Will Hillary Clinton be Obama’s VP pick after all? Ralph Nader says yes. So does Ben Keeler. (How often does that happen?) VP nominee Clinton wouldn’t surprise me at this point. As I wrote in Ben’s comments, her constituency is the one he needs the most and he’s been failing miserably at attracting those folks.
Lots of people buzzing about McCain’s apparent plan to name his VP in Dayton, Ohio on August 29. That’s the day after the Democratic Convention ends, which is when the CW had him announcing.
“Gov. Ted Strickland has been given a prime speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention to talk about the economy.” It’ll be on Tuesday, which is also Hillary’s night. From PolitickerOH.
“Whole Foods Market is recalling fresh ground beef sold between June 2 through August 6 because the beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.”
I had some of that- still here.
John Edwards admits to the affair, but not to paternity or pay-offs.
Edwards denied paying any money to Hunter to keep her from going public but said it was possible some of his friends or supporters may have made payments without telling him.
Sure. (Via Ohio Daily Blog, and in a few minutes, everyone and their mother.) This story has been owned from the get-go by the National Enquirer, since back when Edwards was still a Democratic presidential candidate. Here they are today:
Edwards says he will now investigate any possible hush money payoffs.
As far as being the father of Hunter’s love child, you might as well go all the way now, Johnny Boy.
Submit to a DNA test.
By the way what was it you said about The ENQUIRER’s journalistic chops when the main stream media was silent until we gave them more than a smoking gun by dropping a bomb on August 6?
Oh yeah - “Tabloid Trash.”
They’ve been waiting for a while to rub it in like that.
Good and angry post on energy politics at Rowsey Blog:
As a democrat, albeit a new democrat, I am thoroughly outraged, embarrassed, and even disgusted as our party has blocked every effort to deal with the energy crisis. Pelosi, Reid, and Obama who refuse to negotiate some kind of compromise with the republicans, are holding our party hostage. They say no to more drilling and oil exploration in our own country. They say no to building new refineries. They say no to developing clean coal burning technology. They say no to nuclear power.
I think a few Democrats secretly like $4 a gallon gas. It’s more European. How many euros per litre is that?
I favor a kitchen sink approach myself: oil + natural gas + coal + ethanol (but not food ethanol) + wind + solar + hydro + nukes + raising CAFE standards + other conservation methods. Did I leave anything out? Oh, reinstating the national 55 mph speed limit, that’ll never work.
Here’s an old post on Gov. Strickland’s energy plan for Ohio.
One day after the death of U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor, a number of high-profile Republicans emerged as possible candidates for his Ohio seat, including his wife, Karen, state Rep. Robert E. Latta of Bowling Green and state Sen. Stephen Buehrer of Delta.
That’s happened before, notably with Sonny Bono’s House seat and with Mel Carnahan, who as a dead person defeated eventual US A.G. John Ashcroft for a US Senate seat for Missouri- of course everyone knew that Jean Carnahan would be taking over.
I don’t like this. Politics is becoming increasingly hereditary, unfortunately. Bush, Kennedy, and Gore all have their dynasties- and now the Clintons are attempting to establish a family brand. It’s rather undemocratic- but many of us are voting for them.
UPDATE: This blog is reporting that Karen Gillmor won’t be running (via Jeff Coryell).
The latest Quinnipiac poll of Ohioans has been released:
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner has opened a 47 - 40 percent lead over her GOP counterpart, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, up from a 43 - 43 percent tie in an August 8 poll….
Giuliani and Clinton both lead in their respective parties.
Also, Dems beat Repubs in all polled matchups except McCain vs. Obama.
(Via The Daily Briefing. Previous post: Rasmussen: Guiliani edges Clinton by 1 pt in Ohio.)
Jill Miller Zimon has a post up on an arrest in California of the founder of a charter school network. Apparently, the schools themselves weren’t for-profit, but the schools used the services of a for-profit company, owned by the same person. Clearly a conflict of interest. Jill writes about how this might affect Ohio:
Mary Taylor’s been publishing audits that indicate a problems with the charters. But she’s also been the benefactor of their profits. How will she interpret what’s going in California, for herself and her responsibilities?
Let’s not forget another readon why I dislike the profit aspect: because so many of the profits go to politicians.
By that logic, we should never have any Democrats doing anything about the public schools. Why should anyone trust Democrats to regulate public schools when they receive so much from teachers’ unions? In the public school system, we’ve got politicians giving raises to teachers, who give some of it to their unions, who contribute some of it to politicians in an attempt to get more money for teachers and to protect the monopoly teachers’ unions want on public funds, thus guaranteeing a more or less permanent revenue stream to Democrats.
The solution for Ohio is broad reporting requirements for spending and education results for all schools, public, charter, and for-profit. The legislature has to be smart enough to properly regulate all schools that receive public money. Then let parents decide where to send their children and where to spend the money earmarked for those children. Public schools fail and waste money too. There needs to be a credible alternative.
Political blogs are not subject to FEC regulations, unless they’re paid for by candidates. So, there is a First Amendment. I’m not impressed that the FEC is ruling on these matters at all. I mean they could just as easily rule the other way.
Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor was found dead in his apartment Wednesday, a Republican leadership aide said.
The aide said the body of the 68-year-old Republican was found by staff members who went to his apartment after he failed to show up for work. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death. Gillmor’s office did not respond to a reporter’s call.
Gillmor, who represented Ohio’s 5th District in the Bowling Green area of the state, was first elected to Congress in 1988.
He was 68. I saw this first at Right Angle Blog.
From ONN, an update on the Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby story:
No charges will be filed against a middle school administrator whose toddler daughter died when she was left in her mother’s SUV for about eight hours on a day when temperatures reached about 100 degrees, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Leaving the child in the car was “a substantial lapse of due care” but did not meet the definition of reckless conduct necessary for prosecution, said Clermont County Prosecutor Don White.
In similar news, there’s this:
An Oregon rugby player remains in jail Tuesday after being arrested on charges he left his 2-year-old daughter in a vehicle in the parking lot of a Nevada brothel on a 95-degree day.
Lucien Hoffman, of Bend, Ore., is being held in the Storey County Detention Center in lieu of $40,000 bail on charges of child neglect.
Police arrested Hoffman early Sunday night at the World Famous Mustang Ranch brothel in Sparks, Nev., after a security guard found the child crying inside the car, according to Storey County Sheriff’s Det./Sgt. Kenneth Quirk.
Father of the year.
UPDATE: Thoughts on the Ohio case from Mark Daniels.
UPDATE: Next post: SUV mom did it several times immediately before.
CNN is reporting that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will likely resign soon. More on that at Nixguy and from Ryan at Buckeye State Blog, who’s got a well-considered post:
I find it quite sad that this man, because of societal pressure feels unable to come out of the closet and admit to himself that he is gay. It is a sad state of affairs when people feel this boxed in because of what they do or who they are that they have to resort to the kinds of activity that Senator Craig engaged in.
I think that’s the only reasonable take on the situation. Think Brokeback Mountain. And it’s very different from the Jeridian glee on the matter.
In somewhat related news, the Columbus Police and park people are working on cutting down lewd behavior in the city’s parks:
The Columbus police vice squad said that secluded areas attract the wrong sort of crowd, like the woods that line the parking lot of Rhodes Park.
Officers are working closely with the city to get thick brush cleared in problem areas.
In addition, the city’s recreation and parks department has begun putting new facilities in the parks that promote positive activities and increase traffic.
I’m glad they’re promoting positive activities, whatever they are. 100 people have been arrested so far this year.
From It’s a Paul World:
It is only a matter of time before Idaho republican senator Larry Craig resigns. I see a tearful entering rehab speech in his future also. That’s usually how these things go.
SNL had a Peter O’Toole skit that addressed that kind of thing. Of course we don’t know yet if Craig is going to take that route.
A group I’ve never heard of before issued a report today:
More than a quarter of Ohio adults are obese, and nearly as many say they never exercise, according to figures released Monday by a group tracking America’s climbing obesity rates.
Obesity rates are on the rise in 31 states, including Ohio, according to a report from the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention. No state showed a decline.
Well at least this group has no agenda and are just releasing this info so that we’re all better informed. (Yeah, right.)
Federal and local governments should play a larger role in preventing obesity, said officials at the Trust for America’s Health. People who are overweight are at an increased risk for diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases that contribute to greater health care costs.
That health care cost argument is the gateway to much government control of our lives. From the group’s site:
TFAH recommends a comprehensive approach for helping individuals make healthy choices including support from families, communities, schools, employers, the food and beverage industries, health professionals, and government at all levels. Some key recommendations include:
* Think big. The federal government should develop and implement a National Strategy to Combat Obesity. This plan should involve every federal government agency, define clear roles and responsibilities for states and localities, and engage private industry and community groups.
Hmm. Not too invasive.
