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Democrats in Cleveland will get a political twofer later this month: a joint campaign appearance by President Obama and his wife, Michelle. The first couple will visit the city on Oct. 17 to stump for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who is in a tough race for re-election against John R. Kasich, a former Republican congressman. On Monday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was in Youngstown headlining a rally and fundraiser for the Democratic governor. The Cleveland visit will mark the first time the Obamas have campaigned together in this election cycle...

Distressing signals for Democrats keep streaming in as key polls in two major electoral bellwether states show the prospect of major gains for Republicans in November. Long considered two critical and accurate measures of the electorate’s mood in Presidential and other federal races, recent polls in Ohio and Pennsylvania are showing signs of voter disappointment with Democrats, particularly in hard fought Senate and Gubernatorial races gaining national attention. In a soon-to-be-released survey by Raleigh, NC-based Public Policy Polling, a majority of Ohio-based respondents surveyed claim they’d prefer former President George W. Bush in the White House than current President Barack...

Less than 200 votes place Bob Gibbs ahead of Fred Dailey for the Republican nomination in the 18th Congressional District, but the results could change as county boards of elections wait for provisional ballots and conduct an automatic recount. According to the Ohio Secretary of State's Office, Gibbs is ahead in the election with 10,953 votes. Fred Dailey received 10,789 votes, a difference of 164 votes. The winner will run against incumbent U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover. "Provisional and absentees, as long as they were postmarked by the time, will be received up to 10 days after the election," said...

A conservative Minnesota congresswoman who has been an outspoken critic of Democratic health care plans will be the keynote speaker for a Republican dinner in Ohio. The Hamilton County GOP in Cincinnati says Rep. Michele Bachmann will speak at the annual fundraising event Feb. 26 called the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. The county party praised Bachmann in a statement Monday as leading the fight against big government. She organized a protest rally last month against health care legislation.

A new conservative talk radio show, The Conservative Underground Radio Show, can be listened to at Electric Talk Radio at http://curadio.reaganites.org There will be a new show every Saturday night at 10 PM. It currently has about 4,000 listeners per week and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ohio, a traditional bellwether state, will take center stage once again to gauge how the two major parties will fare in 2010, a year Republicans are hoping to make gains in statehouses and congressional seats across the country. Republicans are looking to defeat Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland with the help of former congressman and Fox News host John Kasich, and win an edge in congressional redistricting in the process. The Republicans are also playing defense in the state, however, hoping to hold onto the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. George Voinovich — a moderate Republican representing a state that...

Ohio state Sen. Bob Gibbs is in the 2010 race to unseat Democratic Rep. Zack Space. Gibbs, a Republican, recently filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission to initiate a campaign in Ohio's 18th, a mostly rural and culturally conservative area of east-central and south-central Ohio that includes Zanesville and Chillicothe. Gibbs also has set up a rudimentary campaign Web site. Gibbs was elected to the Ohio House in 2002 and served three two-year terms, then was elected to the Ohio Senate in 2008 with 59 percent of the vote in a...

Obama's down 13 points in approval survey in Ohio so he has sent Biden packing to Ohio to rally the faithful. "Everything is out of...uh, I mean under control!" Read the full text at http://www.edistojoe.com

Several local Republican lawmakers are considering running against Rep. Zack Space (D) next year, although none is ready to toss his hat into the ring yet.

clevelandteaparty.webs.com

While most establishment Republicans are rallying around the idea of a Rob Portman candidacy to replace the retiring Senator Voinovich, some Ohio conservatives are quietly clamoring for an attractive conservative outside-the-box candidate to emerge. That candidate may just be Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor. Like Sarah Palin, Taylor is thought of as both a conservative, and as a maverick who stood-up to the Republican "good old boys" machine in Ohio. A CPA by trade, she has also proven she can win in a difficult environment. In fact, she was the only Ohio Republican to win statewide in 2006. Taylor was even...

ACORN has been in the news for their creative get out the vote efforts. From Mickey Mouse to the entire Dallas Cowboys offense, they've managed to get some dude registered (73 times at last count)for nothing more than some smokes. So how do supposedly sober Democrats greet this affront to this most cherished of American rights? With scorn and half-truths of course: From the New York Post we get openers like this one: an Ohio man registered to vote several times and cast a bogus ballot with a fake address... One Ohio man is a conduit to voter fraud, something...

Republican presidential candidates John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, will hold a large rally Wednesday afternoon in the Cleveland area. The location has not been set. Expect McCain and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to be slugging it out in campaign visits in Ohio during the last three and half weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

The video features red title cards and the theme music from the movie, "The Untouchables." It accuses state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) of using "Youngstown tactics" in his campaign against state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Township) in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre) in Ohio's 16th Congressional District.

The Weekly Standard’s Brian Faughnan notes here that things are looking good for McCain in the battleground state of Ohio at this stage in the race for the presidency. Ohio, as we all know, is a must-win state for whoever will go on to win the presidency. Daily Kos blogger and failed candidate for US Senate (as well as the US House) Paul Hackett (D-AntiWaristan) has noticed this as well and, after blaming poll numbers partly on racism, has what he feels is a “solution” that would “help” Barack Obama win the state of Ohio in November. Check this out...

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We've been saying for some time that all of the national polls in the presidential contest may be one thing, but the real battle for the White House will play out in several "battleground'' states where Barack Obama and John McCain each hope to build their victory in the electoral vote-count. Like Ohio - a place where victory generally has meant election as president for some time now. Twenty electoral votes in play. And the word today from one of the nation's most respected state polls - the Ohio Poll conducted by the University of Cincinnati - shows a narrow...

Readers may recall that I'm a bit down on the prospect of John McCain finding a running mate who will do him more good than harm. However, one person who might fit this description is John Kasich. He was a popular nine-term Congressman from Ohio, a state Republicans desperately need to carry. And he's originally from western Pennsylvania, another key area. Kasich seems to possess a blue collar appeal that his party desperately needs. To be sure, he was never a Senator or a Governor, but he held a leadership position in the House, serving as Chairman of the Budget...

Day three of the Clark controversy, and things keep getting more and more interesting. Today, Barack Obama is apparently denying that his own speech yesterday in Ohio -- where we all assumed he was specifically repudiating Clark's comments -- was, in fact, aimed at Gen. Clark. Here is what Obama had to say today: "... I notice that I think in at least one publication it was reported that my comments yesterday about Senator McCain were in a response to General Clark. I think my staff will confirm that was in a draft of that speech that I had written...

So much for the 50 State Strategy, announced just last week. The Obama campaign admits neither FL and OH "was hospitable to Obama this year." Even three states Kerry won (PA, MI, NH) "look competitive" for McCain. Obama will try to pick off VA, NM, and others to make up the difference. Is Obama the underdog in this Year of the Democrat?