"Where it all went wrong for Reform Ohio Now"

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/sandy_theis/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1131877802200640.xml&coll=2

"Where it all went wrong for RON"

Sunday, November 13, 2005
Sandy Theis
Puny Deceiver Columnist

Reform Ohio Now, the Demo crat-leaning group that placed four election reform measures on Tuesday's ballot, finished the night 0 and 352.

Not one of the RON issues won in any of the 88 counties. Not in Athens County, where Democrat George McGovern prevailed over Richard Nixon in 1972. Not in Cuyahoga or Lorain counties, which joined Athens in favoring Tim Hagan over Bob Taft for governor in 2002.

Many analysts blame voter confusion for the trouncing, noting that both sides of the issue employed TV ads featuring nearly identical people, along with an admonition to send the politicians a message.

But more than confusion was at work...

[cmd]

1. An interesting ending to that article.........

After the election, House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican, reached out to Democrats involved with the RON effort and invited them to try to come up with a new, less-partisan map-making system.

Some Republicans viewed Tuesday's election as a sign that Democrats won't fare any better than RON in next year's statewide contests, but Husted may not share their confidence.

Maybe he really wants a better system of map making - or maybe he fears that Democrats have a chance to win back the apportionment board.

[mtnester]

2. I will give you my two cents regarding this...it was what was discussed in

the coffee houses and bookstores leading up to the election. These are things I heard from Dems (the Repubs, I was not interested in, as they would blindly follow whatever they were told)

On Issue 2:

Why would we give people an excuse to be even more lazy about voting? If they can, and are in town and able to vote on election day, they should go to the polls.

On the rest of the issues:

I am not sure I understand them.
I want to be able to vote some asshole OUT if they screw up

And finally:

Arnold Schwarzenegger is endorsing these issues? I don't trust that idiot, and if he endorsing them, there must be something in it for the Republicans that is hidden.

These are the things I heard from Regular Joe Democratic voters leading up to the election. Not to mention I saw a gazillion people standing outside polling places, TRYING to read the many pages of the text of the amendments posted on walls, shaking their heads in confusion, and heading in to vote on a machine they were anxious about (touch screens for the first time for many)

[Kukesa]

3. You must have been talking to the same folks I was. (nt)

[OzarkDem]

4. Dems need to learn to use focus groups

and use them in a way that reveals not just what voters are thinking, but how they respond to persuasive messages. It would have been worth the money spent.