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Parties take easy way out
On the side
No more cuts: Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman is fine with the proposed reduction of voting precincts from 287 to 250. But he opposes a further decrease.
One part is political. Every cut in a precinct means the reduction of a Democratic precinct committee member when their terms expire in four years.
These are the party’s foot-soldiers who campaign for Democratic candidates.
“I’m not happy about that, but I understand the financial implications,” Betras said.
Each closed precincts saves about $700 per election.
The other concern Betras has is fewer precincts means the remaining ones could become crowded during the 2012 presidential election, and lead to voters not wanting to wait.
Elections board officials say that shouldn’t be an issue as they’re doing all they can to avoid crowded precincts, and encourage early voting.
Betras also objects to a proposal to only train presiding judges and not other pollworkers to save money.
The Ohio Democratic Party apparently believes it’s best for everyone to think alike and say the same thing.
The party sent numerous e-mails to journalists after last weekend’s campaign kick-off held throughout the state touting the success of the events.
In the e-mail about the Youngstown event, Jerom Parm, a volunteer and retired school teacher, is quoted as saying: “This is the biggest volunteer event I have seen in Mahoning County since the 2008 campaign. Today’s event demonstrates that Democrats here are excited about the election in November. Everyone interested in volunteering should come out to the Mahoning County Democratic Party Headquarters at 3321 Mahoning Ave. in Youngstown. We need your help to win in November.”
In an e-mail from Democrats about the Warren event, Patricia Boyle, a retired public relations manager from Hubbard, is quoted as saying the same thing.
The only changes in the quote are the county and the Democratic campaign office address.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and state Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd, are usually good for a quote, and it’s not the same exact quote.
But Ryan at a Youngstown event and Cafaro at a Warren rally are quoted in ODP e-mails saying: “This election will be a choice between Ohio values and Wall Street values. On Wall Street, they value trade deals with China and Mexico that send Ohio jobs overseas. They value profits at the expense of Ohio’s families. But in Ohio, we value hard work over corruption. And we value a strong middle class over corporate greed.”
Other ODP e-mails on the kick-off events statewide followed the identical pattern.
I realize the party is busy so I’ll give them some free advice: Don’t do stupid things like sending the same e-mails to journalists with the same phone quotes.
Here’s even better advice: Don’t send more than one of the fill-in-the-blank to the same reporter.
Also, learn your counties. The party posted a link to a picture on its Twitter account of Cafaro at a rally incorrectly stating the event was in Columbiana County. After I commented about it, the party listed the correct county — Trumbull.
It’s not just Democrats.
Republicans
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been doing the same thing for years — and staff there don’t even bother to hide it.
The NRCC sends me numerous e-mails criticizing Democratic members of the U.S. House about a variety of issues.
At the top of nearly every e-mail, you’ll find: “FYI, a version of the release below went out the following districts.”
The NRCC then lists about 60 to 75 Democratic incumbents allowing journalists the option to choose whose name gets the cut-and-paste treatment the Republicans are too lazy to do.
My response is usually the same — hit the delete key.