On the SidE. . .

ON THE SIDE. . .
This and that from the world of Valley politics.
ENOUGH, ALREADY: During this time of the year, I'm inundated with dozens of e-mails and faxes from politicians and their campaigns, political parties, nonprofit political organizations, and individuals each day. Most of them concern press conferences and other events, as well as reactions to the political news of the day.
Easily, the worst offender is the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus, which typically sends the same ones about 10 times to the newspaper. I get about two or three of them by e-mail and two by fax, usually followed up by a call from the office to make sure I got them. They also send them to editors, the newspaper's two Trumbull County bureaus, and our Columbiana County bureau.
But a pair of e-mails I got last week made me laugh even harder than the "cut the fat" e-mails earlier this year about the weight-loss contest between state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, and Trumbull County Commissioner Dan Polivka.
These were cookie-cutter e-mails, one supposedly from Dann and state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, and the other supposedly from state Sen. Mark Mallory of Cincinnati, D-9th. The e-mails are identical, expressing disappointment that J. Kenneth Blackwell, secretary of state, appealed a ruling on provisional ballots.
In the Mallory e-mail, he's quoted three times. Two of the same quotes are credited to Hagan, and one to Dann. I guess Hagan gets the extra quote because he has seniority. Besides the names and hometowns, nothing is different in the two e-mails.
Apparently Democrats in the state Senate think alike.
skolnick@vindy.com