Pass. The. Damn. Bill.

It’s time. The health care bill needs to pass.

And on the eve of this vote, all Ohio Democrats will vote for the bill. That is, all Ohio Democrats who aren’t afraid for their jobs. Zach Space (OH-18, Bob Ney‘s old eastern Ohio district) and Steve Driehaus (OH-1, Cinti) will vote no. Space is acting the part of a fiscal conservative, despite the fact that his district covers rural, Appalachian Ohio, a part of the state desperately conflicted by the perceived either/or between health care and economic recovery through lower taxes. Driehaus is acting the part of a social conservative, as he thinks that the bill does not go far enough to ban federal funds for abortion. See The Daily Briefing.

Lovely. I’m all for principled votes, but these reasons say no more than “I don’t want to lose in November.” On one hand, Space and Driehaus needs national Dems to do better to ensure an easier reelection. On the other, they he can’t afford to be attached to a piece of legislation that is not likely to be popular in the short-term. This vote says no more than they he wants to keep their his seat. They He wants the pin. They He wants the gym membership. They He doesn’t want  to govern.

What can I say? Driehaus had me fooled.

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Brief Reflection: New Media Exploration Project

First, a confession: I’ve always wanted to write a blog. I began to read blogs seriously in 2002-03 during the build up to the Iraq War. At the time–and throughout my adult life, really–my news outlet of choice was The New York Times, but their often pro-war coverage pushed me away and for the first time forced me to look for other outlets, other voices. Bloggers like the then pro-war Andrew Sullivan and the anti-war Josh Marshall provided me with alternative lenses (and I emphasize the plural here) on events and decisions that were incredibly important but unclear. For the first time I entered into a conversation with multiple viewpoints without needing to subscribe to a magazine, journal, or newspaper. For me, it was like entering into what I think of as an adult conversation. These blogs were serious and informed, but witty, and often ironic. Of course there were crazy outliers too, and heightened judgment became an important critical faculty.

In my ENG 112 class, we engaged in a sequence on dialogue (though that will soon change, of course). I wanted to bring blogging into my classroom as a way for students to enter into dialogue on a topic (my assignment sheet: Dialogue Analysis–For Blog). I wanted them to be able to use blogging not just as a tool that allowed internal, intra-class communication, but a way to extend their talking, thinking, and writing to a real audience, one that included their peers and the possibility of a wider audience.

To model this assignment, I created this blog on Ohio statewide politics. Most posts are opinion driven pieces on news stories, but I have tried to include some original reporting. Since moving to Ohio in 2002 I have been interested in state-level politics, but it was something that I wanted to know more about. In entering into this dialogue I realized that blogging was hard. Really hard. Some days it felt like a marathon, that stamina was essential to completing this project. I began my blog on January 29. Right now, I have 48 posts for 46 days of coverage. Along the way I have discoverd a few important things: 

• Posting everyday is hard. Not only are you continuing to learn about your topic, but you want to say something and not sound stupid. As a result, I think that my posting requirements for my students were reasonable.
• The audience is so real. Comments to the posts are great, but I had people I know emailing me with questions and tips: “Tell me who X is,” or “Do you really want to sound this way?” Aside from writing for a scholarly audience at a conference or journal, I’ve never been this aware of an audience before.
• Blogging is a mixture of high and low stakes writing. Short, linking posts or posts that embed media are low stakes writing that simply says, “Hey, take a look at this.” Longer, opinion or analysis driven posts are higher stakes writing. They put the blogger out on a rhetorical limb.  
• Linking and embedding media is kind of fun. I am drawn to blogs because it is largely alphabetic and because it is a conversation. In monitoring my reading habits, though, I have recognized that I am drawn in by what the blogger is saying, and links (to another blogger, to a mainstream media story, to video) add a dimension to the post that is entertaining or complex. 

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

Ohio Democratic Pary’s New Site. Ooohhh. This post is one part political critique and one part new media critique.

There are two “I”s in Jim Bunning This post got me my first non-friend comment. It was from someone who has a real axe to grind with Jim Bunning, the Republican Senator from Kentucky who held up an unemployment benefit extension.

Oh my. . . This post introduced us to Andrew Zukowski.  

We’re serious about race. . . in 1865 This post explored the Ohio GOP’s rollout of their Black History Month festivities. 

There are also a few themes that I return to: the strangely compelling the Democratic primary race for US Senate between Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher, Tea Party politics, and the census.

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The ties that bind

On a day that President Obama and Vice President Biden (hat tip: Fox News, geez) will be in Ohio drumming up support for the current health care reform iteration (and the VP will be fundraising for Gov. Strickland this evening), it’s worth speculating about which ties will be more significant in the governor’s race: Strickland’s ties to Obama and national policy, especially health care, jobs, and overall economic performance; or Kasich’s ties to his time as a managing director at Lehman Brothers, the heavyweight financial firm that went under in the fall of 2008.

In many ways, of course, it’s unfair to link both candidates to these larger happenings. As Governor of a swing state, Strickland’s interests do lie with a successful Obama presidency–rising tides and all that. As a managing director in the investment banking division, Kasich’s former title sounds impressive, but it’s more likely that he was in his position because of his political influence, not his investment savvy. But which connection will be more sticky, if you will?

If Obama’s approval tanks and national Dems are on the run this November, then Strickland’s chances of winning re-election go down, though it isn’t an automatic win for Kasich. After all, Strickland can still pivot away from national Dems, tout statewide initiatives, and return to his more comfortable, folksy campaigning style, a strategy that he has proven to be master of. The thing to look out for, I think, is any connection that can be made between Kasich and Lehman’s failure. Even a seemingly insignificant connection could tank his chances, especially since he is running, in part, on his ability to be a better state fiscal manager. If Strickland’s camp can paste some line connecting Kasich to this huge failure into a fall ad, it would be more than enough to keep independents away from Kasich. Remember, Lehman was the biggest corporate bankruptcy in history (see Wikipedia’s quick summary). Kasich is lucky, in a sense, that Lehman wasn’t a household name in Ohio. In New York and other financial circles, Lehman’s collapse was end-of-days type drama. I, like most people, can’t fathom $600 billion in debt, but I know it’s a massive figure, one that can’t easily be explained away.

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Bloggers of the world unite

Mickey Kaus, a center-left blogger for Slate is running against Sen. Barbara Boxer for the Democratic nomination to the US Senate in California. The New York Times has ten questions for him.

While he admits that he has no chance to beat Boxer, a three term Senator, I think there is something civically important in the move from commentator to candidate. Many have done it, some with electoral success (Al Franken, Jesse Ventura), some without (Alan Keyes, Pat Roberson). I would argue, though, that each candidacy is worthwhile, as it demonstrates that advocacy needs action for a political stance to become in this world, or at least the US political world. It’s why I have a soft spot for Tea Party types. This past summer this group of politically aligned people saw a world that was spinning away from their core values. They soon realized that simply getting together was not going to provide them with the change they desired, so now they are transitioning into an electoral platform. Whether you agree with them or not–and I do not–it’s civics in action.

It reminds me of a line from The West Wing, the Aaron Sorkin-created-left-leaning show that tracked the political fortunes of President Josiah Bartlet: “Decisions are made by those who show up.” I may be feeling overly simple this Sunday morning, but there is worth in showing up. It’s the reason teachers should be given the benefit of the doubt. It’s the reason why “I support the troops” is ever-present, despite whatever ideological clause follows. It’s why the best critical minds know and recognize the tension that lies between thinking something should be a certain way and doing something to make the certain way happen.

And I will always applaud those who attempt to bridge that gap.

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We endorsed him before we endorsed his opponent

It’s interesting to wade occasionally into the rather unsexy backwaters of statewide races, contests in which the candidates are obscure, motivations for running are unclear, and even the office’s job descriptions are fuzzy, at best. Take the State Auditor race, a race that is only interesting because Republicans are engaged in a soul-of-the-party type battle that pits Tea Party types (here, the Tea Party PAC, a coalition of conservative groups) against non-Tea Party Republicans.

On one side is Dave Yost, Delaware County Prosecutor. Tea Partiers originally favored Yost against former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine for Ohio Attorney General. Because he jumped out of the AG race and into the Auditor’s race after pressure from the Ohio GOP, the Tea Party has turned on him. Now, they back Seth Morgan, a state representative from Huber Heights, a Dayton suburb. The Daily Brief has a run down. The key paragraph:

Tea Party members and other conservatives were outraged when Yost dropped out of the attorney general’s race to run for auditor at the request of state Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine. The conservatives wanted Yost to stay in the attorney general’s race because they favored him over his Republican Mike DeWine.

Ah, the ol’ political purity test. It’s a variation on the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” school of politics that never seems to forget a slight. To an observer, this endorsement seems petty, and it would certainly be something that David Pepper, the Democratic candidate for Auditor should be able to exploit.

That being said, I sympathize with a core impulse to reject a candidate because of perceived indecision or lack of commitment, especially in primary races. After all, the primary tends to be the important cultural moment for political parties. The general election is for the electorate at large, but the primary is an opportunity to assert party leadership and platform. Republicans of all stripes who choose to vote in November will be more likely to vote for Yost or Morgan than David Pepper. But the victor in the May primary is much more important to the Republican party itself.

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That ol’ Kennedy Magic

Today Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D, Rhode Island) gave the nation a glimpse of that ol’ Kennedy magic for one of the final times, as he plans to retire from Congress this year. Here, he rails against the press’ obsession with the Eric Massa kerfuffle.

He’s a lot like his father. I’m going to miss the Kennedys in Congress. He starts to build momentum at the 1:00 mark, but he’s really blowing at 3:30.

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I’m doing this because they told me to

Maybe it’s because I maintain a healthy skepticism of New Media for political organizing. For fundraising? Absolutely. But spreading information and getting people to commit to a candidate or issue they otherwise wouldn’t? In the right hands (the 2008 Obama campaign being the model), it works, but there are many unsteady hands, hands that know they need to have a virtual, networked presence, but aren’t really sure what do. Enter Ted Strickland’s “Ask Ted” forum. The introduction is below. 

When watching this I’m reminded of the Nixon/Kennedy TV debate story. While Nixon’s underappreciation for the medium gets a lot of attention, without Kennedy’s savvy, it would have simply been two unattractive white male presidential candidates. Hardly a significant imaginative leap.

What strikes me about this is that I could have produced this. The backdrop doesn’t fit a strong, incumbent persona. I appreciate the symbols: Ohio flag, campaign posters, David McCullough books. But it’s clear that this was shot in a campaign office somewhere, and likely a little used part of the office–I picture just off camera boxes of flyers and door hangers. As for the “Ask Ted” concept? I like the idea, but the audience for this is still internal. It doesn’t get much beyond Strickland supporters and Democratic partisans. It doesn’t extend Ted Strickland to those Independents and Republicans who may still be sympathetic.

This is the modern, New Media iteration of Lazy Shave, the product a Nixon aide applied to the candidate to cover up his five o’ clock shadow. There needs to be an aesthetic medium between slickly produced and garage band. Here, Strickland hasn’t found it.

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Another Brunner v. Fisher post

Aside from Ohio Tea Party politics and implications of the census on Ohio’s political landscape, an electoral story I’ve been particularly interested in is the Democratic primary for US Senate, a race that pits Gov. Strickland’s former Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher against current Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

A few weeks ago Politico.com reported Fisher ahead of Brunner, though nearly half of those polled hadn’t made up their mind. It seems that the popular political vibe in Ohio has Fisher winning easily and going on to face Rob Portman, who has a decidedly clearer path to the Republican nomination.

Let’s jump in the way-back-machine. In February 2009, Gov. Strickland endorsed Fisher after both Brunner and Fisher filed paperwork to run. Strickland’s endorsement was a strong, clear signal that Democrats should line up behind Fisher. And that’s happened, by and large (see Fisher’s elected official endorsement page. Brunner doesn’t even have an endorsement page). The following year, however, has found Brunner sticking around and Fisher unable to separate. I’m not recalling this because it’s remarkable that the fortunes of the Democratic nod for US Senate rose and fell on February 18, 2009, with Stricklands’ endorsement. Rather, I think it’s significant to note that the Democratic ticket will be tied inextricably to Ted Strickland. A chief executive’s influence is not unusual in American politics, but perhaps this is more pronounced then it usually is, and certainly for Ohio. Recent memory doesn’t recall any of former Gov. Bob Taft’s lieutenants aiming for high office.

If the Ohio Democratic Party’s ticket fails this November, much blame will likely go to Chris Redfern, Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party. But the target of this analysis will be off by a few Columbus blocks. This is Strickland’s ticket.

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The Times’ David Brooks. Sigh and pine.

I admit an odd affinity for The New York Times‘ David Brooks. I’ve followed his writing and thinking before he was “The Times‘” anything. I’ll even admit to reading him in the neo-conservative The Weekly Standard. He isn’t hard to find. One day you’ll see him debating Mark Shields on PBS’ Newshour and the next you’ll hear him debate E.J. Dionne on NPR’s All Things Considered. He’s every liberal’s favorite conservative.

So it’s from this perspective that I read his interesting Times piece on the Tea Party movement, a movement that has provided some of the few interesting organizational/tactical questions about 2010 electoral politics. In short, Brooks speaks to the similarities he sees between the Tea Party and the New Left, the movement that fractured the broader constituent groups of the American left and contributed to a deep divide in the Democratic Party between those who advocated working to change the system from within and those who saw the system as irrevocably broken and believed that change could only come from outside the system. Brooks’ key paragraphs:

But the Tea Partiers are closer to the New Left. They don’t seek to form a counter-establishment because they don’t believe in establishments or in authority structures. They believe in the spontaneous uprising of participatory democracy. They believe in mass action and the politics of barricades, not in structure and organization. As one activist put it recently on a Tea Party blog: “We reject the idea that the Tea Party Movement is ‘led’ by anyone other than the millions of average citizens who make it up.”

For this reason, both the New Left and the Tea Party movement are radically anticonservative. Conservatism is built on the idea of original sin — on the assumption of human fallibility and uncertainty. To remedy our fallen condition, conservatives believe in civilization — in social structures, permanent institutions and just authorities, which embody the accumulated wisdom of the ages and structure individual longings.

I think there’s something else at play, though. John McCain’s campaign had no room for some of the conservative constituent groups that George W. Bush’s campaing relied on, and I think this movement is the release point for a certain strain of conservatism. Some histories of George W. Bush attribute his success to his ability to bring conservatives to the ballot box who had otherwise forsaken electoral politics. I suspect that the large majority of Tea Partiers may be those folks who had felt represented by Bush’s Republican Party and feel left out as the Party has reorganized and repositioned itself in Obama’s wake. I don’t think the Tea Party is going to take over the Republican Party. I don’t think that’s the question. I think the question is, When the Tea Party fervor fades, as any movement that won’t allow leadership will, will these people abandon electoral politics, or will they recommit to the Republican Party? To me, that’s the danger for Republicans. This strain of conservative voters will continue to the polls for a few election cycles, but how long will it last?

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Mammoth Cave-In

In this political and economic climate, it’s hard to give full credit to politicians for anything, be it passing legislation or blocking it. The Democrats haven’t lived up to their supporters hopes, and the Republicans have lived down to theirs. It is interesting, though, how little traction national Republican figures can make against the obstructionist label. Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning’s concession on the unemployment extension is particularly telling.

While trying to blame Democrats for mishandling the entire matter, other Republicans distanced themselves from Mr. Bunning, who Democrats were trying to make into the poster child for what they say had been a maddening and persistent pattern of Republican obstruction in the Senate.

“This is one senator,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a chief political strategist for Senate Republicans. “This does not represent the position of the caucus.”

Republicans were not just unhappy that the fight was allowing Democrats, editorial writers and activists around the country to portray them as heartless, denying jobless aid to struggling Americans while Mr. Bunning complained that late-night debate was preventing him from watching a college basketball game.

If I were a Democratic strategist I would copy and paste from whatever quote that last sentence was derived, slap it into a mailer, and collect an easy $2 million for the Democratic National Committee.

Were it always that easy.

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