OHIO REPUBLICAN BOSS PUSHES THE ANTI-GAY AGENDA BY DAY, SUPPORTS GAYS BY NIGHT-- AT LEAST THE ONES HE GETS INTO HIS CLUTCHES

Bush owes his second illegitimate presidency to a lot of people in Ohio-- many of whom he'll be able to repay when he pardons them just before leaving office. Certainly the Diebold guys deserve a lot of the credit blame, And we all know about Thomas Noe by now. And Bob Taft, the least approved of governor in the history of anywhere... ever. And then, of course, the crooked Secretary of State who, like Katherine Harris in Florida before him, put it all together. But I wonder how many of you non-Buckeyes have heard of Alex Arshinkoff. Don't worry; no one else has either-- unless you're a Republican power player. Then you definitely know who he is. According to the CLEVELAND SCENE Arshinkoff has been "head of the Summit County GOP for 25 years, he seems to burnish a reputation as the county's Dark Lord, a man who consumes politics and plays to win. To many insiders, he is Don Corleone in the flesh, with a dose of Machiavelli's Prince thrown in for good measure."

Since two failed runs for city council more than two decades ago, Arshinkoff has never been the guy on the ballot. He's not a politician, as he'll tell anyone willing to listen.

He's far more powerful, and he knows it. He picks the candidates. He runs their campaigns. He tells them what to do. Who to hire. Who to fire. If they don't play ball, they're out. Just like that. He's done it to top Summit Republicans. He did it as a University of Akron trustee.

He was on George W. Bush's campaign finance committee. Karl Rove is said to call him for advice. When the first President Bush visited Akron in 1990, he started his speech by thanking Alex Arshinkoff.

"He's a master of the nuts and bolts of politics," says state Senator Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls). "He is just one of these old-school political leaders."

Arshinkoff lives for the job, calling up candidates at all hours of the night with advice and exhortations. When he's not being compared to Machiavelli, he gets Boss Tweed.

"Even those who don't like him have to admit he's as shrewd as they come," says Republican County Councilman Mike Callahan.

He's made himself wealthy. He's on Senator Mike DeWine's payroll as a consultant; he also began a lobbying business in 1997, harvesting the ties he developed as party chairman. He represents nine companies, from FirstEnergy to Playhouse Square, offering his advice and pushing their interests in Columbus. He has a $200,000 home in Hudson, an antique Chevy Bel Air, and two Corvettes -- in addition to the Audi paid for by the party.

Shrewd, ok. Wealthy (and corrupt), of course; why be a Republican poobah if not for that? But sometimes even the shrewd slip up. You see, the Akron vice police know who he is too. Senator DeWine's consultant, Karl Rove's advisor, George Bush's financial backer is also a closeted homosexual predator. Don't worry; he's not for gay marriage. He's not even gay! (He's a respectable married man. He just likes to have furtive sexual encounters with young men in the dark.)

The next couple of paragraphs may be too descriptive and shocking for you, so if you don't go for stories of fat, desperate old perverts picking up boys and groping them, please skip down a couple of paragraphs.

It was late at night, couple days after Christmas, snowy streets, cold and the 21 year old kid was home from Kent State. The bus wasn't coming and he decided to hitch a ride. He got picked up by a big fat white man in a new Audi. "The man started rubbing his thigh. 'Are you gay?' he asked. 'Are you bi? No? Are you sure?'"

The kid was quite sure but the fat white man was unfazed. The kid unbuckled his seatbelt and tried to escape at a red light but the light turned green and the Audi took off. "What are you doing? Are you nervous?"

Wasn't that thoughtful of the 450 pound man to ask? I mean he was "caressing his thigh, grabbing at his crotch." And he wanted to know if he was nervous. Would you be? Someone did that to me once when I was hitchhiking, long before I knew I was gay-- or even knew what gay was-- and I pulled a Boy Scout utility knife on him. And he didn't even weigh half of 450 pounds! Look at that photo. Would you be nervous if that started groping you in a speeding car at 2AM?

"Do you want to make some money? " was the last thing the man said to him before the car stopped at a light long enough for the kid to bolt and run down the street. The Audi sped away. A cop had been watching and turned on his siren and pulled the car over. A second police car pulled up. The kid went back over and noticed the ARA 1 vanity plate. The second cop told him the driver was Alex Arshinkoff. "He's the chair of the county Republican Party."

Summit County has a 3-2 Democratic registration edge. But you wouldn't know that from looking at which of Arshinkoff's boys get elected (and appointed). Most of the judges are Repugs as are the sheriff, both state reps and the state senator. Republicans do a lot better in Summit County than they should. "A relentless fund-raiser, Arshinkoff gets $100,000 checks from lawyers and $1 million donations from CEOs. He also collects from the little guys: A list of campaign contributions shows bailiffs, magistrates, low-level county flunkies and their spouses -- all chipping in their $100 or $1,000 when asked. He's a great motivator. 'He has always kept the heat on, kept the pressure on,' says state Representative Bryan Williams (R-Akron). 'He keeps people prepared and primed and ready to go.'"

The County Executive, a Democrat, doesn't paint a nice picture. "It all has to do with raising money, contracts, pay-to-play. If you don't give money to his party, you're not going to get jobs from the county-- or state contracts." And when Republicans don't follow his orders-- elected officials-- he runs candidates (with plenty of financial backing) against them. He's relentless and he's vicious, really vicious. He revels in hurting people as badly as he can and in destroying their families. He's a power-monger of the worst sort feared and loathed by the many local Republican enemies he has made over the years.

Ashinkoff has raised mountains of money for Taft and Blackwell and the state's crooked Auditor, Betty Montgomery. He raised over $2.5 million for Bush/Cheney in 2004 and almost as much for other Republican candidates that year!

Now, back to the molestation. The police report never went anywhere. The kid is too scared to press charges. Every politician in the state is aware of the incident. And other incidents. When he was caught at the Leather Stallion, a gay bar in Akron, he offered to make sure 2 local Democratic judges were never opposed by a Republican in return for silence. And a former employee of the Municipal Court claims Arshinkoff "sexually harassed" him. By day, he pushes anti-gay legislation and violently homophobic candidates (like the current maniac running for Governor, Ken Blackwell) and by night he's looking for young men to fellate.