Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Help Stop Ohio's Sarah Palin!

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Jennifer Garrison: Ohio's Sarah Palin calls herself a Democrat

You may remember a clueless reactionary by the name of Ken Blackwell. He was the Secretary of State in Ohio during the 2004 election, meaning that much like his more infamous Florida counterpart, Katherine Harris, he was a corrupt, partisan in control of the voting process during a national election.

As was expected, Blackwell did what he could to suppress the the Ohio vote in African-American neighborhoods and college towns, knowing that would help a dimwitted President gain reelection.

Now fast forward to 2009. There is an election in Ohio coming up in 2010 for this very position, giving someone the power to oversee how the votes are counted in the presidential race in 2012-- to award one candidate the 7th largest electoral haul in the country from key swing state.

So you'd think that Democrats in Ohio would unite behind Franklin County Commissioner and devoted Progressive, Marilyn Brown. Sadly, you'd be wrong.

As we've seen with healthcare, never underestimate the propensity of reactionary Blue Dog-type Democrats to cave, cower, and generally embrace corruption. The gist of this story: even though they won't admit it publicly, behind the scenes conservative Blue Dog sympathizer (and now Ohio Democratic Party Chair-- yet, somehow married to a Republican lobbyist) Chris Redfern, and his partner in crime who supported him for that position, Ohio Governor/screw-the-poor Ohio budget author Ted Strickland, are supporting a vicious, homophobic, anti-union, anti-choice, pro-coal, anti-minimum wage, reactionary stooge named Jennifer Garrison in the Democratic Primary. She offers nothing but attack politics, exclusionary policies, an overabundance of botox and the ability to make right-wing men embrace their rifles extra tight in the cold of the night.

Hence the plentiful Palin comparisons.

Redfern and Strickland have been pretending to be neutral, while it only took me a few phone calls to confirm rumors that both are having their henchmen call Brown's funders and potential endorsers and cajole and threaten them into backing off supporting this devoted progressive. Of course, when reactionary Blue-Dog Ohio Congressman Zack Space-- the very same cretin who is helping block the public option in Washington to protect his big insurance buddies and screw his constituents-- chose to stand with Mrs. Garrison, well, that was just fine with with the Redfern/Strickland team.

Now let me give you a little background about Mrs. Garrison, so you can decide if you would trust her any more than a garden-variety corrupt GOPer to count our votes accurately and not sell out to the first corporate hack with a wad of cash who comes knocking (motivation: the last four Ohio Secretary of States have been: Sherrod Brown, Bob Taft, Ken Blackwell and Jennifer Brunner--it is a stepping stone to running for governor or the U.S. Senate).

Garrison beat a Republican incumbent in 2004 to win a state house seat from Southeast Ohio, by ATTACKING HER GOP OPPONENT FOR BEING TOO PRO-GAY. Yes, you read that right. From the Gay People's Chronicle:
Garrison already has a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. She won her House seat by gay-baiting her predecessor, Nancy Hollister, in 2004.

Earlier that year, Hollister was the only Republican to vote against the so-called “defense of marriage act.” It was considered a courageous vote.

Garrison sent out mailings that read, “If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there’s something you should know about Nancy Hollister.”

The other side of the card said, “DOMA was enacted precisely to protect Ohioans from having to accept ‘marriages’ or ‘unions’ entered into in other states. Despite the value of DOMA, Nancy Hollister voted against it. Jennifer Garrison believes marriage is between one man and one woman and will fight to protect our values.”

In 2006, as a member of the House Education Committee, Garrison helped to kill an amendment that would have required Ohio schools to protect students from bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The anti-bullying bill passed without the LGBT protections.

An attorney, Garrison opposed EHEA last year, saying it is wrong to single out classes of people for protection. This is a common talking point that anti-gays use against equality laws, and is legally flawed.

From the Akron Beacon Journal (November 11, 2004):
Garrison turned the Hollister vote [against the Ohio Defense of Marriage Act] into something seemingly sinister. She told the Parkersburg (W.Va.) newspapers that ‘the big difference between Nancy and I is the gay marriage issue. I am against it. She is for it.’ Garrison sent mailings into homes that read: ‘If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there is something you should know about Nancy Hollister.’ The mailing then all but declares that Hollister embraces gay marriage, concluding Garrison will ‘fight to protect our values.’ Karl Rove would be proud. Clearly, Garrison rode the wave of state Issue 1. She and her pals should be ashamed.”

But not only content to have the LGBT community exist as second-class citizens, Jennifer Garrison also wants her own gender to subist that way. From a NARAL email yesterday:
Last week, Jennifer Garrison, a Democrat from Marietta, officially entered the race for Ohio’s Secretary of State. Jennifer Garrison currently serves in the Ohio House of Representatives and has a 0% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

Rep. Garrison showed just how extreme her anti-choice position is when she filled out the 2008 candidate questionnaire for Ohio Right to Life, saying she would:

* support legislation in Ohio to outlaw abortion (with only an exception to save a woman’s life),

* support legislation that would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception, and

* support state funding for so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” that lie to women about the risks of abortion and never refer patients for abortion or birth control services.

Representative Garrison does not share our values.

She has also voted against the minimum wage, has counted coal interests as a top-ten funder and would like to protect the rights of criminals to get their hands on guns.

So, as should be obvious, she is not a Democrat, and not someone we can trust to count votes in a presidential year, lest corporate cash convince her to submarine a Democrat so she can stockpile cash for higher office (there were rumors around Ohio that she would switch parties for a while). That Redfern or Strickland would support her, tells you all you need to know about Strickland's cratering approval numbers as his advisors (and I use that term loosely) have given such other brilliant advice as refusing to repeal a tax cut for the super-wealthy while cutting funds for libraries, health centers, mental health, etc.

Let's let Strickland, Redfern, Garrison, and their Blue Dog friends in Ohio and DC know we will not stand for this.

Go to Marilyn Brown's site and give a great progressive (and one who has proven her electoral viability by knocking off a three-term Republican incumbent to gain a seat on the Franklin County Board of Commissioners in 2006) some support for her race.

And why not give Strickland a call and tell him to stay out of this race, before it starts affecting his ability to win reelection in 2010. He can be reached at (614) 466-3555. Let him know how you feel about Blue Dogs' undermining our values, and tell him to stop supporting reactionary Jennifer Garrison for Ohio Secretary of State (and be polite).

Also, call and say hi to Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. And tell him to back off, if he wants any support for the ODP in the coming election: 1-877-OHIO-DEM (toll-free). Ask him to take a look at the Republicans For Garrison blog and at the Facebook page that really tells the story about this abomination he's backing.

The movement is going forward. Let your voice be heard. In the meantime, here is owner of The Outlook, a magazine covering issues affecting the gay community, threatening to walk away from Strickland/Redfern if they don't walk away from Garrison:




UPDATE: TedFern Is What's Ailing Ohio Democrats

Blogger Interrupted covers the disgraceful lengths to which Ted Strickland and Chris Redfern are willing to go to defeat progressives inside the Ohio Democratic Party. With polls showing that independent-minded and very progressive Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner with more support from independents than any other Senate or Gubernatorial candidate in the country, with a 9% lead among independents. (Wisconsin progressive Russ Feingold is close, beating his opponent by 8 points.)
Brunner’s choice to replace her as SOS is Marilyn Brown.  If Brown wins, and Brunner wins, that’s two statewide office holding Democrats who owe precisely nothing to TedFern, and have a reason to go after the chairman and get rid of his sorry ass.  This, apparently, has TedFern apoplectic, because that’s the only reason I can imagine that TedFern would support Jennifer Garrison’s primary campaign against Marilyn Brown.

... What makes this step into the mire extra delicious is that Marilyn Brown will doubtless win the primary, because of name recognition alone.  Any moron who has been in statewide politics in Ohio for more than 45 minutes knows that the last name Brown is statewide down ballot gold.  So TedFern have put out a rabid homophobe, who will certainly lose, whose candidacy will do nothing but enrage the gay community, whose leverage in Democratic primaries in Ohio is only growing larger – all out of SPITE.

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9 Comments:

At 6:34 PM, Anonymous Balakirev said...

Garrison's disgusting, Howie. I'm glad you gave her some national visibility, because she seldom claims the spotlight even here in her state.

As for Blackwell--did you know that he was planning to fight being forced out his job when the Democrats took over the government last year? He only caved when the prosecutor's office threatened to investigate some shady dealing that had gone on under Blackwell's watch. (But of course, they wouldn't normally do this--no, we don't push investigations because they could lead to still more!) So he left, badmouthing the incoming administration for bad faith, lies, rigging elections--in other words, the usual Republican reverse switch around where you accuse your opponents of everything you've been accused of. At least he's gone back to private practice, for now.

 
At 7:03 PM, Anonymous Doug Tudor (D), Candidate for the U.S. House, FL-12 said...

True Democrats embrace true Democratic values. We support legislation that benefits working families. We are pro-Labor. We support our military and our veterans. We are pro-choice. We believe in equality, in all forms.



Those who do not support these causes should proudly put an (R) behind their name on the ballot.



Doing otherwise shows moral cowardice.



This is our country and this is our party. Do not let either be hijacked by conservatives.

 
At 7:19 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

by dmac----Blackwell's not 'gone'! Where you been? He's got more mojo now than he had before. He's been on the talking heads shows. And touring all over.Back with a vengeance. And since the church alliance got away with mixing politics and non-profit status, guess who's been attending a lot of 'church'?

As for Strickland, he has a tough election coming up, he's peeved off just about everyone in the State - am going to inform his office that all of the hours I intended to spend on his campaign will be spent fighting Garrison.

And (name is escaping me) the toe-the-line-GOP former Speaker here is running for Senator, in case you forgot. Another nightmare. Jennifer Brunner who has done a stellar job is getting absolutely NO support in her bid for the office. It's a crime. She is wonderful and would make a great Senator. Great.

The Democratic Party in Ohio is run by shills, stacked full of wanna-be movers and shakers and is NOT representing the tenets of the Democratic Party. Please. Get. Them. Outta. Here. I met quite a few during the Presidential Campaign and thought, this is who is running things? Gasp. No Wonder.

 
At 8:09 PM, Blogger DownWithTyranny said...

We have a fundraising page open at ActBlue accepting contributions for just 4 candidates and two of them are mentioned above, Jennifer Brunner and Doug Tudor, two outstanding progressives grassroots champions.

 
At 8:23 PM, Anonymous Balakirev said...

"Where you been? He's got more mojo now than he had before. He's been on the talking heads shows."
____________________________

I never said he was gone. I said he agreed to leave office, instead of taking the Democrats to court over it. Of course he's on the talk shows: isn't that SOP for any anti-progressive thug who wants to get back into the business these days? Like DeLay or Gingrich? But getting the election process out of Blackwell's hands was a step forward, and I don't know anything that could prove that wrong.

At least if you're going to read me, read me correctly.

 
At 11:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doug Tudor and the socialist democrats say:
We believe in equality, in all forms..

So does Castro.

In other words, Democrats oppose freedom.

I would rather be free than equal.

 
At 3:05 PM, Anonymous Balakirev said...

You tell 'em, Anonymous! No health care! No Medicare! No unions! No VA! No education, fire departments, police departments, sewer systems, taxes, defense, or any government! Live free, die very young, and let your bones grind deep into the muck! Forward to the Dark Ages, my friends.

 
At 9:02 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Balakirev said.....
No health care! No Medicare! No unions! No VA! No education, fire departments, police departments, sewer systems, taxes, defense, or any government! Live free, die very young, and let your bones grind deep into the muck! Forward to the Dark Ages, my friends.

Gee, how did we ever survive to get this far without all those things.

Now lets see... no unions... that would be equal. Then there were be no special treatment for the AFL-CIO. And that fucking VA, what did those vets do to deserve the special treatment.

Doing without all the things you listed is freedom?

Freedom is having a government that doesn't compel you to pay homage to unions, or your fellow citizens, it doesn't require you to either buy heath insurance or be taxed.

Freedom is not having a bureaucrat making the rules for the rest of us as he goes along.

Freedom is a lot of things you socialists hate. Basically, you just want other people to pay for what you want.

Socialism always has to have a crisis, and a socialist government is always fixing whatever crisis there is in such a way that causes another crisis.

Why do you think Obama hasn't ended the wars? The only difference is now the socialist media is not reporting it as much.

You want to run other people lives rather than let them live the one they have the way they want.

"Although we had been warned by some of the greatest political thinkers of the nineteenth century, by De Toqueville and Lord Acton, that socialism means slavery, we have steadily moved in the direction of socialism. And now that we have seen a new form of slavery arise before our eyes, we have so completely forgotten the warning that it scarcely occurs to us that the two things may be connected." F. A. Hayek, "The Road to Serfdom" (1944).

 
At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Balakirev said...

Whoa, Anon, thanks for posting all those shallow Repub talking points. And equating government under a conservative to socialism...? Brilliant, if you enjoy surrealism. I do; keep it up!

 

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