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Political eyes are on Ohio
On the side
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court is a Republican. But you wouldn’t know that based on contributions he’s given to politicians and political parties.
His annual campaign finance report, for the period between July 1 and Dec. 31, showed Judge Krichbaum gave $910 to Republican organizations, most notably $770 to the Mahoning County Republican Party.
During those same six months, Judge Krichbaum gave $1,725 to Democratic organizations and candidates. He gave $600 to the Mahoning County Democratic Party, including $500 for the party’s chairman dinner that featured U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat.
Among the seven Democratic candidates receiving money from the judge’s campaign fund are $250 to Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino, $200 each to Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti and Richard Cordray, who lost his re-election bid for attorney general in November 2010, as well as $150 to David Pepper, the failed Democratic candidate for auditor.
Krichbaum gave more money during that six-month period to Democratic politicians than all the sitting Democratic judges in Mahoning County combined.
If you want to be president — and you’re not John F. Kennedy — you need to win Ohio.
But if you’re a Republican, even in a strong Republican year, consider yourself very fortunate to receive 40 percent of the vote in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
The two counties have been Democratic strongholds for decades.
Even in last year’s election that saw Republicans win all the statewide races, Democratic candidates in every nonjudicial contest captured a majority of the vote in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
To Republicans, the two counties remain lost causes — or are they?
Karl Rove, the nation’s top Republican strategist, is coming to the area on Feb. 22 to speak to the Mahoning Valley McKinley Club at the McKinley Memorial Auditorium in Niles. The club consists of Republicans in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
The auditorium holds about 300 people and a sell-out is expected.
While the club has had some high-profile speakers in the past, the person usually had a local connection or is/was a Republican officeholder in Ohio.
Rove’s appearance probably leaves many people wondering if his GPS malfunctioned. Of all the places he could speak, he’s coming to one of the most Democratic areas of Ohio.
This is Karl Rove.
When it looked like the Republican Party was left for dead after crushing defeats in 2006 and 2008, Rove played a huge part in reviving the GOP. He helped Republicans regain control of the U.S. House, win numerous gubernatorial races and close the gap in the U.S. Senate.
He helped President George W. Bush win in 2000 and 2004. In his 2004 victory speech, Bush called Rove “the Architect.”
Rove’s decision to speak at the dinner even left Kathi Creed, Trumbull County Republican Party chairwoman and McKinley Club president, “pleasantly surprised” — and she’s the one who’s been working since mid-December to get him here.
“Until a week ago, I had my doubts,” she said.
The backup plan was newly-elected U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. Creed isn’t sure if Portman will still attend.
Perhaps one reason Rove agreed to come is his admiration for President William McKinley, who was born in Niles and is honored at this dinner every year since 1917.
Rove had compared Bush’s 2000 win to McKinley’s win in 1896. McKinley’s win was the start of Republicans controlling national politics for more than 30 years. It didn’t work out that way for Republicans after Bush’s win in 2000.
But Rove’s appearance shows he and national Republican officials aren’t surrendering the Mahoning Valley when it comes to the 2012 presidential election.
It also puts pressure on Valley Democrats to do all they can to deliver high voter turnout for President Barack Obama in next year’s election.
“Hopefully, [Rove’s visit] stirs up some excitement in the party,” Creed said.
If it doesn’t, nothing will.