Super Tuesday- Ohio

Romney vs Santorum vs Paul vs Gingrich has a certain amount of entertainment value for political junkies... but let's be real-- the decision by the Republican Party Establishment to select Romney as their party's nominee was made long ago. This whole primary thing was, in retrospect, probably a gigantic mistake for them. So as much as I'll be passively looking to see which clown won Tulsa or which doofus had the most votes in Montpellier... it doesn't matter. It's a foregone conclusion that even if Santorum wins Oklahoma, in November that state is firmly in the Romney column and Vermont is firmly in the Obama column. But that doesn't mean there's nothing important happening tomorrow. There certainly is. Ohio's political parties have primaries to pick their November nominees-- and not ever race is a foregone conclusion.

As of tomorrow it will be official that the malevolent incompetents at the DCCC have failed to even offer an opponent for John Boehner. They were so aggressively unhelpful to Justin Coussoule in 2010 that no one in the district even put a name forward to try this year. So Boehner, who has raised $12,944,563 so far this year will be free to spend all that plus his time and energy campaigning against Democrats from coast to coast instead of defending himself the way he was forced to do by Coussoule. (He does have a GOP primary opponent, teabagger David Lewis, who, as of February 15, had raised $7,896, spent $7,876 and has $20 cash-on-hand heading into tomorrow. Thats district 8. In the newly redrawn district 9 there's something very different happening.

The GOP is putting on a clown show with Joe the Plumber. But the real race is the primary between Democratic incumbents Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich, a contest we covered last week. Short version:

Marcy Kaptur voted to fund Bush’s wars. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur voted for the Patriot Act. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur supports the Keystone pipeline. Dennis does not.

Dennis has worked relentlessly for nuclear safety at Davis-Besse. Marcy Kaptur has not.

Dennis supported the Dream Act. Marcy Kaptur opposed it.

Dennis supports Marriage Equality. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Dennis fully supports Choice. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Many progressives feel he's the #1 best Member of Congress. But Marcy is usually a reliable progressive on almost everything but Choice. She even has had one great moment, when she urged foreclosed on constituents to refuse to leave their homes. Like Kucinich, she's good on economic justice issues. But, all in all, she's just another Member of Congress, better than most but... she's no Dennis Kucinich. Sunday night he sent out an e-mail to supporters reminding them that "This election is not just about one seat. This is about the future of our country and the soul of the progressive movement. In primary elections all over the country right now, corporate-owned Democrats are trading the soul of the Democratic Party for the magic beans of big campaign contributions." The campaign wants to remind Democratic primary voters not just that Dennis took a stand against the war in Iraq, and voted against funding it every single time but that Kaptur voted to fund the war over and over, and she took almost a quarter-million in campaign funding from war contractors. He calls it "a street fight for the soul of the Democratic Party" and reminds people that she gets a lot of PAC and corporate money. Her average donation was $1,307; his was $48. "How," he asks "can any person or any party fight for average Americans when they are funded by the special interests?"

The other redrawn district with a crucial primary tomorrow is in the 3rd CD (basically, Columbus). There are three frontrunners, Mary Jo Kilroy, a stalwart progressive who has been endorsed by Blue America, plus business-friendly Joyce Beatty and an ex-Governor's brother, Ted Celeste. We covered the race a month ago and today I just want to remind everyone in the district, that as inconsequential as the GOP primary is, this race really is important. The winner of tomorrow's primary will be the next congressmember from OH-3. Let's make sure it's a lifelong progressive fighter, Mary Jo Kilroy, not a corporate shill.

Yesterday Mary Jo was going from meeting to meeting talking with voters about the issues that concern them. And foreclosures was right at the top of everyone's list. Mary Jo, like her colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wants real action and accountability. "I call on Mr. De Marco to do the right thing for communities struggling with the problem of wave after wave of home foreclosures. His policy is unfair to the homeowners, unjust, and hurts us all as this crisis lowers property values and is a drag on the economy." Big Business and Wall Street interests have helped finance a campaign against Mary Jo by backing a conservative "business-friendly" Democrat. Tomorrow, if you're in Columbus or if you have friends or relatives in Columbus, please don't forget this is a key seat for progressives that will be won-- or lost-- now, not in November.


UPDATE: Well... At Least Mean Jean Schmidt Lost Her Seat

Southern Ohio voters never liked her much and they finally managed to take her out, getting behind moderate podiatrist Brad Wenstrup, who beat her 49-43%. The two Democrats vying for their party's nomination, David Kirkorian and William Smith, are locked in a 50/50 tie. In the 9th CD, Marcy Kaptur beat Dennis Kucinich. His national prominence just couldn't hold up to the fact that most of the new district was made up of her constituents. He won in his areas and she won in hers. In the end she beat him 42,451 (56%) to 29,892 (40%). But the biggest tragedy was the narrow victory by conservative shill Joyce Beatty over progressive Mary Jo Kilroy in the new OH-3 (Columbus).