The Ohio Election
I don’t even know where to begin, since I’m still so furious about the election results. Let’s start with the issues that passed and failed.
Issue 2 Passed: Increases minimum wage to $6.80. WONDERFUL! I appreciate that. What don’t I appreciate? The fact that personal payroll records, including social security numbers, will be released, giving criminals all the more opportunity to commit identity theft. It creates most wasteful spending, carried on the backs of the tax payers. 70% of the proposal had jack shit to do with the minimum wage, which is why all the major news papers opposed it.
Issue 3 Failed: Sorry Ohio, no casinos for you. Tens of thousands of jobs will not be created now. We spend close to a billion dollars on out of state gambling. Who the fuck wants that money here anyway, right? It would help with college tuition through the Learn & Earn program.
Issue 4 Failed: This would have given businesses the freedom to decide whether or not to allow SMOKING in their venues, and would keep it out of the hands of the government.
Issue 5 Passed: Now the government has decided we cannot smoke indoors in any public location. Thanks for sticking your crooked noses in our personal lives and fucking businesses here in Ohio. I’m sure EVERYBODY will enjoy stepping outsde the nice warm sports bar they were in just to have a cigarette in 13 degree weather, knees deep in snow.
And now on to the candidates..
New Governor: Ted Strickland, democrat. Wait, who? Okay, so people in BFE South-east Ohio may have heard about him, but here’s an interesting tidbit.. Strickland was rated earlier in the year by a non-partisan research group as one of the most ineffective members of Congress (#402 out of 435 members), ranking lower than a non-voting delegate from American Samoa. He has never held a government administration job, balanced a budget, or even served in state or local government, yet he managed to win by a landslide.
Who did he beat? Ken Blackwell, a republican with nearly 30 years experience as a public official. Former mayor of Dayton, Former US Ambassador, and current (not for long) Secretary of State. Why didn’t he win? Because he’s been unjustly tied to our corrupt governor (as every Ohio republican has seem to have been) and he’s BLACK. He’s seen as a fucking Uncle Tom, and I find that incredibly unfair. He was by far the most endorsed, even receiving support from Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. Thanks for fucking this up, Ohio. We’re the #3 tax burden state, but we are now striving for that #1 spot!
As for our senate race, I’m at a loss for words. It was a close race. Sherrod Brown, a democrat, beat out incumbent Mike Dewine. This was probably the most dirty election here in Ohio, so I can’t totally blame Ohio for being confused.
As of right now, 6AM the day after the election, with Montana and Virginia senate races still not called, I deep down hope that the democrats take the senate too. Why? Because I want to be able to say once again “I told you so.” Don’t be expecting any miracles to happen because of this. I’ve heard too many liberals saying that ‘if only we get the democrats to control congress again, the country will once again be great!’ I beg to differ, we’re fucked either way.
Way to fuck things up, Ohio. I appreciate it.