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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Calling out the big guns: Mr. Right Stuff


When the going gets tough, Democrats running for statewide office in Ohio always have an ace in the hole.

That ace is John H. Glenn Jr.

Glenn is a lengendary figure in Ohio politics, elected to to four terms in the U.S. Senate in the '70s, '80s and early '90s.

Glenn's appeal, of course, transcends politics; the last few generations of schoolchildren in Ohio have been introduced to him as an authentic America hero, the Mercury astronaut who, in 1962, became the first American to orbit the earth. Roads, highways, schools all over Ohio are named after the man; his childhood home in New Concord is an historic site, toured by busloads of school kids.

So it is little wonder that Sherrod Brown, the Democrat who wants to up-end incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine, called on Glenn to cut a 30-second TV spot for his campaign - no bells and whistles, no attacks on DeWine, just Glenn talking to the camera about his "good friend" Sherrod Brown.

It comes at a time when Brown, ahead in most polls, is being hammered in a barrage of attack ads from the DeWine campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Glenn - who is the headliner at a John Cranley fundraiser in Cincinnati Thursday - may be especially motivated to do whatever he can to elect Brown.

In 1992, then-lieutenant governor DeWine was the Republican party candidate's for Glenn's senate seat. DeWine, in the heat of the campaign, suggested that, if Sen. Glenn had his way, "the Berlin Wa'' would still be standing and the former Soviet Republicans still would be enslaved."

Glenn, who fought communists as a fighter pilot in the Korean war, smacked DeWine down for that crack, as did the voters of Ohio a few weeks later.

Moral of story: Don't mess with John Glenn. He may come back to haunt you.


5 Comments:

at 11:53 AM, October 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking if the Ohio race, why is it that the Enquirer is the only major paper in Ohio that has not run the story about the major revelation this week that Blackwell knowingly kept a convicted felon on his payroll? The Enquirer ran loads of stories about the Blackwell campaign's despicable innuendo about Strickland's sexuality, yet they won't even cover this story?

Of course the Enquirer is also the ONLY major daily in the state to endorse Blackwell. Big surprise.

FELON ON PAYROLL
Blackwell had problem worker
By Joe Hallett
The Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 12:34 AM

GOP gubernatorial nominee J. Kenneth Blackwell, who has questioned the judgment of Democrat Ted Strickland for employing an aide who committed a misdemeanor, apparently has a similar problem.

As state treasurer, Blackwell hired a felon and kept him on the payroll after his office discovered the man had a long record of arrests. Under Blackwell, who was treasurer from March 1994 to January 1999, Michael A. Toomer received two pay increases, and left the treasurer's office in 2002, landing in prison for the next four years.

Records obtained from the treasurer's office show that Toomer was hired Nov. 17, 1997 as a $10.32 per hour mail clerk/messenger. On his application, Toomer indicated no prior felony offenses and a State Highway Patrol record check at that time turned up none.

But when the treasurer's office sought clearance for Toomer to have access to the state of Ohio Computer Center, a second check turned up numerous arrests. On Jan. 26, 1998, the Ohio Department of Public Safety denied access to Toomer, alias Glenn K. Williams.

Hand-written notes in the report showed that Toomer had been arrested in Florida for armed robbery in 1981, cocaine possession twice in 1991, and again in 1993. Records from Broward County, Fla., authorities show that the charges for armed robbery and the first incident of cocaine possession were dropped.

Toomer successfully completed a drug-treatment program for the second 1991 cocaine possession charge and was placed on probation. In 1993, he was charged again with cocaine possession and his probation was extended for six months.

On Feb. 3, 1998, a week after learning about Toomer's criminal record, Beth Gilger, then the treasurer's director of human services, wrote on her office stationary that "we have enough to terminate" Toomer. At the time, and for the following six weeks, Toomer could have been fired without cause, because he wasn't yet a member of the state employees union.

Blackwell said he opted not to fire Toomer on the recommendation of Gilger and the treasurer's office legal counsel. Blackwell said Toomer was an admitted drug-addict who, after completing a Florida treatment program and passing treasurer's office drug tests, showed no signs of drug usage.

"He had met the drug screening, he was willing to undergo a pattern of drug screening tests and he had a local church community that vouched for his turning his life around," Blackwell said.

Although the second background check turned up numerous arrests, Blackwell said he saw no documentation showing that Toomer actually had been convicted.

In a check of Toomer's file at the treasurer's office, The Dispatch found two records indicating that Toomer's probation had been extended following his Jan. 14, 1993 arrest for possessing cocaine.

Blackwell's successor as treasurer in 1999, Joseph T. Deters, now the Hamilton County prosecutor, said he did not know Toomer and received no information about his criminal record while he was treasurer.

"If I had been aware of it, I would have terminated him because we handled so much cash, and if somebody had demonstrated a problem with drugs the chances of falling back into them were too high," Deters said.

In May 2002, about three months after leaving the treasurer's office, Toomer was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a girl, beginning in September 1994 when she was 7 and continuing until 2001.

Blackwell said he did not know Toomer was a child molester until yesterday. If he had had any indication that Toomer was abusing a child while an employee of the treasurer's office, Blackwell said, "He would have been history."

The revelation that Blackwell hired and kept a felon on the payroll comes as the GOP nominee intensifies his attack on Strickland. Blackwell has accused Strickland of using poor judgment by ignoring and then trying to cover up the record of a former top aide who had been convicted in 1994 of a fourth-degree misdemeanor public-indecency offense. Strickland denied the accusation, noting that the record of the offense had been expunged.

The Blackwell campaign this week is making "push poll" calls to Ohio voters, a deceptive method of using what appear to be legitimate surveys to spread a negative message about an opponent.

If recipients of such calls say they plan to vote for Strickland, a recorded voice is programmed to provide information about the former aide who "exposed himself" to children. A subsequent message details a vote Strickland cast in Congress on a resolution condemning sex between adults and children. Strickland, a psychologist, voted "present," saying he objected to a provision of the resolution that said sexually abused children could not have healthy relationships later in life.

 
at 12:14 PM, October 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Skip the food for thought !

How about bloggers rally around food for the free store ?

Hey Everyone!

Just visit the website below, and vote for the Cincinnati Bengals. If the Bengals receive the most votes (or most improved number of clicks from last year) then the Cincinnati Free Store and Food Bank will win a donation from Campbell's soups.

It only takes a second to vote, and if we win, we'll be helping to feed the hungry people of Cincinnati. You can only vote once
a day, but you can vote every day until the contest is over on December 15.

We're currently in 2nd place so let's keep it up!

A Vote for Bengals will bring food to the Free Store

 
at 2:21 PM, October 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! Sherrod Brown has a real American hero former OH Senator and reknowned Astronaut, John Glenn, backing him. Dewine instead has the worse pResident (never elected fairly) who gave us the Iraq War so that his crony contributors could rake in huge profits.

 
at 4:31 PM, October 25, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

What's this "when the going gets tough" crap? Brown's kicking Dewine all over the polls.

 
at 3:53 PM, October 26, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said...

at 2:21 PM, October 25, 2006 Anonymous said...
Wow! Sherrod Brown has a real American hero former OH Senator and reknowned Astronaut, John Glenn, backing him. Dewine instead has the worse pResident (never elected fairly) who gave us the Iraq War so that his crony contributors could rake in huge profits.

first learn to read anything that publishes current events and quit eating the crap your spoon fed by CBS. two: john glenn is a punk and liar.i left out has-been. Has he bothered to repay the campaign money he stole a few years ago or is hoping that his tired "hero" status will make you forget what a miserable failure he was in Congress. Next issue, Bush was elected using the same system weve had in place for a couple of years. quit your belly aching you lost get used to it. Would you feel better if a fat blowhard like Al Gore was running the country? Listen shut your mouth your only proving your an idiot.
Be a good Democrat go kill a baby in the womb.

 
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