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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

McEwen kicks $52,000 into his race

After loaning his campaign $50,000 in March and $1,000 last October, Bob McEwen dumped another $52,000 of his own money into his race for the 2nd Congressional District seat this week, according to a report just filed with the Federal Election Commission.

That brings the former congressman’s personal investment in his bid to defeat Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt in the May 2 GOP primary to $103,000.

And that’s on top of the $305,400 he loaned his campaign during last year’s special election for the seat. McEwen, who represented the neighboring 6th District in the House in the 1980s, came in second to Schmidt in last year's special.

Schmidt was $255,150 in debt after the special. She has since loaned her campaign $100,000 and repaid $143,000.

The Miami Township Republican plans to use more of her own money in the race, spokesman Barry Bennett said. He didn’t say how much.

Meanwhile, Schmidt’s campaign is investigating a $6,000 loan McEwen received last month from Richard Bryan, executive director of the Wellness Community in Cincinnati, Bennett said.

Under federal law, candidates can’t accept loans larger than the $2,100 individual contribution limit for the primary and general elections. That means the annual limit is $4,200 in contributions or loans for any one person.

McEwen campaign spokesman Michael Harlow didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.


35 Comments:

at 8:32 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why does this paper insist on spewing Schmidt spin?

Aaron Hines
Mount Orab

 
at 8:40 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bob will probably need to take out a third mortgage on his million dollar VA home if he wants to have any chance in the primary. But will he break VA law and say his primary residence is in OH or will he tell the truth and list his residence as VA?

 
at 9:14 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since Jean Schmidt has so much time to investigate things... why doesn't she investigate why the price of gas is $3 bucks a gallon while she is busy giving $11 BILLION dollar tax breaks to oil companies instead of working families.

Jean, why did you do that at the same time oil companies were posting the highest profits in American history? Have you ever received a donation from an oil company? Where does a person have to go on the web to find which oil companies give which Congressman money?

Jim Parker
Democrat for US Congress

Jim Parker for Congress - A Man who will Fight for You, Not OIL Companies

 
at 9:36 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

McEwen illegally taking money again? Oh what a surprise. At least before he could steal it from the taxpayers....

 
at 9:43 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The title of this post is so biased it is ridiculous! How about "McEwen and Schmidt personal loan update" or something that doesn't make it sound like McEwen's doing something Schmidt isn't doing! You really need to start working the OPINION page, or get a conscience and start behaving like a reporter--reporting facts, two sides to the story if opinion is involved, and let the readers develop their own opinions without your leading.

 
at 9:59 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know Bob could start a precedent! We could raise all our politicians in Virginia and send them to us peons in the midwest to represent us. Surely they could make more money in Virginia and DC, and be better educated. All of the states could just decide which Washington insider we want to represent us. Makes no difference where they have lived for the past 20 years other than that they have been in the inner circles of DC.
WOW!! We could really get some good guys if everyone that ran for office in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Alambama,and Louisiana, all came from Virginia!! I sure the people up there know what our needs are much better than anyone around here possibly could!! I wonder if this would be legal? Hillary was from Arkansas and she is smart enough to represent New York!
They've got to be a lot smarter than the dumb midwesterners and Southerners around here!
Contact your representatives tell them we want the best, we won't settle for some lowly Ohioan, we want a Virginian!!!

 
at 10:12 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's a question for Mr. McEwen: Why did your campaign pay over $7000 to conduct a poll you never released the results to?

 
at 10:43 PM, April 25, 2006 Blogger Drew said...

The Enquirer's reporting of this race is spinning more and more out of control daily. The headline of this post is a perfect example of this. Let's just hope a candidate who has been locked in a basement somewhere in the 2nd for the past forty years doesn't emerge, as the Enquirer would surely endorse them on the grounds they are more local.

Also, did anyone else notice that the Enquirer's endorsement article for Blackwell didn't make a single of mention of his being from Cincinnati? (which, of course, had no impact on the decision)

I really wish the Enquirer would abandoned this biased, pro-Schmidt slant and focus on real journalism.

Oh well, at least we can add "Enquirer looking stupid" to the list of good things that will happen when Schmidt is voted out of congress.

 
at 10:57 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

We can all see that the Enquirer is not going to play fair. A story earlier about both Canidates going before the elctions commission was 90% about McEwen and 10% Schmidt. Then this piece where both canidates have given the same amount to their campaign has McEwen as the headline. Deep in the story we see that both have given the same amount to their campaigns but it was said that Jean will be giving more. I have no problem with them giving whatever they want but I wonder if we will see a report of "Schmidt gives ???? More to her Campaign when she does.

Also as is history I am predicting at least one probably 2 more stunts by the Schmidt people. There will not be any talking issues. They will spread more half-truths or get their Democratic, ambulance chasing, John Kerry loving Lawyer to throw more mud. That will truly be trying to buy the election and will be just that a stunt. I think we all know she will try more. And what will the Enquirer do?? Probably report on it as if it is fact and just restate the Schmidt point of view. Truly a sad state of affairs.
Come on Schmidt you know you will pull something this week. How about letting the voters decide on who will best lead them instead of doing it with lawyers. What are you afraid of??

 
at 11:08 PM, April 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Bob, where'd the endorsement from Munoz go?

 
at 9:13 AM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did anybody know that other than taking money from brutal dictators, Bob got the rest of his money from Amway. How weird, those people creep me out

 
at 9:30 AM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is really a sad story when the press continues to pad their days with news of Schmidt and McEwen, and not give the other two Republicans on the ticket credit for working the district, discussing issues, and talking with the people. And SHAME on the press for not giving the Dems any decent press at all...Southwest OH is definately a Republican stronghold in Ohio, but remember in November there will be at LEAST two parties represented at the polls. What a dis-service to the voting public!

 
at 11:39 AM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wish I could be in Columbus tomorrow when Bob McEwen defends his residency with a letter that Schmidt sent to McEwen saying she would not debate him in front of his home club (Anderson). Simple logic here folks. If Anderson is his home club, as she claims, then Bob must be a resident. Now if he is not a resident, Anderson could not be his home club, which of course means that Jean Schmidt again lied (now that's a shocking surprise isn't it) as to why she would not debate in Anderson.

Note to Jean - Lies to cover up other lies is not a good strategy. Here's some advice for you, when you find yourself at the bottom of a hole, stop digging.

 
at 11:53 AM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Woah! I just noticed that he did pay almost $7,000 for a poll he never released (anon 10:12)and you're probably right. He didn't want to release his horrible results. Totally lame.

 
at 12:12 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some of these College Republicans/Log Cabin Republicans posting for Schmidt haven't been around politics long enough to know much about how it works. Candidates are constantly doing internal polls which aren't released to the public. McEwen is doing it, and Mean Jean is doing the same thing. It's always going on in big races, and I know it's going on here because I've heard both campaigns referencing their internal polls.

 
at 1:14 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeff, please post your resume so that we can all see what a political expert you are. til then quit claiming to be an expert. no wonder you like Bob, your rhetoric has no basis in fact or reality. Maybe Amway could hire you too.

 
at 2:25 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some political polls are conducted to determine how particular issues affect voters. Candidates use that info to help focus on the issues that are most important to their constituents. Candidates often use focus groups as well. It's called marketing -- the same tool used to sell any product. Well run campaigns on both sides know how effective good marketing data can be and how disastrous poor data can be.

Some would refer to that as listening to the people they represent. It's a foreign concept to Schmidt, so I'm not surprised her supporters don't get it.

Why should McEwen take his polling results public when it might tip his hand to Schmidt regarding his campaign strategy?

Would Ford tell Chevy the results of their marketing data?

I know critics will say you shouldn't have to poll to know what's important to voters. That's a sound-bite lie made up by people like Schmidt who believe the only issues that are important are the ones she hears about from the small handful of people who call her office on a daily basis so they can then boast to their friends that they're in frequent contact with their Congresswoman. I've been there and seen it time and time again.

On the contrary, the truth is that the average voter is in the silent majority. The squeaky wheels do not represent the majority of Americans. Candidates like Schmidt are quick to jump on popular issues just to grab sound-bites. That's her style because she lacks experience and competence. It's a great way to make headlines, it's the worst possible way to legislate.

In fact, the issues that are truly important to the voters often are not reflected by the squeaky wheels or presented accurately in the media. The best way to extract that information from constituents in an unbiased way is to conduct scientific market research. The results of which are owned solely by the candidate who pays the bill -- not the public or the opponent.

Bob McEwen has proven time and again that he supports good legislation, not legislation that make for good headlines.

Please learn the basics about the campaign process before you write again. You're just as foolish as Schmidt who speaks before she thinks.

 
at 3:05 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another day, another spate of grossly misleading spin, endeavoring to hide the real issues, and cover up the fact than Mrs. Schmidt is simply not qualified to represent us in Congress! She displays the same lack of qualification and judgment in Washington, as she displayed here, the other day, when she retained Bill Clinton's biggest booster in Southern Ohio, the famous hearse racing attorney, Stan Chesley to file spurious legal forms, intended to smear Bob McEwen.

Mrs. Schmidt's hope, I am sure, is that no Court will sanction Chesley for Rule 11 violations, before the Primary. What a farce!

Meanwhile, any who will bother to listen to Bob McEwen speak will recognize three things:

1. He is a dedicated Ohio Conservative, a lifelong exponent of the vision of Limited and frugal Government, for a people individually responsible, in the manner the Founding Fathers intended.

2. That he is one of the more articulate men in public life--indeed more articulate than any current office holder in our District, in any office.

3. That he is devoted to preserving the values referred to in item 1, for our children and our children's children.

I do not know what special interests Mrs. Schmidt has promised what to. But it is difficult for me, as a lifelong student of Ohio politics, to conceive of any other reason why she would still have any organized support. Perhaps, I am being unfair in that. But before anyone makes a terrible mistake, please, at least listen to what Bob McEwen has to say. He will be a Representative that we can all be truly proud of.

William Flax

 
at 3:42 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are people supporting McEwen attacking college kids again? Wow, what a surprise. Oh well, I guess when your base is an average of 40 years older than the college demographic, it all makes sense. But what do they know anyway, they're just the future of America, I mean, it's cool to tell them to shut up and learn their role. Right?

 
at 3:43 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I want to hear Jim Parker's position the incredible economy the United States has right now.

 
at 3:54 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

This just in from the beloved Evans-Novak report which McEwen was drooling over a few months ago...

Ohio-2: Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) suffered another blow when the Ohio Elections Commission rapped her for claiming an extra bachelor's degree last year that she does not in fact hold. Based on her abysmal 2005 campaign for the seat, we would have little confidence in her ability to keep the seat.

Still, her primary election opponent, former Rep. Bob McEwen (R), is weighed down by his own ethics problems, which go beyond his involvement in the House Banking Scandal in the early 1990s. Now he is facing problems related to his voter registration: He has voted in Ohio for years since leaving Congress, despite living in Virginia. This issue has legs, and it blindsided McEwen, who has handled it very badly. Perhaps less damaging, but still problematic, is the new revelation that he lobbied for the quasi-Marxist government of Eritrea.

We had expected McEwen to make greater strides by this time, particularly given Schmidt's repeated episodes of self-destructive behavior nearly every week of the campaign. But we see little evidence of this beyond a McEwen-sponsored poll that puts him within the margin of error.

Public polling seems to confirm the picture of the race painted by Schmidt's campaign, in which she leads by more than 20 points. It seems odd for Schmidt to poll at above 50 percent when her name identification within the district is barely that high.

Schmidt barely won her seat last year after surviving a crowded special election primary by no virtue of her own, and then pulling off an underwhelming victory against trial lawyer Paul Hackett (D) after an uninspiring campaign. From those depths, and then her embarrassing derision of Rep. Frank Murtha (D-Pa.) for supporting withdrawal from Iraq, Schmidt has risen to receive the endorsement of the Cincinnati Enquirer and enters the final week as the favorite. Leaning Schmidt.

 
at 3:58 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey "Lori", you might be interested in learning that the real Lori Viars has endorsed Bob McEwen. Not that it would stop Team Schmidt/Chesley from claiming yet another false endorsement.

You Log Cabin CR's really need to get better informed. Schooling you is getting to be a bit tiresome.

http://www.bobmcewenforcongress.com/index.php/p/53/t/Endorsements

 
at 4:40 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeff:

You sure like to throw around the "Log Cabin Republican" label, don't you? Guys like you are always a little suspect. Not secure enough in your sexuality, so you project your insecurities onto others. Debate the issues and the candidates, but leave the playground name-calling antics for the DemocRAT party hacks.

 
at 4:46 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Dumber that a Box of Rocks"

In case you did not notice both canidates have given $100,000 to their campaigns. If you really paid attention and read the whole article you would see this. But Schmidt supporters continue to throw out half truths like you just did. It is commone practice for canidates to donate to their own campaign. By the way both canidates have given $100,000 more and Jeans people indicated she will be giving more. It really is no big deal but I thought I would point this out to you since you onely gave about 30% of the story.

Also I think it does say something that both canidates would like to represent us if they are willing to put their own money itto the race. By the way don't worry about Jean she has by some estimations 6.7 million(public records)

Nice try on the spin.

 
at 4:55 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

So someone is posting on this site using the name Lori Viars. And then they are posting as if she supports Schmidt. Yet again another in a long line of ridciulous, no ethics stunts by the Schimdt people. You are getting sadder by the minute but you follow your leader who hides behind this stuff and won't debate. You follow someone who hires Democratic, John Kerry loving lawyer and then files bogus law suits which will all be throw out. What a joke. No class!!!!

 
at 5:00 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think Jeff was pointing out that whoever was posting on this site and talking about Bob spending money on polls was once agian not informed or spinning the truth.

Every canidate in every major race does polls, questionairs, marketing. So either you were dumb and with out the knowledge to know that all canidates do polls or you are just a Schmidt person spinning once again.

Regardless if the person is in College or not their statments were mis-leading or ill-informed.

 
at 5:13 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love the McEwen supporters hating on Chesley when that's exactly who Finny and Brinkman and COAST ran to when they wanted to try and stop Jean from getting elected last year. You have to understand, he's the best, you know it too Mr. Flax or else you wouldn't be so pissed, and people want to use his abilities. Plus he's another vote for Schidt, yay.

 
at 5:15 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

So i think that everyone needs to read the newest Evans-Novak report that says that it "leans schmidt." It also brought up the Eritrea Debacle by McEwen.

 
at 6:30 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

RE: Novak report
This is a sad assessment of the Schmidt camp. I would hope that a GOP incumbent w/pro-life backing would be "leaning" to win the district. Let's look at who is up for re-election, Jean Schmidt, NOT Bob McEwen. This paper and the Schmidt camp are spinning things that are negative against Bob McEwen is if he is the incumbent. Why? They cannot run on their record and win!!!

 
at 6:32 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

How come this blog hasn't reported that within the last few weeks Bob McEwen has picked up the endorsement of the Dayton Daily News, News Democrat of Georgetown, the RNCforLife, and Guns Owners of America?

 
at 6:39 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Log Cabin Republicans for Schmidt!

http://www.bluechipreview.com/SCHMIDT_DEBATE_PROTESTORS.jpg

 
at 7:27 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

PITIFUL! Attacking College kids, what won't they attack? The funny thing is I've never seen them go after Democrats, wait, is Bob a Republican?

 
at 9:12 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey idiot:

Point is that neither Bob or Jean are trying to get elected beacuse of the amount of pay they will recieve. My guess is that money is not a problem for them.. I think and hope that they have a desire to serve. Now if you want to make an arguement that are election system favors those who have money I will listen.

It is not about terms or how many terms they serve. Truth is there is alot more money to be made outside of politics. I hope that both are truly running for the right reasons to serve us.

 
at 11:46 PM, April 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Isee that Jeff Hardin's letter in the Cpommunity Journal of 4-19 has made him a target here. It isdispicalble to use someone else's name to write a point that is obviously opposite whatthey stand for. Using Lori Viars' name in such a distorted manner. I suggest the Enquirer start eliminating these bogus blogs. They have phone numbers for Lori and Jeff. They have a responsibility to elinimate the lies. Just so you all know,Jeff and Lori back Bob McEwen because of his distinguished record of being an effective legislator and working closely with local elected officials.Why do you think 6 of the 7 counties refused to endorse a setting congressman? Yeah I know, she is a congreswoman. But former opponents demanded a DNA test after finding she lied about her biograhy and the test determined she had " brass balls."

 
at 11:13 AM, April 27, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The desperation of the Bob McEwen supporters on this blog is palatable. You guys should be worried - Jean Schmidt has already defeated McEwen once before! Do you think voters in Clermont, Pike, Adams, Brown, and Scioto counties care about message board mudslinging? They're going to vote for the incumbent. The people who have posted anti-Schmidt comments on this board come across like a bunch of grade school kids taunting a classmate on the playground. Give it a rest!

 
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