Comments on: Jon Husted Calls Upon Marc Dann to Resign http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:07:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Barry http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1386 Barry Tue, 06 May 2008 13:51:33 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1386 Regarding GOP possible replacements.. it all depends on if Cordray runs or not. If he does, he ahs a million in the bank now and all the special counsel have already indicated that they will line up behind him with more $$. Also, the big banks will contribute more as he still is the State Treasurer. Any wise GOP officeholder will realize that it will take at least 2 million to be Cordray. No way for a GOP candidtae to raise that much money ina few months for a run at the AG's office. Regarding Republican replacements: 1. Goodman wont even be asked to apply - he is so, so, so liberal on EVERY single issue, it is amazing how he got his chairmanship in the Senate. HE is also currently running for COurt of Appeals and he is not raising any money and will probably lose if he stays in the race. Already lost countywide a few years back. 2. Betty - her old political hack WEAVER is the one pushing her right now to run.... only so he can become relevant again, it has nothing to do with her. My sources tell me that other people close to her, who actually care about her are telling her not to do it. She is doing fine in the private sector. Also, we can't keep living in the past with former statewide officeholders. 3. Petro - good guy, buy he is making an incredible amount of $$ working for Stan Chesley now .... an incredible amount of $$ (good for him)..... he aint interested in this job. 4. Grendell ... good guy, but wont have the statewide support and deep donw inside, he knows that he is better off staying in the safe senate district he is in now. I believe he is up for relection any way. 5. Ron O'Brien - keep an eye on him. YEs, he is up for relection, but there is a chance he would do it. 6. Phil Heimlich - there is a chance.... he is sitting on several hundreds of thousands of dollars from his last campaign and has personal wealth and the Cincy money guys would kick in big bucks. Regarding GOP possible replacements.. it all depends on if Cordray runs or not. If he does, he ahs a million in the bank now and all the special counsel have already indicated that they will line up behind him with more $$. Also, the big banks will contribute more as he still is the State Treasurer. Any wise GOP officeholder will realize that it will take at least 2 million to be Cordray. No way for a GOP candidtae to raise that much money ina few months for a run at the AG’s office.

Regarding Republican replacements:
1. Goodman wont even be asked to apply - he is so, so, so liberal on EVERY single issue, it is amazing how he got his chairmanship in the Senate. HE is also currently running for COurt of Appeals and he is not raising any money and will probably lose if he stays in the race. Already lost countywide a few years back.

2. Betty - her old political hack WEAVER is the one pushing her right now to run…. only so he can become relevant again, it has nothing to do with her. My sources tell me that other people close to her, who actually care about her are telling her not to do it. She is doing fine in the private sector. Also, we can’t keep living in the past with former statewide officeholders.

3. Petro - good guy, buy he is making an incredible amount of $$ working for Stan Chesley now …. an incredible amount of $$ (good for him)….. he aint interested in this job.

4. Grendell … good guy, but wont have the statewide support and deep donw inside, he knows that he is better off staying in the safe senate district he is in now. I believe he is up for relection any way.

5. Ron O’Brien - keep an eye on him. YEs, he is up for relection, but there is a chance he would do it.

6. Phil Heimlich - there is a chance…. he is sitting on several hundreds of thousands of dollars from his last campaign and has personal wealth and the Cincy money guys would kick in big bucks.

]]> By: JK http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1385 JK Tue, 06 May 2008 13:49:22 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1385 The best part of a possible impeachment would be watching Rep. Batchelder in action. And hopefully, Dann would represent himself in the trial, and Batchedler could mop the floor with him. That being said, Batchelder would be a great choice for AG himself. He is greatly respected on both sides of the aisle and is a true conservative. If the Republicans truly want a person who would respect the office, Batchelder would be the man. The best part of a possible impeachment would be watching Rep. Batchelder in action. And hopefully, Dann would represent himself in the trial, and Batchedler could mop the floor with him.
That being said, Batchelder would be a great choice for AG himself. He is greatly respected on both sides of the aisle and is a true conservative. If the Republicans truly want a person who would respect the office, Batchelder would be the man.

]]> By: Xavier http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1360 Xavier Tue, 06 May 2008 01:18:39 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1360 Take a look at what Celeste said about this situation: ANALYSIS Dann scandal weighs heavily on Democrats Gauging the fallout for Dann Dann's decision to stay despite scandal could affect state, presidential races Sunday, May 04, 2008 Mark Naymik Plain Dealer Politics Writer Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has become an election- year live wire. Though he is more than two years from having to face re-election, his decision to remain in office following a sex scandal has put him at the center of the 2008 races, from Ohio House contests to the state's battle for the White House. Democratic candidates will face questions about his conduct, which includes having an affair with a subordinate. In the broadest context, Republican candidates will use Dann's conduct to paint Democrats as corrupt. "This will have a huge impact on legislative races because every Democratic candidate will be asked whether or not Marc Dann should resign," said Republican consultant Mark Weaver, who helped Republican House members in 2006 and is advising them again this year. Weaver should know; he has experienced the collateral damage of political scandal. One of his clients, former state Auditor and former Attorney General Betty Montgomery, lost to Dann in 2006, after he effectively linked her to a Republican investment scandal involving fund- raiser and coin dealer Tom Noe. Though Montgomery had no direct involvement in the investment debacle, the taint of the scandal, which touched former Republican Gov. Bob Taft, helped defeat nearly all of the party's statewide candidates in 2006. "If Ohio becomes ground zero in the presidential race, and the race is close like it was in 2004, a major Democratic scandal that is unresolved could have an impact," Weaver said. "Some voters will look at Democrats and say, 'They are no better than the Republicans were.' " That is exactly what worries Democratic leaders, though they are not saying so publicly. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, the titular head of the party, has refused to say whether he thinks Dann should resign. But speaking to reporters after a conference on children's issues in Columbus on Friday, he said he felt "extreme disappointment" and "some anger" toward Dann. "The attorney general will decide whether or not he should step down," Strickland said. Dann says he will not resign. "That's between the voters of the state and me," he said in an interview with Plain Dealer reporters and editors on Friday. "That's not anybody's place to tell me. If I do something impeachable, then the legislature has that option." Dann, 46, admitted having an affair with his 28-year-old former scheduler after a separate investigation of harassment charges against one of his top managers threatened to expose it. The investigation's findings, released Friday, resulted in the firings of two of Dann's close friends from Youngstown; the resignation of his chief of staff, also a close friend; and the resignation of his former scheduler. It also forced the former state senator who once ran a small Youngstown law office to acknowledge he was unprepared to manage a state agency of more than 1,400 employees. And the scandal exposed a record of hiring friends and political contacts at a time he had promised to end cronyism in government. In his first 16 months in office, Dann tried to fashion an image as a hard-charging consumer advocate in the style of Eliot Spitzer, the former New York attorney general and governor. (Spitzer's career ended after he admitted his involvement with prostitution.) Like Spitzer, Dann made his political ambition obvious: He aggressively raised campaign money for himself and others. But now he says he is not thinking about his political future, just about restoring integrity to his office. "Whether I run for re-election again, frankly, is not at the top of my agenda," he said. "My interest is in trying to do the best job I possibly can and give the office an administration backbone worthy of the great work we are doing." He says he still wants to help Democrats running in this year's Ohio House races. The Democrats need to pick up four seats to win control of the 99-member chamber. But with newspapers across the state and the Republican Party calling for Dann to step down, it is unclear how effective he can be as a party surrogate. Rep. Ted Celeste, a Columbus- area Democrat and brother of former Gov. Dick Celeste, said Friday that it is too early to tell. But he planned to gauge reaction to the Dann scandal as he campaigned over the weekend. "It is important to do some testing and see what they are feeling," he said. Celeste is one of a handful of Democrats raising money for House candidates in the hope of becoming House speaker if Democrats win control in November. "The reality is that the proof will be in how the scandal unfolds," he said. "It is hard to equate this situation with what happened in '06, but that doesn't mean there aren't real issues here that have to be dealt with." Asked if he thinks Dann should step down, Celeste said, "For me, it is too early to say." State Rep. Armond Budish of Beachwood, who also wants to be House speaker, said he doesn't think the scandal will affect the battle for the House. "I think they will still be won or lost on the merits of each of the individual races," he said. Democratic consultant Dale Butland, who manages statewide candidate and issue campaigns, says he, too, can't predict what impact Friday's events will have. But he predicted it will harden the partisan divide in this year's elections. Despite Dann's contrite statements during his news conference Friday morning, he didn't sound ready to concede anything to the Republicans later Friday. "Republicans have attacked me from the moment I won," he said. "They didn't even wait until I took office. They have attacked and criticized and highlighted everything, which has made it doubly stupid for me to have made it easy for them the way I have. "This is nothing new for me. I helped defeat the Republicans with the issues I raised from the state Senate. I think the work I'm doing in the attorney general's office is incredibly important." Plain Dealer Reporter Aaron Marshall contributed to this story. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mnaymik@plaind.com; 216-999-4849 Take a look at what Celeste said about this situation:
ANALYSIS
Dann scandal weighs heavily on Democrats Gauging the fallout for Dann
Dann’s decision to stay despite scandal could affect state, presidential races
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Politics Writer
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has become an election- year live wire.
Though he is more than two years from having to face re-election, his decision to remain in office following a sex scandal has put him at the center of the 2008 races, from Ohio House contests to the state’s battle for the White House.
Democratic candidates will face questions about his conduct, which includes having an affair with a subordinate.
In the broadest context, Republican candidates will use Dann’s conduct to paint Democrats as corrupt.
“This will have a huge impact on legislative races because every Democratic candidate will be asked whether or not Marc Dann should resign,” said Republican consultant Mark Weaver, who helped Republican House members in 2006 and is advising them again this year.
Weaver should know; he has experienced the collateral damage of political scandal. One of his clients, former state Auditor and former Attorney General Betty Montgomery, lost to Dann in 2006, after he effectively linked her to a Republican investment scandal involving fund- raiser and coin dealer Tom Noe.
Though Montgomery had no direct involvement in the investment debacle, the taint of the scandal, which touched former Republican Gov. Bob Taft, helped defeat nearly all of the party’s statewide candidates in 2006.
“If Ohio becomes ground zero in the presidential race, and the race is close like it was in 2004, a major Democratic scandal that is unresolved could have an impact,” Weaver said. “Some voters will look at Democrats and say, ‘They are no better than the Republicans were.’ ”
That is exactly what worries Democratic leaders, though they are not saying so publicly. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, the titular head of the party, has refused to say whether he thinks Dann should resign. But speaking to reporters after a conference on children’s issues in Columbus on Friday, he said he felt “extreme disappointment” and “some anger” toward Dann.
“The attorney general will decide whether or not he should step down,” Strickland said.
Dann says he will not resign. “That’s between the voters of the state and me,” he said in an interview with Plain Dealer reporters and editors on Friday. “That’s not anybody’s place to tell me. If I do something impeachable, then the legislature has that option.”
Dann, 46, admitted having an affair with his 28-year-old former scheduler after a separate investigation of harassment charges against one of his top managers threatened to expose it. The investigation’s findings, released Friday, resulted in the firings of two of Dann’s close friends from Youngstown; the resignation of his chief of staff, also a close friend; and the resignation of his former scheduler.
It also forced the former state senator who once ran a small Youngstown law office to acknowledge he was unprepared to manage a state agency of more than 1,400 employees. And the scandal exposed a record of hiring friends and political contacts at a time he had promised to end cronyism in government.
In his first 16 months in office, Dann tried to fashion an image as a hard-charging consumer advocate in the style of Eliot Spitzer, the former New York attorney general and governor. (Spitzer’s career ended after he admitted his involvement with prostitution.)
Like Spitzer, Dann made his political ambition obvious: He aggressively raised campaign money for himself and others. But now he says he is not thinking about his political future, just about restoring integrity to his office.
“Whether I run for re-election again, frankly, is not at the top of my agenda,” he said. “My interest is in trying to do the best job I possibly can and give the office an administration backbone worthy of the great work we are doing.”
He says he still wants to help Democrats running in this year’s Ohio House races. The Democrats need to pick up four seats to win control of the 99-member chamber. But with newspapers across the state and the Republican Party calling for Dann to step down, it is unclear how effective he can be as a party surrogate.

Rep. Ted Celeste, a Columbus- area Democrat and brother of former Gov. Dick Celeste, said Friday that it is too early to tell. But he planned to gauge reaction to the Dann scandal as he campaigned over the weekend.
“It is important to do some testing and see what they are feeling,” he said.
Celeste is one of a handful of Democrats raising money for House candidates in the hope of becoming House speaker if Democrats win control in November.
“The reality is that the proof will be in how the scandal unfolds,” he said.
“It is hard to equate this situation with what happened in ‘06, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t real issues here that have to be dealt with.”
Asked if he thinks Dann should step down, Celeste said, “For me, it is too early to say.”

State Rep. Armond Budish of Beachwood, who also wants to be House speaker, said he doesn’t think the scandal will affect the battle for the House.
“I think they will still be won or lost on the merits of each of the individual races,” he said.
Democratic consultant Dale Butland, who manages statewide candidate and issue campaigns, says he, too, can’t predict what impact Friday’s events will have. But he predicted it will harden the partisan divide in this year’s elections.
Despite Dann’s contrite statements during his news conference Friday morning, he didn’t sound ready to concede anything to the Republicans later Friday.
“Republicans have attacked me from the moment I won,” he said.
“They didn’t even wait until I took office. They have attacked and criticized and highlighted everything, which has made it doubly stupid for me to have made it easy for them the way I have.
“This is nothing new for me. I helped defeat the Republicans with the issues I raised from the state Senate. I think the work I’m doing in the attorney general’s office is incredibly important.”
Plain Dealer Reporter Aaron Marshall contributed to this story.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
mnaymik@plaind.com; 216-999-4849

]]> By: Nope. http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1359 Nope. Tue, 06 May 2008 01:11:47 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1359 Cordray would be very, very difficult to beat. He has a sparkling reputation and huge name ID. Word on the street is that he is not interested, which I am hearing from multiple Democratic sources. That leaves Democratic county prosecutors, who are not going to want to potentially lose their incomes (and one of whom, Bill Mason, is even more corrupt than Dann) and other odd people like Ben Espy, Kent Markus(sp?), and Lee Fisher. Besides Fisher they all have zero name ID and Fisher would be DOA. Cordray would be very, very difficult to beat. He has a sparkling reputation and huge name ID. Word on the street is that he is not interested, which I am hearing from multiple Democratic sources. That leaves Democratic county prosecutors, who are not going to want to potentially lose their incomes (and one of whom, Bill Mason, is even more corrupt than Dann) and other odd people like Ben Espy, Kent Markus(sp?), and Lee Fisher. Besides Fisher they all have zero name ID and Fisher would be DOA.

]]> By: MD http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1358 MD Tue, 06 May 2008 00:59:34 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1358 Betty already has the name ID and can raise the money and mobilize her network within a week. Special elections are expensive and risky. I don't think you'll see any county prosecutors throw in. I don't see how the Democrats keep the AG in a special election, regardless of the candidate. Cordray knows this and won't risk it. Betty already has the name ID and can raise the money and mobilize her network within a week.

Special elections are expensive and risky. I don’t think you’ll see any county prosecutors throw in. I don’t see how the Democrats keep the AG in a special election, regardless of the candidate. Cordray knows this and won’t risk it.

]]> By: Nope. http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1355 Nope. Tue, 06 May 2008 00:24:24 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1355 No county prosecutors will be on the list. All county prosecutors statewide are up for election this year. No one is going to run against Cordray, the likely candidate, without being safe. It will likely be Montgomery as our candidate - which may or may not be a bad thing. Ohioans definitely have buyer's remorse right now about Dann. No county prosecutors will be on the list. All county prosecutors statewide are up for election this year. No one is going to run against Cordray, the likely candidate, without being safe.

It will likely be Montgomery as our candidate - which may or may not be a bad thing. Ohioans definitely have buyer’s remorse right now about Dann.

]]> By: Dannsadouche http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1354 Dannsadouche Tue, 06 May 2008 00:14:33 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1354 I bet Franklin County's Ron O'Brien will be on the short list. I bet Franklin County’s Ron O’Brien will be on the short list.

]]> By: Eric Kephas http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1339 Eric Kephas Mon, 05 May 2008 21:30:46 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1339 Montgomery isn't a wise choice. We need fresh blood. Whoever we put up is going to become the face of the Republican Party in Ohio, and is going to be instrumental to us carrying any sort of momentum into 2010. BSB is right, the Dems have already outflanked us by threatening to impeach Dann. But we can still help our cause by fielding an attractive candidate. Montgomery isn’t a wise choice. We need fresh blood. Whoever we put up is going to become the face of the Republican Party in Ohio, and is going to be instrumental to us carrying any sort of momentum into 2010.

BSB is right, the Dems have already outflanked us by threatening to impeach Dann. But we can still help our cause by fielding an attractive candidate.

]]> By: The Bad Guy http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1333 The Bad Guy Mon, 05 May 2008 20:27:07 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1333 If Grendell runs for AG, however, would he be able to run for his state senate seat as well? That would probably deter him. Also, his stance against the Great Lakes Compact also won't play well. If Grendell runs for AG, however, would he be able to run for his state senate seat as well? That would probably deter him.

Also, his stance against the Great Lakes Compact also won’t play well.

]]> By: Jon http://www.naugblog.com/2008/05/05/jon-husted-calls-upon-marc-dann-to-resign/#comment-1332 Jon Mon, 05 May 2008 20:27:00 +0000 http://www.naugblog.com/?p=147#comment-1332 Coughlin would be a good one. Maybe David Goodman, too. Coughlin would be a good one.

Maybe David Goodman, too.

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