Dennis The Redfern Menace 
Well the ODP Chair Forum was interesting tonight. Lieberman, Redfern, Gwinn, Eckart, Reece and Mitakides turned up.
Before I go any further, let me just say that whomever is the next chair, it won't be any worse - it might not be any better, but it definitely won't be worse. All the candidates had some good points, and if you could mash all their positives together we would have one hell of a chair.
The game however changed tonight. First, Chris, when everyone is blasting you for wanting to do 2 or 3 jobs at once the last thing you want to do is leave the debate 30 minutes early to go to a Christmas party ! That aint the message to be sending.
Then came the bombshell - Eckart endorsed Lieberman. I turned to a couple of folks "Did he just say what I thought he just said?". I confirmed it after the debate, where he also dropped the nugget that more endorsements are coming from the Cleveland area, including Tubbs-Jones.
If you take this news together with the news that Labor is going to be pissed at Redfern for taking Wal-Mart money - Lieberman just became the front runner and next ODP Chair.
He is probably the most rounded candidate, with Gwinn clearly a GOTV expert the next chair should tap to organize that effort statewide.
The funniest moment of the night came with the first mention of Ken Blackwell's name, whereupon all the mics in the Church got feedback and it sounded like a message from God - and kept happening for about 5 minutes. I don't know about you guys, but I think God was sending us a message. I'll have to run the tape back backwards to figure it out though.
Before I go any further, let me just say that whomever is the next chair, it won't be any worse - it might not be any better, but it definitely won't be worse. All the candidates had some good points, and if you could mash all their positives together we would have one hell of a chair.
The game however changed tonight. First, Chris, when everyone is blasting you for wanting to do 2 or 3 jobs at once the last thing you want to do is leave the debate 30 minutes early to go to a Christmas party ! That aint the message to be sending.
Then came the bombshell - Eckart endorsed Lieberman. I turned to a couple of folks "Did he just say what I thought he just said?". I confirmed it after the debate, where he also dropped the nugget that more endorsements are coming from the Cleveland area, including Tubbs-Jones.
If you take this news together with the news that Labor is going to be pissed at Redfern for taking Wal-Mart money - Lieberman just became the front runner and next ODP Chair.
He is probably the most rounded candidate, with Gwinn clearly a GOTV expert the next chair should tap to organize that effort statewide.
The funniest moment of the night came with the first mention of Ken Blackwell's name, whereupon all the mics in the Church got feedback and it sounded like a message from God - and kept happening for about 5 minutes. I don't know about you guys, but I think God was sending us a message. I'll have to run the tape back backwards to figure it out though.
More below.
I was going to write a clean up post today from the forum last night, but Live From Dayton and OH02 pretty much nailed it while I was at work.
I do want to expand a little on what Editor said
To be honest with you, the Democratic Party in Ohio is incredibly segregated. Blackwell & Co have done a very good cutting into that base. 2006 will do even more damage if they're not careful. We need a head of the Party that will build the base, make it easier for people to get involved, and desegregate the Party. The person that I most liked for that job was a Ms. Reece who asked a question in the audience. She seemed to be related to Steven Reece, but I'd have to check on that. In any case they need to be listening to what she had to say. Democrats are doing a piss poor job empowering their base. If they aren't careful that base could become little more than a cloud of dust.
I have to agree 100%. ODP and our top ticket races are looking mighty pasty white. When Blackwell goes into the black neighborhoods with his Jesus and snake oil he could very well bleed off 5% or 10% of the Democratic black voter base. This would kill any chance Dems have in 2006. Democrats would be very wise to bring people in form the black community, including the impassioned Steve Reece and talking about how to truly address issues they face as a community. I would also suggest our candidates hire some of these folks and listen to what they have to say. We simply cannot afford to take these people for granted.
It was also pretty clear to me that Democratic party leadership is still very uncomfortable talking about election reform issues and many of the problems, including protecting the black vote. The party should sit down with the voting reform activist community and work out a plan. We have some of the most informed and active voting reformers in the nation here in Ohio and they could be a real asset helping to navigate this complex issue that is littered with mines.
I think we have the talent and the ideas to fix a lot of the problems in Ohio and the Ohio Democratic Party, I just hope we make the right choices and can get most of the work done in time, because there is a lot of work to be done.
I do want to expand a little on what Editor said
To be honest with you, the Democratic Party in Ohio is incredibly segregated. Blackwell & Co have done a very good cutting into that base. 2006 will do even more damage if they're not careful. We need a head of the Party that will build the base, make it easier for people to get involved, and desegregate the Party. The person that I most liked for that job was a Ms. Reece who asked a question in the audience. She seemed to be related to Steven Reece, but I'd have to check on that. In any case they need to be listening to what she had to say. Democrats are doing a piss poor job empowering their base. If they aren't careful that base could become little more than a cloud of dust.
I have to agree 100%. ODP and our top ticket races are looking mighty pasty white. When Blackwell goes into the black neighborhoods with his Jesus and snake oil he could very well bleed off 5% or 10% of the Democratic black voter base. This would kill any chance Dems have in 2006. Democrats would be very wise to bring people in form the black community, including the impassioned Steve Reece and talking about how to truly address issues they face as a community. I would also suggest our candidates hire some of these folks and listen to what they have to say. We simply cannot afford to take these people for granted.
It was also pretty clear to me that Democratic party leadership is still very uncomfortable talking about election reform issues and many of the problems, including protecting the black vote. The party should sit down with the voting reform activist community and work out a plan. We have some of the most informed and active voting reformers in the nation here in Ohio and they could be a real asset helping to navigate this complex issue that is littered with mines.
I think we have the talent and the ideas to fix a lot of the problems in Ohio and the Ohio Democratic Party, I just hope we make the right choices and can get most of the work done in time, because there is a lot of work to be done.
KEYWORDS: Ohio, ODP, ODP Chair
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Dennis The Redfern Menace | 1 comment (1 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Dennis The Redfern Menace | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
