World of politics brings on the laughter

Thank God for politics.
When I'm feeling down, I can always turn to politics to lift my spirits.
I find that so many things in politics amuse me. Admittedly, my sense of humor has been labeled as unique, by those kind to me, to completely bizarre, by those who know me best.
If you're feeling glum, read on. Hopefully these tidbits will make you smile too.
State Sen. Eric Fingerhut, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, held a quick -- no more than 10 minutes with high winds that blew his visual to the ground -- press conference last week outside the Youngstown Business Incubator to slam George V. Voinovich, the Republican incumbent, for his economic record. OK, fair enough.
But it turned into quite an amusing event. First of all, it was held directly across the street from the George V. Voinovich Government Center, named after his election opponent.
I won't name names, but one local television station sent a weather person as a reporter, while another sent a morning news personality. The third local station didn't even bother to send a reporter, just a camera operator.
So the four questions asked by those at the press conference of the Democratic nominee for Senate were: "What are you running for?" "Who are you running against?" "Do you currently hold office?" "Aren't you from Cleveland?"
Funny enough, but then Fingerhut added to it.
Fingerhut praised the incubator for properly promoting and supporting new businesses. So I asked him a logical question: "Have you ever been inside the incubator?" The answer from Fingerhut was that he has never stepped foot inside the facility. He could have at least peaked through the front door.
Then there's Capri Cafaro, Democratic candidate for the 14th Congressional District seat. I have to give her credit for easily winning the primary. I thought she would do well, but I never imagined how dominant she would be.
Cafaro, who comes from a very well-to-do and well-known local family, ran a largely self-funded campaign, spending more than $200,000 of her own money to get the Democratic nomination.
The funny thing about her campaign was the only contribution she received from a 14th District resident this year was $500 from William Martin. Martin operates the Just Teazin' strip club in Painesville. He's listed as a self-employed restaurant owner on her campaign reports.
The strip club is just 2.2 miles from the district office of U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Concord, the Republican incumbent who will face Cafaro in the November general election.
To those who think U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, is a good Catholic, you're not alone.
House Democrats are preparing a "Catholic Voting Scorecard" to show that Catholic Democrats adhere more closely to the position of the Catholic church than Republican Catholics, according to The Hill, a Washington, D.C., publication.
The publication wrote that Ryan is one of seven Democrats to score a 100 percent rating on the scorecard, something the congressman didn't know until I told him. The votes include partial-birth abortion, human cloning, child tax credit refunds and the Defense of Marriage Act.
House Democrats are doing this because of criticism directed at U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the party's presumptive presidential nominee, for his support of issues that contradict the church's teachings on various subjects, including abortion.
What I find amusing, and somewhat disturbing, is that House Democrats and their aides are wasting hours of their time to show that they have good Catholics in their party.
Should they also start investigating if the Democrats have better Jews, Methodists and Mormons than the Republicans? Are Democrats more black or Hispanic than their Republican counterparts?
Forget about real issues. House Democrats want to prove that they have better Catholics than the Republicans.
It's a perfect example of your tax dollars at work and the silly partisanship that brings this country to a grinding halt at times.