Ohio Strengthens its Red State Credentials

In rejecting the kook, left-wing proposals on Election Day, the voters of Ohio resoundingly demonstrated that Ohio is genuinely a state with solid conservative voting patterns. Ohio voters proved that they can not be fooled by propaganda, artificial rhetoric, and false pretenses. The strength and depth of Ohio’s current propensity to fall into the red state mold is a philosophy espoused in this column and elsewhere for the last several months. The voters powerfully validated Ohio’s red state credentials on Tuesday November 8.

A series of well-documented articles on the red state underpinnings of Ohio voters generated some shrill comments from liberal readers insisting that Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s Secretary of State, stole Ohio for President Bush in November 2004. Others falsely opined that Ohio was the closest Presidential state in 2004, while some liberal voices promoted the idea that Ohio would be equally divided on the so-called “Reform Ohio Now” issues as they were on Bush vs. Kerry. Voters in Ohio silenced all the critics and left-wing fanatics with stunning, overwhelming, and comprehensive electoral victories.

Red State Ohio voters have much to savor when looking at the results of Tuesday’s election. Despite a massive TV advertising campaign, voters rejected these thinly disguised liberal attempts to overturn past election results. Initially, it is apparent that when turnout for a particular election is moderate, there is great strength from the conservative voting base in the Republican and swing counties. Clermont County, Greene County, Butler County, Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Franklin County (Columbus), and Montgomery County (Dayton), all defeated the issues by margins ranging in the low 60’s to the middle 70’s. Issues 3 and 4 failed in all 88 of Ohio’s counties. The supporters of “Reform Ohio Now” have to consider that the election wasn’t even close, and accept the only sound interpretation of the voting data: Red State Ohio won’t be blue in the near future.

Moreover, Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s highest concentration of liberal voters, defeated the state issues by margins of 51%, 59%, 61%, and 61%. These negative results and the lopsided percentages are astounding when you consider the amount of money amassed by the well-funded liberal coalition trying to take over Ohio’s elections. The liberal organizations claimed massive, grass roots support, yet they could not even pass one of their issues in the liberal hotbed of Ohio.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer, of all papers, appears to have it just right this time. Although the paper may have only been stating the obvious, it was still refreshing to see it in print straight from the liberal mainstream media.

"Had any of the issues come remotely close to passing, the complaints from Reform Ohio Now proponents attributing the result to voter confusion might have had considerable validity.
But these were landslide defeats. Issues 3 and 4, by far the most important of the initiatives, lost in all 88 counties.
Sure, voter confusion played a role in Tuesday's outcome. But the defeat of Reform Ohio Now only underscored yet again how far out of touch many Democratic leaders and their consultants are with Ohio voters.
...The Reform Ohio Now crowd instead tried to play political mind games with the electorate and disguise them as reform."

Republicans can savor the fact that Ohio voters have kicked George Soros in the butt to get him out of Ohio again. The Ohio republican party has proven again that it can mobilize its’ voters, and the moderate voters of Ohio tend to side with common sense conservative positions especially in all of the off-year elections.

As a teacher member of the Ohio Education Association, I recurrently lament the unsurpassed ability of the OEA to get on the wrong side of every public issue in Ohio. While our leadership team in Columbus needs a laser-like focus on school funding and practical educational reforms, they seem to be consumed with their liberal politics and the pursuit of fringe candidates and issues. These liberal positions, which appear to trump the needs of our students, are forcing the voice of the OEA to the periphery of the political debate in Ohio. The OEA leadership took a position on the “same sex marriage” proposal late in the 2004 campaign. This issue was defeated by over 62%, and confirmed OEA’s role as part of the far left in the Ohio political spectrum. Despite a non-stop barrage of party line half-truths to the members over the last three months, OEA did not seem to make even a dent in the election results on Tuesday.

Finally, the forecast for conservative candidates and issues in Ohio looks good. Although Senator Dewine may seem to be in some trouble for his 2006 senate race, the democrats appear to be in disarray with two clone candidates opposing each other in the May primary election. Either Paul Hackett or Sherrod Brown will be forced to cater to the left wing in the primary. This position will not leave the winner in a strong position to challenge senator Dewine. Representative Ted Strickland does not seem to be in a position to defeat any Republican, especially popular Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. The best-case scenario for the Ohio democrat party involves hoping for the worst for Ohio, and focusing on a voter turn-out plan that would break the mold of the last fifty years. Ohio’ red state voters are not poised to make Ohio blue-or even purple- any time soon. This week’s election results put that debate to sleep for the foreseeable future.