Just heard on the local news that Democratic front-runner for Ohio Governor, Ted Strickland, has chosen a running mate. Ted picked one of the real heavyweights of the Ohio Democratic Party, Lee Fisher, a move that I think will really put Strickland over the top. The polls on Strickland's website (Rasmussen) indicate that Strickland currently leads all Republican candidates (including Blackwell), while the polls Blackwell just released (Zogby) indicate that Blackwell has about a 3% lead over Strickland. With Lee Fisher on the ticket (and due to the fact that Blackwell and Jim Petro are going to tear each other to shreds in the primaries), I think Strickland has an EXCELLENT chance of re-taking the Governor's mansion. As November nears, I predict Strickland will pull away. Blackwell is running on little more than pandering to the religious right, but Strickland's background as a former minister can neutralize that aspect. Also, a lot of the small-county racists, who typically vote Republican, will NEVER vote for a black man over a white man. Blackwell has also just announced support for a VERY unpopular financial move (so unpopular that even most Republicans don't support it) that is worded in such a way that it could really hurt the Ohio State football team (and one thing you do NOT mess with in Ohio is the Buckeye footall team).

I feel very optimistic about the possibilities the 2006 elections provide here in Ohio. We have an excellent chance of unseating Mike DeWine in the Senate (whether the person who does it is Sherrod Brown or Paul Hackett), as well as regaining control of the Governor's mansion. This is a ticket that I can really get behind and support whole-heartedly.

Thought anyone interested in the Ohio Governor's race would like to read this interview with Ken Blackwell that ran in last week's edition of Columbus' The Other Paper. Blackwell does such a good job of burying himself that this could be used as a Democratic campaign ad. One of my favorite highlights is when Blackwell claims homosexuality is a choice and that you can choose to no longer be gay anymore (to reverse your gayness). In response to this nonsense, the Columbus Stonewall Democrats (a group of Democrats fighting for gay rights) wrote a letter to The Other Paper challenging Ken Blackwell to reverse HIS decision to be straight, since he believes your sexuality is a matter of choice.


Cat Bird's Seat

From Genesis to gays to Griffey, Ken Blackwell speaks his mind

Frontrunners are boring. They surround themselves with a phalanx of overprotective advisers and handlers. Their public appearances are rare and tightly controlled. And since anything they say can and will be used against them, they keep from saying much of anything at all.

An exception to this rule is Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, currently the odds-on favorite to win the Republican nomination for governor in the May 2 primary.

Blackwell sat down in his office for questions on topics ranging from creationism to the Cincinnati Reds.

As usual, Blackwell was relaxed and occasionally funny, delivering most of his answers quietly, quickly and concisely. He was most animated when recalling his two-year term as mayor of Cincinnati in 1979-80 when he tried his hand at televised bear wrestling. ("Bear sweat stinks.")

Blackwell made no effort to downplay his strong alliance with the Christian right, even in the wake of an IRS complaint by 31 local ministers against politially active conservative pastors.

As he fielded questions, his motto was lying on a coffee table in the form of a button that said, "SIMPLIFY."

Do you have any openly gay friends?

I have openly gay friends and employees.

Do you ever debate the topic with them?

Let me put it this way: We have had discussions where our views are expressed. But we also understand clearly that there are points of view or points of fact or debate that we won't agree on.

But you know, it really does stem from the fact that those who are my friends understand that I respect their human dignity regardless of their sexual orientation.

Do you believe homosexuality is a sexual orientation? Or do you believe it's a psychological disorder that can and should be cured?

I think it's a choice that can be abandoned.

Will the current controversy over your alliance with conservative pastors ultimately hurt you or help your campaign?

I haven't looked at it within that context. I've been somewhat amused by the misinformation campaign that some folks on the left have waged, but this is not a new issue to the body politic or to me as an individual elected leader and campaigner.

I don't think it will be worked out by the IRS or the courts. I think ultimately this will be worked out by the political process.

It is clear that there's a clash of world views. There are those who believe that the church should be a sideline sitter, and there are those like Martin Luther King who believe that the church should be on the front lines of the struggle to shape and direct and influence the culture. I think at this point in our nation's history, the pendulum is swinging toward a more engaged church.

You received a coveted endorsement from John McCain. Will you return the favor when he runs for president?

I received an endorsement from John McCain. I received an endorsement from Steve Forbes. I received an endorsement from Sen. (Sam) Brownback, all of whom are potential nominees.

So I am looking forward to a robust primary season associated with the 2008 presidential election and Republican primary. I have yet to decide who I'm gonna support, but I have yet to see any definitiveness on who's gonna be running.

Would you be open to supporting McCain? He has some issues with the conservative wing of the Republican Party, of which you are a member.

Of course I would be open. I think John, as I said when he endorsed my candidacy, that he's a national hero, that he is a national leader. And on what I consider to be big issues—reducing federal government spending, tax reform, protection of innocent life—he's right there with some of the other leaders who have expressed an interest in being our nominee in 2008.

You had lunch recently with Jon Husted, speaker of the Ohio House. Did you ask him for an endorsement?

No. I have not asked any legislator for an endorsement. I don't turn them down if they're offered. I've concentrated my campaign on building a broad-based network of grassroots Republicans and conservative movement members.

How many legislative endorsements have you received?

I don't keep a running count. You know that Jim Jordan endorsed, but I don't keep a running count because I haven't asked.

Given your prominent standing in public opinion polls, why haven't you received more support from lawmakers who are in a position to know you?

I haven't asked for their support, so I don't know what the intensity of that support or opposition might be.

Your opponent Betty Montgomery says you offer bumper-sticker solutions to complex problems. Is there any truth to that?

I offer a clarity that perhaps escapes Betty and Jim (Petro).

If elected, how will you punish Thad Matta for bolting Xavier, your alma mater?

I think what Thad did was just expand the reputation that Xavier now—as opposed to Miami of Ohio—is the cradle of coaches.

Colorado voters' passage and then suspension of major changes to that state's budgetary policy is viewed as an ominous sign for your tax and expenditure limitation amendment. Shouldn't Ohio voters be wary of following in Colorado's footsteps?

No, because we actually have talked with folks out in Colorado. We learned from their mistakes. Ours is actually a refined and improved constitutional amendment that actually puts the heavy brake on runaway state government spending, not revenue.

We also have a provision in our amendment that would prohibit the situation that developed in Colorado from happening in Ohio, where one unit of government out there, K through 12, actually had a special dispensation from the cap, and that meant that there was less money, less revenue, for all of the other competing service areas.

The Dayton Daily News once quoted you saying that the only thing worse than running for secretary of state would be serving as secretary of state. How do you feel about that now?

As I said then, that was a quote that they made out of whole cloth.

Many Republicans, including some pro-life conservatives, have grave concerns about your candidacy, and some have privately said they won't vote for you if you're the nominee. How can you convince folks that you're not a narrow ideologue?

I've never participated in an election where everybody voted for me, so I don't think this is going to be the first. I think there will be more people who vote for me than don't vote for me. I have clarity of beliefs and values and principles, and I have public-policy initiatives that I feel passionately about. That won't change.

Didn't you get 100 percent when you ran against Bryan Flannery?

(Laughs.) Well, I got close.

What's the last good movie you saw?

Crash.

What's the last bad movie you saw?

Fat Albert.

Is there an issue on which you disagree with the majority of religious conservative organizations?

There are times when I think that the tonality of rhetoric is overly harsh or strong, and it creates a perception that there is an intolerance that does not really exist. And so what I tell people on many occasions when I have the occasion to talk about faith and politics is that I'm pretty clear that where I draw the line in the sand is against those political, cultural and social forces that try to run faith, God and religion out of the public square. I think that's inconsistent with our political and cultural heritage, and I think that we put our culture on a path of slow decline if in fact we don't realize that what really gives us the possibility of community and civility is a shared moral universe, where we respect the human dignity of all people. So if there was somebody who was articulating a point of view that would be tantamount to a call for establishing a theocracy, I would be opposed to that. Because I think that while the flipside of a theocracy is not a secular state, I think the flipside of a theocracy is a respect for religious pluralism, which means that you have to respect the human dignity of all and understand that there are differences of point of view, not just philosophically but theologically.

You're a friend of Bill Bennett, who recently drew a lot of criticism for saying that while it would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do," if all African-American babies were aborted, "your crime rate would go down."

Over time, I've watched and been associated with Bill Bennett. I know that he has a good heart and I think that in the political and public-policy arena, your choice of words often makes you vulnerable to misinterpretation, exaggeration and political attack.

It happens, and you learn from it, and you move on.

As I've told you before, there is no tape that exists—no audio, video—that shows me in a pulpit equating homosexuals to barnyard animals, but I watched how a comment that I made about barnyard logic got twisted, misrepresented to others' political purposes.

If I know that that is a possibility, it makes you even more vigilant, more conscious about the language and words that you choose. And I would just say that I told my friend Bill Bennett that we've been around politics long enough to understand that we are open to those sort of attacks based on the language that we choose, and therefore would strongly suggest to him not to open to yourself up to that sort of attack by using that language, no matter how rhetorical it is.

Do you prefer rap or country?

I prefer both. And in fact, if you know anything about music, there's a country-rappers release. I don't know what the group is called, but I hear it in my home a lot.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, would you sign a law that would outlaw abortions in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother?

Yes.

Including the life of the mother?

Yes.

Would you sign a law that would allow public schools to teach Biblical creationism, as defined by the book of Genesis, in science classrooms?

I would be inclined not to sign it with the information that I know now. It hasn't met that threshold as a science. Based on what I know now, I am a strong advocate of the academic study of the Bible, including Genesis, in primary and secondary schools—offered in literature and history, and offered as an elective.

Do think creationism could eventually meet that scientific threshold?

Oh yeah. Absolutely.

Many Ohioans, including many African-Americans, sincerely believe you worked hard to try to hamper their ability to vote in the 2004 presidential election. Does that trouble you?

The presumption of your question is faulty. What is many? Is many seven? Is it 17? Is it 7,000?

Let me put it to you this way: In comparison to most other Republicans, I have tremendous support from the African-American community because they know that I have come out of an era—born into it and participated in it fully—to fight to break down barriers that prohibited many Americans the right to vote and the access to the ballot booth.

Have you ever watched a reality television show?

I actually starred in the first generation of reality television, which was called Real People. It was a show that came out when I wrestled a bear when I was mayor.

What dramatic or comedy TV shows do you watch regularly?

I am just a junkie of cable television talk shows. Because I've appeared on many of them, I know the personalities. I get a good mix of Chris Matthews, O'Reilly. I used to like ER when I watched more broadcast television. I think The West Wing is hilarious. I know many of the folks who are consultants to that program.

What's been Bob Taft's best accomplishment?

I think his best accomplishment was perhaps the fact that he was able in 1998 to rally the party to do something that many people didn't think would be achievable, and that was organize itself and to advance an agenda that would give us yet another four years of opportunity to do what people expect Republicans to do.

I think after the 1998 success, his problem has been he's not been true to those principles and policy initiatives that people expect from a conservative Republican.

Who's an Ohio Democrat you admire? And you're not allowed to say John Glenn.

Because I think he's a man of tremendous integrity, I think (former state Rep.) Bill Mallory, who grew up and raised his family in the community in which I was born--the West End community in Cincinnati--is a guy who has rock-solid integrity and has a feisty personality.

Do you like his son, Cincinnati's new mayor?

Mark and I are friends, yes.

Will the Bengals return to the playoffs next year?

The Bengals will be a playoff contender and the choice of many to be in the Super Bowl if their quarterback returns. I think only from what I can surmise from the newspaper reports that his surgery was successful. I think he has the grit necessary to fight through that injury and come back. The question is whether or not he'll be ready for the beginning of the season or if he'll make his reentry in midseason.

If Ken Griffey Jr. is healthy this season, should the Reds try to trade him for pitching?

Never.

Doesn't matter guys. How can anyone beat the person who controls the voting?