Anonymous anti-Strickland letter

[mosin]

I received a strange, completely anonymous anti-Strickland-for-governor letter in the mail today. It was in a plain envelope, addressed to me by name, postmarked in Cleveland, Ohio (441) on 12/05/05. Inside was a plain letter with no attribution and the following text in something resembling 14-point Times:

You are receiving a copy of the attached information because you are a person of influence in your community.

Ted Strickland is one of our candidates for Governor in the 2006 primary. We believe you should take the time to read the attached resolution that overwhelmingly passed in the U.S. House of Representative (sic) which Ted did not support and later gave a short speech on the floor registering his opposition to the resolution.

Ted is also a supporter of gay marriage.

We all recall that issues (sic)#1 won by over 64% last year.

If we, as Democrats, are to win next year it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for Ted to win the general election next fall, if he should win in the primary.

We need to have a candidate for Governor unencumbered by these problems if we are to have Democrats win statewide next year.

Accompanying the letter was the text of H Con Res 107 in the 106th Congress, the roll call vote tally on the resolution on 07/12/99 (355 Yea, 0 Nay, 13 Pres, 66 NV), and a later 1 min speech by Rep. Strickland that appears to criticize the resolution. The resolution was purportedly passed to express the sense of Congress rejecting a recent article published by the APA suggesting that consensual sexual relationships between adults and children might be positive for children. (That's largely a direct quote from the title of the resolution.)

Anyone else seen this letter or have any idea the source? I assume I was targeted because I have been a minor Democratic official in the past. It doesn't look like anything intended for mass distribution. It all looks very amateurish, and it took me a few minutes to make sense of the enclosed printouts--to the extent there is any sense in it. Most people would throw it away in the time it took to walk to the trash can.

[liberalnurse]

1. No, but I daily get mail

solicitation for campaign donations. I must be on lots of lists.....

[mosin]

3. Daily mail...

I get those too. I think every time make a campaign donation you get on 10 fundraising lists. If you donate to 2 or 3 campaigns every year, you end up on every fundraising list. :)

I also get occasional requests for endorsements from candidates.

This was unlike anything else I've seen.

I can only guess it is a Republican dirty trick.

[liberalnurse]

4. I agree, it has to be a republican.....

Some psycho closet creep who resembles Rush Linbaugh...That was "my visual" image while reading the contents.

So, I see that they know he is going to win! They bring out the closet trolls.

[mosin]

5. Strickland = our best candidate

I also think Strickland is far and away our best candidate for governor. I think he has a good chance of winning, something I would not say about the other potential candidates.

Speaking as a moderate Democrat--and contrary to this strange hit piece--Strickland is a very attractive candidate to moderate and rural voters.

That's undoubtedly why they want to attack him.

[liberalnurse]

7. Yes, he is a country boy at heart.....

born and raised in Roy Rogers neck of the woods.

[mosin]

11. I'm a country boy too....

born and raised a Texan. Come spring, we're thinking about moving a ways down into northern Kentucky so we can get a bit more of the rural feel. I miss it.

So I may not even be around for the Ohio gubernatorial elections, or maybe only the primary. :(

[OzarkDem]

2. Typical Repub dirty tricks

2006 campaign in Ohio is going to get really, really ugly.

[OzarkDem]

10. I'm not so sure its Repub dirty tricks

not that they aren't capable of it, but it sounds so much like dirty tricks from Ohio Dem's own Karl Rove - Pat O'Malley. O'Malley is famous for pulling these kinds of stunts, in fact, its classic O'Malley. Problem is, Pat only uses this trick against fellow Dems. He's the nastiest, craziest and most destructive person I've ever met. He even sued the Cuy Co Dem party once because he didn't win a nomination he sought.

Mason is part of a group that contols a lot of Dem politics in NE Ohio and, to some degree, statewide and they control a significant number of people. They also have very close ties to Republicans (O'Malley was married to an influential Repub, but she's now divorcing him for domestic violence). Its singularly odd that the only purpose of this group is to manipulate internal Dem party politics and get a few select DINO friends elected to office. They've been a powerful influence in the party during the time it has lost the most races. The recent resurgence of Dem activism, esp on the internet and through groups like MoveOn, DFA, etc. have greatly reduced their influence.

I'm not sure why they're involved in Strickland's race, but it can't be to help him get elected. I suspect they could care less about him and more about controlling the party chair. Either way, they're a poisonous gang, and I'd like to see them kept at a great distance from this race.

There are very strange things going on, though, that's for sure. Lets just keep watching and try to protect our party.

[jen4clark]

6. that's very disturbing...

I'm getting this creepy feeling that the Ohio Dem Party is infiltrated. Rich at CCN posted this action alert from the Ohio Young Dems (OYD):

http://www.ohioyd.org/

Jim Crow Tactics Reborn in GOP Election "Reform" Bill
Voter ID Requirement Likely to Disenfranchise Young Voters

COLUMBUS - Yesterday, Republican legislators in the Ohio General Assembly moved one step closer to passage of their so-called election reform bill. Amended Substitute House Bill 3 is set to leave this week's Senate Rules Committee hearing for a full Senate vote next week, in what will likely be the last voting session of 2005.

Many opponents contend that the proposed legislation would likely discourage voters from participating on Election Day, through a requirement that all those who show up at the polls must provide a pre-approved form of identification. This provision directly affects many young and first-time voters who may not have yet obtained a proper form of ID. A recent Wisconsin study finds that youth from 18 to 24 years of age will be affected greatly, for roughly 30% do not have official state identification, with 98% of college students having only non-local IDs.

OYD spokesperson Aryeh Alex urged Ohioans young and old to contact the Republican members of the Senate Rules Committee, mainly in order to tell them how this law would disenfranchise many groups of voters. "Ohio's lawmakers must pass legislation that will empower our citizens to become registered voters, while removing any obstacles in their way on Election Day. I believe this bill may actively work against the true goals of election reform," Alex said.

Contact Republican Members of the OHIO Senate Rules Committee!! Please Use the Information Supplied HERE!!!

The Dems on the Committee are:
C. J. Prentiss
Robert F. Hagen
Teresa Fedor
Mark L. Mallory

Write them too!

_________________________________________________


So I went over to the OYD website and was reading the forum there and came across this:

Cincinnati woes!!

So last night the Senate Caucus named Eric Kearney to replace our next Mayor to be Mark Mallory as our State Senator. Well this has a lot of us true blue Democrats very upset. Eric Kearney is not even a registered Democrat. According to the Secretary of State website, he has given money to Ken Blackwell and Joe Deters. He has almost no political experience. The last time he ran for any office was a 1993 City Council race and he ran as a third party candidate. Lastly he has interviewed for GOP judge positions in the past. WHO IS THIS GUY?

The worst part is he was selected over truely great Democrats like Rep. Yates, Rep Barrett, Rep. Driehaus and Councilperson Pepper. All proven democrats.

WHAT WAS THE SENATE CAUCUS THINKING?!!!!!!

...

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported yesterday that he threw a fundraiser for Ken Blackwell LAST SEPTEMBER!!!!! Does anyone have a problem with this? Contact the Democratic Senate Caucus and let them know.

I also remember listening to Sherole Easton, the whistleblower from the '04 election in Hocking County who was fired after she blew the whistle on a Diebold employee working on the computer and posting "cheat sheets" on the wall during the recount so their counts would match the machine tallies. The other Dem on the Board where she worked refused to stand up with her. Sherole was on The Brad Show talking about it and said that the other Dem had been a registered Repub and voted Repub before signing on as a Dem to be on the Hocking BoE...

I don't know how we fight this if that's what's happening here...

[iteotwawki42]

8. It has to be from the other side...

Like it was said before Strickland is far and away the best candidate for governor. Just so its said somewhere, he's a moderate Democrat (this alone puts some ground between him and Taft,) he has a degree and is an ordained minister (this will help him cross over and be able to get the moderate and even a few extremist right wingers out there. And the leading candidate from the other side, Blackwell has several strikes against him including being manipulated by an unpopular president, putting politics before his job as Secretary of State (he was the campaign manager for Bush in Ohio for 2004) he tried to suppress the vote saying that the registrations weren't on the right paper.

In Ohio there's no one else who would be better as a Governor for this stupid state. The Republicans are reeling from various scandals in Columbus, we can take it but we have to want it and we have to fight for it. This is going to get very very ugly when its all said and done but we make Ohio Blue again.

[iteotwawki42]

9. forgot to mention

I'm only 23 and there isn't a week that goes by where I don't get a mailing asking for money so you all aren't alone when it comes to that.

[Georgie]

12. It is a mass mailing...

that seems to be targeting Democratic elected officials and county chairs. We have started collecting these letters in Hocking County and have in possession 3 of the letters and are going to be contacted other Dems to see if they have recieved any. Some of the letters are different. We do have the gay marriage piece but also a different one stating Strickland is in favor of man/boy sex. if you have recieved one please contact your Strickland Coordinator and pass the literature on to them.

The smears are starting early. Don't let them keep Ohio from having the chance to vote for a good man. We have to fight this thing.

[mosin]

13. Mass mailing...

Thanks for the update. It's about what I expected. I have since talked to a few other Democratic elected officials who got the same letter I did.

[Ninga]

14. I received the mailing as well. What bothered me was

that it appeared to be "xeroxed" .... copy of a copy, kind of crooked and with no color, just black and white.

Creepy.

There is absolutely no way to get a handle on who sent this mailing out.

If the purpose is to get Democrats to distance themselves from Strickland, then it will not work.