MCDAC Kicker Visitors in 2008 Compared to 2007

The top picture shows the visitors to this blog in 2008 on a monthly basis and the bottom one shows the visitors in 2007, again on a monthly basis. The pictures come from Sitemeter, the service we use to track visitors to our blog.

As you can see, we had a noticable increase in traffic in 2008 over 2007 presumably because of the presidential election in 2008. There was also a definite coorelation between the number of blog entries we posted in a month and the number of visitors to our site.

MCDAC Looking for Dem Newspaper Content for Fall of 2008

This is a scaled down pic of the front page of the June, 2008, edition of Common Sense, Medina County's first and only Democratic newspaper. We are now looking for content for the Fall, 2008, edition. If you have pictures of Democratic events and/or candidates; are interested in sending us a letter to the editor; or want to contribute an article, please send your name, email address, and a short message describing your content to our managing editor, Julie Batey, whose email address is given below.

We are putting together the newspaper over the next month and plan to go to the printer in late September. Our goal is to distribute the paper before the early voting starts in November. We are also looking for advertisers. If you are a Democratic candidate, this is an excellent way to make sure that you shore up your support among Medina County Democratic voters. If you are thinking about running in 2009, this is an excellent way to start getting your name out the Medina County Democrats. Our advertising director is Kate Feeks. Her email address also appears below.

Julie's email address is juliebatey@medinacountydemocraticactioncommittee.org.
Kate's email address is katemfeeks@yahoo.com. When sending email messages about Common Sense to either Julie or Kate, please put Common Sense in the subject line.

(By the way, in case you are wondering, the blue box below the donkey and cowering elephant is where the address label went.)

GOP Is Banking on Oil Prices to Narrow Gap

Republicans are counting on the issue of gas prices to narrow the gap with Democrats in the November elections. Cars with bumper stickers saying "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" are showing up in Medina County. According to public opinion polls, a majority of Americans favor increasing offshore drilling.

What's interesting is that obviously allowing oil companies to drill offshore won't do a thing to bring down oil prices in the short term. Indeed, there is scant evidence that allowing such drilling would ever work because of the global market forces driving up oil prices.

What could work, though, and could be done without any environmental cost is for Americans to start using less gas by car-pooling. Go on Interstate Highway between the hours of 7 AM to 9AM and you will see thousands of cars taking Americans to work. The vast majority of those cars will only have one person in the car. Clearly, if you could boost the number of occupants in those cars to just two, you would save a lot of gasoline. Instead of incentives to make oil companies richer, we need incentives designed to save working class Americans money. We need incentives to get Americans to car-pool going and coming from work.

The GOP won't push proposals that give incentives to ordinary Americans to use less gasoline. First of all, their political allies in the oil industry won't like it. Second, such incentives, in their view, interfere with the "free market", a concept that has religious overtones for most conservatives. Third, as shown by the fact that they won't raise taxes to pay for the Iraq War, they are opposed to asking Americans to sacrifice for the common good.

Democrats need to come up with policy proposals that will do just that and they need to come up with these proposals pretty quick. If they don't, they could see the GOP cashing in on what ought to be a Democratic issue.

State Senator John Boccieri Raising More than GOP Opponent

According to filings with the Federal Elections Commission, State Senator John Boccieri is taking in more contributions than his Republican opponent, State Representative Kirk Schuring. As of June 30, 2008, Boccieri had taken in a little over 1 million dollars while Schuring had taken in a shade over $800,000.00. This race is one of the closest U.S. House races in the country. It is a good sign that Boccieri is more than holding his own against the GOP.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Online Voter Guide

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has put its voter guide for the 2008 primary online at http://www.cleveland.com/voterguide/. Usually newspapers publish these guides in a special section that is released on the weekend before the election. One reason why they put them in a special section is that they can then sell advertisements to candidates. It will be interesting to see if the PD puts this guide out in a print format as well as an online format.

The PD's online voter guide allows you to find candidates by name, by geographical location, or by the type of race, ie, presidential, congressional, Ohio General Assembly. The page is set up so that the first thing you see is a place to enter you address and then you can get information on races for that area. The online guide covers 217 races and 295 candidates.

Each candidate was asked to give biographical information and then answer three questions that pertain to the position that the candidate is seeking. There is also a picture of each candidate.

If you are undecided about what candidate to support in certain races, or are interested in who is running for office in your area, you might want to check it out. Just click on the link given above.

T-Shirt Seen by MCDAC Blog Reader

Joyce-

I was at Westfield Park Mall on 12-24-07 with my sons and saw a man wearing a t-shirt that read, “January 20, 2008 – Bush’s last day. The reign of terror is over.” I gave him a thumbs up.

State Senator John Boccieri Declares for Congress

With Governor Ted Strickland and Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray looking on, Democratic State Senator John Boccieri announced his candidacy for the 16th Congressional District, Monday, June 11, 2007 in North Canton, across from the soon-to-be closed Hoover Plant. Medina County Chair Pam Miller joined fellow 16th District Democratic Chairs Johnny Maier of Stark County, Jean Mohr of Wayne County, George Bringman of Ashland County, and Lisa Antonini of Mahonng County, along with area elected officials, labor leaders, and veterans in a show of support for Boccieri, who is widely considered an exceptionally strong candidate for the 16th District seat, currently held by 83-year old Ralph Regula. In addition to his State Senate seat, Boccieri serves in the Air Force Reserve and has been deployed 3 times to Iraq.

Washington Post Study Shows Historical Unity by Dem U.S. House Members

If you click on the link in this entry's title, you can read a study that was done by a Washington Post reporter showing that Democrats in the House of Representatives are voting together about 94% of the time. The previous record was held by the Republicans during the first two years of Bubble-Boy's first term. Then the GOP members voted together about 90% of the time. What makes the Democrats' unity even more remarkable is that they don't have a president who is setting the agenda. It would seem much easier for Representatives to stick together when they are following one person's agenda.

Of course, you still read stories about how much in disarray Democrats are over the war. Such stories became common place when the Democrats were in the minority over the 12 years between 1994-2006. When you don't control the majority, it is much harder for party members to stay united.

If Republicans lose the White House in 2008 and stay in the minority in 2008, you will start to see Republicans splintering and not staying united. This will be especially true of Republicans from "blue" leaning areas. Depending on the result of the 2008 presidential election, such Republicans might come from Ohio. With redistricting on the horizon, a Democratic governor, and a Democratic president, Republican House members might want to show that they can work with Democrats.

Responses to Our Question: "Should Al Gore Run for President in 2008?"

Hello:

Below are the responses we got to our question from people who responded to our question by email. We also had people who gave their responses directly by posting them as comments to the original entry. The original entry and the comments can be viewed here.

All told we had 27 responses to our question. Of those 27 responses, 14 were for a Gore candidacy; 11 were opposed; and the other two were entries that were mixed. Thanks to all who responded. We will be posting similar questions in the future and look forward to your responses.

Joyce
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JOYCE.....NO. He should not seek the nomination. He should be appointed SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. His interest, study, research, and extensive volume of knowledge about the earth and it's environment, would best serve the earth, world,and the United States preserving life on earth, both human and animal . GALE NORTON was the puppet of GEORGE BUSH destroying the environment and all therein. BARABK OBAMA, his wife, and family are the compendium of today's society,and current very complex global issues. They represent life in today's world. Barack was born of biracial parents, his father black from Kenya, and his mother white, a highly educated anthropologist from Kansas. They understand today's crises in education,cultures,relationships, health care, environment,the work ehthic, and are not endowed with politics as usualEnough of the BACK ROOM scratching backs and " GOOD OLE BOYS " politics. We need to break the cycle, and BARACK OBAMA is the one to do it. HILLARY CLINTON did not stand up to BEORGE BUSH, which to me showed intimidation which has no place in a leader. OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW ! A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN .
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By the way I don't think Al Gore should be nominated I fear he'llturn into wuss material again. Al Gore would at least do better than Hilary and Obama. Though we all know if my boy Edwards doesn't make it there will be a continuation of the mourning I'm already in
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I think Al Gore's time and energy is better spent on his cause to save the planet and the global warming issues. He is effective and passionate about the message and we certainly need a spokesman like him to give this issue the priority it needs.However, as a presidential candidate...I say no. I just don't think he's got what it takes to beat the well-oiled Republican machine. And we definitely need someone that can. The question is, who is that person?
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I would Love to see Al Gore run for President. I believe that he would have a good chance at winning . The other candidate that I really like is Barack Obama. I am looking forward to watching the Democrats Presidential candidates debate this Thursday. Wouldnt Al Gore and Barack on a ticket be phenomenal? What about Barack and Hillary? Wow!
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Should Al Gore run? In my humble opinion, He does not have a fresh image, even with his documentary , environmental expertise and experience as VP.
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no he should not .Back Edwards
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I would not want Al Gore to run for President. While he certainly has the credentials, I don't believe he could win. He doesn't have the ability to excite people, to make them want to get out there and stomp for him. His movie is commendable but he needs to stick to that sort of thing, not run the country. He can do much for the next presidential candidate by exploiting what environmental problems have mushroomed since the Bush administration has taken over.
Of course, Al Gore hasn't had a $400 haircut; maybe that would help...I like Edwards but stuff like that hurts him and our chances to regain the White House...Hillary needs to get a voice; I haven't heard much from her...maybe she should be on The Daily Show...
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Hi Joyce,

Gore is an appealing candidate, but, in my opinion, should run only
if he is driven to do so by his own conscience. That is, he should
not be drafted.
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Gore should run and probably would win. It would be really good to see Bill Bradley as his running mate or possibly Edwards as VP again. Either VP choice would give an intelligent, trustworthy choice for VP.
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Yes, I think Al Gore should run.
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We are backing John Edwards. If Al Gore entered the
race we would give him strong consideration and
probably back him if Edwards was still in third place.
Obama is too inexperienced and Hillary is too
divisive.

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Joyce:
If Al Gore entered the race, I think that he would be the immediate
odds-on favorite, and deservedly so. He has the right experience and comes
from the right area of the country. I just don't have any sense that he's
going to do it.
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Simply - YES - (2 votes) (Our 3 teenagers agree too, but they aren't old enough to vote yet!)
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Will Gore fight for it if they attempt to steal another election?
John Kerry didn't. Gore didn't fight long enough in 2000. We can't risk another candidate that will allow the theft of our presidential election, and worse yet, not speak of it later. I've personally put the evidence documents in John Kerry's hands in 2006, the evidence of his stolen election. My brother gave them to John Edwards in 2005. Yet neither man has uttered a syllable about this election theft. NEVER AGAIN! They must not concede if they won, or they are part of the problem. What does Gore have to say about the elections now? I've not heard him address it. I am very glad he is addressing the environment.
Thanks for asking, and for all you do Joyce.
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To be honest, I do not believe that he could win the presidency. I also do not believe that Hillary Clinton could win.Gore's newfound "celebrity, actor status" (which, in my mind, he is not an actor, but it is the way the R's will cast him - forgetting of course Ronnie Raygun playing with Bonzo, and the Terminator, and Sonny Senator....) will be used against him - even though many folks are starting to wake up to the fact that human activity has raped and plundered the earth (Jim Morrison was singing about this decades ago). You have my nickle.

American Research Group Poll has Bush as 33%

If you click the link in this entry's title, you can read about the latest poll from the American Research Group on Bubble-Boy's job approval ratings. As the headline indicates, the news isn't too good for BB and his henchmen. Here are a few choice excerpts from the article:

Among all Americans, 33% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 62% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 33% approve and 63% disapprove. In March, 32% of Americans approved of the way Bush was handling his job and 63% disapproved and 32% approved of the way Bush was handling the economy and 64% disapproved......

Among Republicans (31% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 72% approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 24% disapprove. Among Democrats (37% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 10% approve and 87% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. Among Independents (32% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 24% approve and 73% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president.....(emphasis added)

As you can see from the part of the second quote that we highlighted, we believe that the rate of dissatisfaction with Bush among independents is key to Democrats' hopes in 2008. If these numbers continue up until next fall, the Republicans won't be able to use Bush as a campaign tool in most states. They will also be forced to choose between aligning their views with his, which will be a problem for them with independents or distancing themselves from Bush, which will be a problem for them with the base of the Republican Party, 72% of whom approve of his job performance.

More Turmoil Caused by a Bushie in the Justice Department

During the last two days the media has been reporting on the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota who replaced an U.S. Attorney who resigned last year. Her name is Rachel K. Paulose and she is a former senior aide to Paul J. MacNulty, the deputy U.S. Attorney General. The reason why the media has been reporting on her is that Thursday three of the managing attorneys in her office resigned their management positions and went back to being staff attorneys. According to reports in the Minneapolis media, this was a protest against her "ideologically driven and dictatorial managerial style."

Readers of this blog may remember that we contrasted her experience and age at becoming a U. S. Attorney with that of Greg White, the former Lorain County Prosecutor who is the present U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Needless to say, there is really no comparison between the two since Mr. White had over 20 years of experience in running a prosecutor's office before becoming U.S. Attorney. Why would the Bush Administration give such an important job to a relatively inexperienced attorney?

The answer, of course, is politics. In politics it is common to reward those who have been loyal to you. So, on one hand, giving Ms. Paulose her present position can be seen as political business as usual. There may be more sinister motives at work, however. In the Times article quoted above appears this passage: She is also one of several conservative lawyers who worked at Justice Department headquarters or the White House who have been named to top jobs in United States attorneys offices on an interim basis. Others are J. Timothy Griffin in Arkansas, Bradley J. Schlozman in Missouri, R. Alexander Acosta in Miami and Matthew M. Dummermuth in Iowa.

Every one of those states is a "swing state" in the 2008 presidential election, including Arkansas, which, although it went for Bush twice, was carried by Clinton twice in the 1990s. Having conservative partisans in U.S. Attorneys' offices could be helpful in pressuring voting rights groups carrying out registration drives among poor people and minorities. (You can read the whole Times article here. )

The Obama Factor or Why the Media Has Trouble Covering What They Can't See

Readers of this blog will remember that we have previously remarked on how video clips of Barack Obama on You Tube were getting many more views than clips of other candidates. (See this entry: http://mcdac.blogspot.com/2007/03/2008-candidate-views-on-you-tube.html ) Now we see that Obama has raised far more money than anyone expected just a few weeks ago and has raised it from about twice as many people as Hillary Clinton. All of this seems to have surprised the political reporters and commentators. (See this article from the Washington Post, for example.)

The question is why is this catching most reporters by surprise? We think that its because it is happening out of their sight and therefore out of their control. The media is used to top-down organizations. By that we mean that a candidate forms a core group, that group reaches out to more people, and so on, but the campaign is controlled by a relatively small number of people headquartered in one place. Such a group is easy to reach and easier to cover. The media knows where they are and develops contacts within the organization.

Internet driven campaigns, which is what Obama may be conducting, are much more diffuse and much more spread out. Let's say a volunteer tapes Obama giving a speech and puts it up on You Tube which is then seen by a 1000 people. All of that doesn't really catch anyone attention, yet Obama's message has been seen by a 1000 viewers, all of whom had to make a conscious choice to watch that video clip. Some of those viewers may then be motivated to contribute or sign up to work as a campaign volunteer. None of which is necessarily going to be seen by the media covering the campaign, most of which are based in Washington.

Not only is it going to surprise the media, but it makes their job harder and decreases their power. The more that people can access the Internet and obtain information on their own, the less they need political commentators and reporters. The media didn't react well in 2004 when Howard Dean began the heavy use of the Internet in presidential politics. Whether they react well to Obama's use of the Internet will be one of the more interesting stories of the 2008 campaign.

2008 Candidate Views on You Tube-3.20.2007

Earlier we posted an entry on how many views various candidates' videos had received on You Tube. We updated as of 3.20.2007. Note that Barack Obama is far and away the favorite of the You Tube set. We are not sure what this means except it is obvious that Barack Obama is attracting a lot of attention from people who use the Internet and are familiar with You Tube. The question is can he convert this enthusiasm into political work such as going door to door, registering voters, putting up yard signs, and doing all the things that you have to do to win elections.

Candidate
Obama 634307
Edwards 40023
Romney 24961
Dodd 3841
Giuliani 43408
Richardson 14252
Kucinich 13658
Clinton 51305
McCain 20335
Paul 4672
Biden 13763

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You can see all the candidates who have videos up on You Tube by clicking on the link in this entry's title.

Gates Foundation Report on Ohio's Education Policies

If you click on the title of this entry, you can read a Cleveland Plain Dealer article on a report that the Gates Foundation delivered to the Ohio Board of Education yesterday. It says that while Ohio has made progress in testing students and requiring them to demonstrate that they have mastered certain subjects, much more needs to be done, particularly about funding. The report points out the obvious, that Ohio needs to change its reliance on local property taxes which forces local school districts to go back for money every two years. All candidates thinking of running for Ohio office in 2008, especially for the General Assembly need to track down this report and read it.