his county commissioner seat shortly after gaining it.

Cranley has been a member of council for a significant period of time. Its not like he is jumping from position to position like Dewine, he is simply moving from council to congress. Second, by the time Cranley becomes a congressman he will have served a majority of his current term on council. This is much diffent than Dewine potentially leaving the county commission after a few months of a four year term.

Just to address Andrew, what would make you think that his position would go to Pepper? Thats got to be the most retarded thing I've ever read. First, Pepper wouldn't take it, and second the other Dems on council, who appoint his replacement would never give it too him. Also, saying that he can't handle running in an election while being on council is kind of weird since he and every other incumbent council member just ran for reelection while still keeping their job.

In conclusion, Republican's are corrupt idiots, Erich was right, and Andrew Warner is retarded

at 5:39 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

While I disagree with Cranley's timing of his anouncement, I do feel that he is the best candidate to win the 1st district for the Democrats. The majority of the voters encompassed by the 1st district are conservative Democrats, just like him. Cranley also knows how to build support on the west side of town. All of that coupled with his strong showing against Chabot in 2000 makes him a good candidate. On the subject of congress, city hall, and Pepper, I think that he would be a great candidate for the 2nd district. Jean Schmidt certainly is not an entrenched incumbent, especially after her remarks a few weeks ago. While I supported Mallory for mayor, I would certainly like to see Pepper take on Schmidt next year. He would be a great candidate, especially since Paul Hackett is running for Senate instead of running a rematch.

at 7:12 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

Alicia -- Pepper lives in the second district.

Andrew -- if Cranley wins (by no means guaranteed), the other Dems would pick his replacement. They're very sensitive about the racial balance of City Council (now 2/9 in a city that's 4/9). My guess is Wendell Young would get the nod.

Superman -- I don't think Cranley endorsed anyone. He worked with Reece on some issues, but he never formally endorsed.

DC -- there's no need for name-calling.

Anon 5:39 -- has anyone ever seen Pepper outside the city limits? If he's going to win the 2nd district, he'd have to be at a VFW hall in Waverly right now.

at 8:45 PM, December 05, 2005

Andrew Warner said...

DC,
What sources do you have say that Dems wouldn't give it to him and that he wouldn't take it? Do you have inside information on appointments by the Democrats?

Your other point about "just running a campaign," is true but you miss the important aspect of it. Like you said he just ran a campaign. Are his contributors willing to throw out another thousand dollars? Will the money flow easy running back to back campaigns? Obviously he is going to have to work harder, raise more, AND deal with national issues concurrently dealing with city issues. That is a much heavier task than you are giving it credit for.

at 8:57 PM, December 05, 2005

Andrew Warner said...

DC,
another thing... All those council members will tell you that campaigning hurts their performance at city hall. That is one of the reasons some of them want a longer term period. They recognize that campaigning distracts them from thei duties as council people.

David Pepper at a bloggers meeting said that things got worse at city hall as the campaigns started. Since you know him so well you should ask him about it.

at 9:58 PM, December 05, 2005

Anonymous said...

one more time, cranley never endorsed a mayorial candidate, let alone awful alicia - please!

if anything, pepper might be in-line for a commish spot if portune gets ohio dem head.

this is a great move for cranley - new district, council race momentum and he'll have served on council longer than chabot did.

the timing is also optimal as it pre-empts a primary opponent. the repubs are terrified & should be.

donny shacks

at 12:04 AM, December 06, 2005

Anonymous said...

I think the evidence shows that Pat DeWine was job-hopping more than Cranley is. I think people should give politicians the benefit of the doubt, in that, hey, these are real people who like their jobs and obviously want to stay involved in politics as long as they can. Can we please stop thinking that for some reason this group of people, as opposed to all others, shouldn't follow what they consider their self-interest.

If Cranley wins this seat (which I doubt he will) the I would be curious to see who they appoint in his place. Probably Wendell Young, but the deep connections between the Luken family and Cranley lead me to believe that Sam Luken might be a serious contender, even triumphant. If not, look forward to that kid running for City Council in 2007. If Charter picks Nick Spencer to replace Jim Tarbell (God forbid) he'll have a real opportunity.

at 6:56 AM, December 06, 2005

Anonymous said...

"if anything, pepper might be in-line for a commish spot if portune gets ohio dem head."

Once again, Donny Shacks poses an an insider when he's anything but.

In declaring for Party Chair, Portune stressed that he could maintain his commissioner's seat.

at 8:21 AM, December 06, 2005

Anonymous said...

It's pretty sad that Sam Luken is considered a "serious contender" based only on his last name.

Hopefully he'll actually move to Cincinnati (he lives in Columbus) and accomplish some things before he runs for Council.

It'd be pretty sad to see him appointed or elected to Council in the next two years based solely on the fact that he was born a Luken.

And it'd be pretty arrogant of him to think he's entitled to do so.

at 1:12 PM, December 06, 2005

Anonymous said...

Heimlich did not run for County Commissioner as a sitting City Council Member. His term ended in December of 2001 and was elected in November 2002.

at 1:27 PM, December 06, 2005

Anonymous said...

Erich, throwing out Pat DeWine's example doesn't make Cranley's opportunism any more defensible. We don't have to debate which one of the two is the opportunist.

Both DeWine and Cranley are blind opportunists. They don't care a thing about the people they currently serve. All they want to do is move on to the next office. Running for for 3 offices in 14 months, or running for Congress less than 1 month after being elected to Clowncil, says all we need to know about their commitment to the people who elected them.

at 8:05 AM, December 07, 2005

Anonymous said...

Erich has the Democratic Party microchip embedded in his medulla oblongata, so he can't help but defend a Democrat.

Announcing a bid for another job only TWO DAY into the current one is blatant self-serving job hopping, at least to anyone not blinded by party loyalty. It's really laughable to comparable it to 16 months, strecky-poo.

at 9:57 AM, December 07, 2005

Anonymous said...

Well, I don't think I'm blinded by anything, and the fact is that this is how the business works, ladies and gents. If you don't like it, then get out of the commenting business.

at 11:19 AM, December 07, 2005

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I drank the Kool-Aid. Big deal. I'll point out Republican hypocrisy any time. Cranley's not an idiot. He knows it's going to take a ton of money to beat Chabot, and you can't raise that money without starting the committee. Frankly, I appreciate a straight answer better than the standard "oh, well I'm thinking about it," song and dance we get from most people.

at 11:21 AM, December 07, 2005

Anonymous said...

And by the way, that was three positions in 16 months, and Cranley hasn't been on the job two days, he's been on the job a solid four years.

at 3:17 PM, December 07, 2005

Anonymous said...

Sorry Erich, the 5 year line won't work when Cranley chose to run for re-election in 2005. He ran for re-election knowing that he'd immediately start his run for Congress. His reasons for running had nothing to do with serving his constituents.

I'm a Republican who has no problem admitting that Pat DeWine is a blind opportunist. Why can't you admit the same about John Cranley?

at 9:20 PM, December 08, 2005

Anonymous said...

But the biggest office hopper in decades has to be Steve Chabot. CHABOT NEVER SERVED A FULL TERM FOR FIVE STRAIGHT YEARS of office hopping before getting to Congress.

In November of 89 he got back in city council, left office over a year and a half early to take an appointment as commissioner. In 1992 he was elected to his first full term as commissioner. Chabot then ran for office halfway through that election, leaving his seat two years early to be in congress.

It has to be the record. Can you think of a worse office hopper?

In fact, from years 87-94 he ran for office in 87, 88, 89, 90, 92 and 94. And this wasn't "looking" into office. No wonder he used to be for term limits -- he never stayed in one place for almost ten years.

So for those of you who care about office hopping and think it's "blind opportunism", then you must think Steve Chabot is the biggest criminal of all.

at 11:26 PM, December 08, 2005

Anonymous said...

Well then Jeff, I guess if you think Dewine's a blind opportunist, you'd have to say the same thing about Steve Chabot. Everyone knows he didn't care about city council or about being county commissioner, it was just the quickest path for him to get to Congress. Chabot hopped from office to office without serving a full-term for five straight years before getting in Congress. Let me repeat--Chabot chased city and county and federal offices for five straight years before getting into congress. Cranley has served five straight years on city council and has never officially run for another office until now.

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Monday, December 05, 2005

GOP: Cranley's congressional bid sets record

25 Comments: