Dayton Politics Blog

This morning the Dayton Daily, by writers Alexandra Barlow and Scott Elliott, printed the following information:

George Gorneleh, 49, of Kettering has been a registered Republican since 1996 but stood in line because his son was interested. Gorneleh even donated money to Obama’s campaign and is interested in his energy policy, among other issues.

“The war in Iraq is critically important,” he said.

With little research Dayton Daily would have found out that Mr. Gorneleh is neither a Republican nor has ever been a Republican in Montgomery County. In fact, with a phone call to the Board of Elections, it was learned that Mr. Gorneleh is a Democrat having participated in this year’s Democratic Primary and having never participated in a Republican Primary. The Dayton Daily should know that participation in a partisan primary indicates party affiliation, a phone call to Steve Harsman before printing would have tought them that.

Without Mr. Gorneleh as their conclusive evidence that Republican’s waited in line for Obama tickets the article has no point except to say that the fine Freshman Senator and presumptive Democrat nominee excited his 1000 members of his Democrat base. Hardly a in depth story. Perhaps Dayton Daily will take more time to vet out their interviewees and verify the information they print.

Dayton Politix is requesting a correction to the article.  We will be watching for accuracy and fairness in future political reporting by the Dayton Daily News. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the pics of the custom car Brush bought for his father in law to drive. Remember our earlier post where we wrote that the Appointed Democratic Clerk’s predecessor had a white van without his personal name. After Mr. Brush added his name to three sides of the white van, he ditched the van this year for a more flashy election year bill board on wheels, customized for his father in law.

This $17,349 customized rolling campaign ad came just months after the Appointed Democratic Clerk paid to customize the old van he was left with. You might think that this vehicle is used to carry the Clerk to important meetings. Not so. It is used for his father in law to carry mail and confidential documents to and from various title offices. You might think that a more obscure white van, that was paid for, would be more appropriate than this model.

I am sure the extra charge for the chrome exhaust, and remote starter are important features since it is parked in the Clerks marked space in the county parking garage. See the documents here: HHR spec sheet You can see the purchase order for the vehicle and custom vinyl work here: Purchase order

According to county officials we have verified that no other county vehicle is customized for its driver. This includes Sheriffs patrol cars, water trucks, trash trucks, and maintenance vehicles. Only one vehicle has been customized for its driver and it’s elected official. Just one. See for yourself below. Click on the thumbnail to see a full sized version.

There have been some problems this a.m. with the resizing of the photos. Be patient with us as we hope to have them up this morning along with two .pdf files that support our claims.

We have obtained photos that should be very interesting to you all. We plan to release them on Monday 7 July after verifying the authenticity of the photos. Many of you have emailed and asked if they indeed existed. We are pleased that we will be able to share these with our readers.

Lincoln’s Rule: Organization Matters
By KARL ROVE
June 5, 2008; Page A19 Wall Street Journal

Politics has become hi-tech with sophisticated databases, the Internet, TV ads, focus groups and polls.

But a lanky Sangamon County, Ill., lawyer described the essential task of politics in 1840 in a letter to his Whig campaign committee. Make a list of the voters, he wrote, ascertain for whom they will vote, have undecided voters talked to by someone they hold in confidence, and, on Election Day, get all Whig voters to the polls.

Abraham Lincoln was a great president, but he was also a very practical politician. And Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama would be wise to take his advice. In a close election, organization matters a lot.

Mr. Obama’s background as a community organizer makes him comfortable with organizing. His supporters are demonstrating great energy and enthusiasm. Many are Internet savvy, making communicating with them inexpensive and fast. The long primary season has given Mr. Obama’s team time to grow, test and learn. Left-wing groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn) and unions are already actively registering new Democrats in battleground states. And Democrats now have a single national voter database, albeit more than a decade after the GOP built its own database.

However, Mr. Obama could repeat a big mistake Howard Dean made in 2004 when he had college students call on voters with whom they shared little. This violated Lincoln’s rule.

Mr. Obama has a serious problem with some traditional Democratic voters. He consistently lost blue-collar households in the primaries. A recent Pew poll shows him slipping among white women (down eight points over the past month) and voters without a college degree (down seven points). Mr. Obama’s support among Latino voters was a tepid 34% in the 13 primary contests with an appreciable number of Hispanics. He carried a majority of the Hispanic vote in only one state – his home state of Illinois, which he won by the slim margin of 50%-49%.

Mr. Obama also can’t count on his voter-registration strength. His allies Acorn and the NAACP pay a bounty for each new voter registered, so their workers often register people who don’t exist or who are already registered.

Mr. McCain’s strengths start with him doing better among Independents and Democrats than any other Republican. Three times as many Democrats say they will cross party lines to vote for him than Republicans who say they will support Mr. Obama, a recent Newsweek poll found. Mr. McCain is also winning 41% of Hispanic voters, according to a recent Gallup poll. And while he still needs to win over working class voters (especially Catholics) and older white women, the openings are there.

Mr. McCain has a superior tool available to him – the GOP’s Victory Committee, with its 72-Hour program that uses sophisticated targeting and vast numbers of volunteers to focus on Lincoln’s four tasks.

In 2004, the Victory Committee proved its value when the Democrats far outspent the GOP, but still failed to beat Republican turnout. Fueled by George Soros’s money, Democratic 527s (independent political groups) along with the Democratic National Committee and John Kerry’s campaign spent a combined $121 million more than Republicans. Yet the GOP registered more voters and identified persuadable households better than Democrats, and got 12 million more Bush voters to the polls than in 2000. Democratic dollars were no match for the Victory Program’s “microtargeted” database and detailed planning.

On the debit side, Mr. McCain hasn’t historically valued organization, dismissing its tedious requirements as unnecessary. Mr. McCain also has an “enthusiasm deficit” with grassroots GOP activists who work the phones, walk the neighborhoods and register the voters. And he has no grassroots groups to match the Democrats, outside of the National Rifle Association and Right to Life. Mr. McCain will have to build coalitions of veterans, Catholics, Latinos, small business people, evangelicals and women in key states to close the enthusiasm gap.

There’s time, but not much time, for both candidates to build effective organizations. Public interest is likely to wane in the coming months and then pick up with a bang at the end of August. The candidates will need to have their structures in place before then.

So how are the candidates doing in building their organizations? I had a colleague call the parties’ headquarters in 12 battleground states to ask who the Obama and McCain state chairmen were. Mr. Obama has four states with a chairman and eight without. Mr. McCain has nine states with chairmen and three without. Having a state chairman doesn’t automatically translate into an effective organization, but having one is an essential early step.

Mr. McCain has many obstacles to overcome this year, including a political environment that favors Democrats. Mr. Obama is stumbling across the primary finish line barely ahead of Hillary Clinton, and faces big problems in uniting his party. Organization could provide the winning margin in the fall.

Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.

Reposted from: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121262224698246807.html

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Dayton Politix has been reviewing the Democratic Appointed County Clerk of Courts most recent campaign finance reports. These reports were completed and signed by the Clerks wife and former employee of the Board of Elections. The reports show normal campaign activity and multiple campaign finance law violations. Review the document here: Greg Brush Post Primary Report. This document was obtained by a public records request made to the Board of Elections.

Normal activity included checks from Dennis Lieberman ($250) and Debbie Lieberman ($100), Friends of Mark Owens ($100), Debbie Lieberman’s Campaign ($100), Willis Blackshear’s Campaign ($100), Carolyn Rice ($100), Teamsters ($1000), Friends of Karl Keith ($100), and the Montgomery County Democrat Party ($2500). Former County and State Chairman and current Lobbyist on State St, Paul Tipps gave $200.00. Most of these contributions were from a fundraising event where the entertainment must have great at $2000.00 for the band.

Problems occur in the report on Page 2. Form 31-A “Statement of Contributions Received”. In violation of Campaign Finance rules regarding cash gifts, the Brush Campaign accepted cash gifts over the limit of $100.00 per person. Tom Ritchie, Board of Elections Member, is listed at the first violator with a cash gift of $300.00. Tami Kincer, in-law to the Democrat and Appointed Clerk gave $125.00 in cash. Greg Kincer, another in-law, gave $150.00 in cash as did clerk employee Dana Brown. According to campaign finance law, all amounts above $100.00 given in cash must be refunded, even if it is from in-laws looking for a job. No mention of Jerry Kincer, employee and father in law to the Democrat Appointed Clerk, giving to the campaign. When your family members give over $500.00 you get to keep the customized HHR you drive every day.
Employees who donate to their employers campaign are listed separately in the report. Those employees hoping to keep their jobs in November include: Theressa Bissaco ($100), Dana Brown (listed above $150 in cash during a fundraiser, $100 additional in the office), Robert Blevins ($50), David Bruns ($125), Vanessa Thompson ($150), Pam Dyer ($100), Michelle Mathews ($100), Connie Villelli ($300), Sharon Griffey ($225 and $225 for the fundraiser), Belinda Davis ($100), Elizabeth Hill ($100), Edie Marshall ($100), LaQuana Curington ($100), Jacquie McClinton ($100), Alex Gounaris ($100), and Rosalyn Lake, ($25). Seventeen total employees contributing $2025.00. This report was done very poorly and omitted check numbers so it is difficult to determine which employees attended the fund raiser and were listed multiple times on the report.

Two final notations on this sloppy work from the Appointed Clerk. His assistant’s, Lynn Thomasson Jr, $50.00 contribution was omitted from the “Contributors in Officeholders Employ” statement. Secondly, the report shows that the “Brush Up” toothbrushes, first reported here, were purchased by the campaign and not his office. He continues to distribute the campaign trinkets during his official calls of duty. We are surprised the toothbrushes haven’t found their way into the Appointed Clerks election year Passport commercials that have blanketed the airways.

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The Montgomery County GOP is hosting Karl Rove. Tuesday, April 15, at Kettering’s Trent Arena Karl Rove will be headlining an event full of Ohio Republicans. This from the MCGOP website:

Join the excitement of welcoming “The Political Architect”, Karl Rove to Montgomery County. He was Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush and currently a Fox News political contributor.

Be the first to hear his 2008 predictions and humerous stories. This is a very special event that you won’t want to miss.

Tickets can be purchased online at MCGOP.Com

This event is planned as a fundraiser for the county party. Completing this night of Republican’s will be:

John Kasich, Fox News Contributor and Former Congressman and presumptive 2010 Ohio Gubenatorial Candidate who will introduce Mr. Rove.

Mary Taylor, Auditor of State,

Eve Stratton and Maureen O Connor, Supreme Court Justices,

Kevin DeWine, Deputy Chair, Ohio Republican Party

The GOP will be hosting a $500.00 per plate breakfast with Karl Rove on Wednesday morning. Interested parties can get more information by contacting the county GOP. www.montgomerycountygop.org

Greg Brush is busy following in his predecessors footsteps this spring. Visiting towns and cities throughout the county during his first run for office as the Clerk of Courts. Much like Dan Foley during his election year, Greg has found time to visit, or has scheduled a visit, to every city that broadcasts their council meetings. Free t.v. for the Clerk! This is okay. Karl Keith has this down to an art and has passed this skill onto the neophyte politician Brush.

This is not news in itself. The democrats are the masters at free publicity. Every week the Commissioners have a new photo of themselves on the County Website. Not counting mug shots and calendar shoots, Debbie Lieberman’s photo has been on the front of MCOHIO.ORG no less than 100 times during her tenure. This week is no exception.

Greg Brush has reached a new level in local politics. He is either using taxpayer dollars to distribute toothBRUSHes for his campaign, or is distributing campaign garbage while acting in his capacity of County Clerk. Which is it?

Click to enlarge.

Greg’s new piece of campaign clerks literature is being distributed regarding new travel rules and passport laws. This public information piece is complete with Greg’s photo. Very nice Greg.

We overlooked the fact that he had been in office for less than 10 days before placing his name in 8 inch letters on the Clerk’s vans. More political advertising at taxpayer expense Mr. Clerk?

Continuing our investigation into political favors for Commissioner Lieberman, The X has this to report.

DDN has reported that “diversion” is routine. Dem Party Chair Mark Owens doesn’t offer it in his courts, Andrea White, Clerk in Kettering Court stated they don’t offer it, this “diversion” is conspicuously offered only in Lieberman’s back yard. Convenient for the commissioner, her judge was a personal friend and political confidant who owes her career to the Lieberman family.

The facts tell us that Judge Heck ignored the following when giving this first time offender a break:

1991 incident where Lieberman was fined for failing to maintain “Assured cleared distance”.

2002 Speeding

2003 Violation for brakes. Probable cause is the inability to brake properly

2004 A second incident “Assured clear distance” citation with a note including Lieberman was involved in a crash. We at The X ask: How is it all the fines and “BMV points” for this case were suspended? Is it coincidence that the Republican Judge who helped in this case was unopposed by the only a year later Democrats? Quid pro Quo?

2007 December, only weeks prior to her OVI arrest, the Commissioner was ticketed for speeding and Vandalia Muni Court lists Judge and friend Cynthia Heck as the assigned Judge. Where was she coming from on that occasion and had she been drinking then?

With so many tickets and citations, how did she not receive any fines or points on her license in 2004 when causing an accident? More political favoritism? What points were issued in January for the 2007 speeding ticket that Judge Heck ruled on?

Hulsey reported:

Lieberman’s record includes several speeding tickets but no accidents, which would have made her ineligible for the diversion program. Heck said it is only available to first-time offenders who are over age 21.

Does the accident from 2004 not count? We expect Lynn to be sympathetic to her Liberal sister. However, not doing her due diligence for this article is blatantly more biased than normal.

The X will continue to investigate and all tips should be emailed to dayton.politix@gmail.com

This is the double standard that Conservatives face in the mass media. Where is the Dayton Daily News coverage of our County Commissioners arrest over the weekend. Why haven’t there been any questions? Why has DaytonOS refused to report and explain how the Person of the Year got arrested for DUI?

Questions that Dayton Politix would ask:

Were you alone Mrs. Lieberman at the time of the arrest?

Did your husband and past Dem Party Chair advise you or assist you after the arrest prior to booking?

Will you be participating in the diversion program alongside other drunk drivers or has the judge granted special accomodations?

Is the Judge a Democrat and have your or your husband been instrumental in his/her campaigning or fundraising?

Which bar/restaurant/home were you returning at such a late hour?

It seems that the we here at The X are the only ones asking these questions.