WHY DOES RALPH REGULA HATE AMERICAN SOLDIERS? AND WILL OHIO VOTERS MAKE HIM WISH HE HAD CHANGED HIS ATTITUDE?

Ralph Regula is 82 years old and not in good shape. The most senior member of the Ohio congressional delegation, he's been muttering about retiring for years. Is this the year? No one knows for sure, but Democrats plan to take the seat regardless. Ohio's 16th CD is south of Cleveland, centered on Canton, and leans Republican but Regula-- with no substantial opposition-- has gotten a declining percentage of votes for several years now. In past years he had pulled in the high and then mid-60s. This year he won with 58% of the vote against an opponent who spent less than $5,000. Both Senator Sherrod Brown and Governor Ted Strickland stomped their Republican opponents in the district last year. The DCCC is targeting Regula's seat for a real race next year.

Regula serves on the House Appropriations Committee and he once made a losing bid for the chairmanship, beaten to the punch in a bitter and divisive GOP civil war by bribe-taking (and bribe-distributing) Jerry Lewis. But when it's come to rubber stamping the Bush Regime's most hideous agenda, Regula and Lewis have been like two peas in a pod. Their most recent team-up effort was in a plot by the GOP members of Appropriations to sabotage a proposal to force the Bush Regime to provide adequate training and equipment for American forces before they were sent to Iraq.

Regula, who voted for every Bush proposal regarding Iraq since the October 10, 2002 Resolution authorizing the use of force-- a record of utter disgrace-- is matched by his total unwillingness to take any responsibility for the well-being of America's military personnel. Again, his voting record on matters regarding our military servicemen and women is one of the worst in Congress, voting against our men and women in uniform every single time-- not even one exception-- there was a roll call in the House. And Regula's record on military veterans has been just as fiendish-- 12 votes on health care for our vets and Regular was 12 for 12 in voting against the interests of our former soldiers. He loves sending them over and yelling "support the troops," but doesn't want to protect them when they're there or care for them when they return.

Regula has been planning on "willing" his district to his son Richard but Richard was defeated for a re-election battle as a Stark County Commissioner last year and is no longer seen as a viable candidate for Congress. Among the strongest potential Democratic candidates are state Sen. John Boccieri, Alliance at-large Councilman Steve Okey, Canton councilman Bill Smuckler, and Ohio appeals court judge Scott Gwin. 2008 could be a good year for congressional Democrats in Ohio, with excellent shots to take out Regula, Mean Jean Schmidt and Deborah Pryce.