DAVISON MAKES APPEARANCE ON 20/20
INCLUDES: SEGMENT OF SCPR VIDEO
PROGRAM LINK
VIDEOS
THE "ORIGINAL" PHIL DAVISON VIDEO
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SCPR "FOLLOW-UP" INTERVIEW
Phil Davison is back!
Remember this Stark County Political Report video:
SCPR NOTE: The SCPR within the last hour or so received a telephone call from Phil Davison who tells The Report that he has been in touch with ABC News20/20 and has been informed that his segment is to be shown tonight.
Davison was originally scheduled to be on 20/20 on Friday, April 25th.
ORIGINAL BLOG
Barring an interruption (see SCPR Note above) for a breaking news story or the like, ABC News will airing former Minerva councilman Phil Davison on a segment of its famed 20/20 news show tonight.
20/20 will be using a grand total of 21 seconds of the SCPR's 6:11 video taken by The Report on Davison on September 8, 2010 as he competed with a number of Stark County Republicans for appointment as the Stark Republican Party's candidate for Stark County treasurer in the November, 2010 general election.
The video went viral as The Report teamed up with The Huffington Post to give the the clip national exposure.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCCASION
From a SCPR blog of September 9, 2010:
On Wednesday evening the Stark County Republican Party nominated former Alliance auditor and current North Canton Finance Director Alex Zumbar to be its nominee to run for Stark County Treasurer in November against Democrat Ken Koher.
There is a vacancy because on August 23rd, the Stark County commissioners vacated the county treasurer title held by Democrat Gary D. Zeigler.
Commissioners forced Zeigler out of office under the authority of Ohio Revised Code Section 321.38 because of the loss some $2.96 million of county money under his watch as county treasurer. Former Chief Deputy Vince Frustaci has admitted to stealing of $2.46 million of the missing money. The remaining money has not been accounted for. Zeigler has had a civil suit filed against him by the county commissioners to recover the missing money from him on a legal theory of personal liability. Zeigler is contesting the suit.
- SCPR Note [April 25, 2014]: Zeigler was returned to office on an Ohio Supreme ruling of June 23, 2011 and Zumbar was compelled to vacate the office he won over Koher in November, 2010. However, on October 19, 2011 Zeigler worked out an agreement with the Stark County commissioners to retire/resign and thereby settled all the civil claims the county had against him. On October 31st, the Stark County Democratic Central Committee under pressure from the Stark County commissioners (which at the time had two Democrats [Bernabei and Ferguson] and one Republican [Creighton] on the board of commissioners) coupled with palpable public sentiment appointed Republican Zumbar as treasurer which he won outright in the November 12, 2012 general election.
Phil Davison, Stark County's very own "firestorm" political orator, when told by yours truly that a member of the Stark County Republican Party Executive Committee asked The Report to take down the blog of his speech, he was incredulous.
The speech video appeared on The Huffington Post "Eyes and Ears" Citizen Journalist forum (for which yours truly is a citizen journalist reporting on the Boccieri side of the Boccieri/Renacci 16th district congressional campaign) initially at 12:04 PM on September 9th and by 2:47 PM that same day the Stark GOP executive committee member was on the phone to the SCPR asking that the blog be taken down.
Why? - Davison asked The Report.
The Report's answer?
The high level Stark Republican said the request was based on a desire to protect Davison from himself. He wasn't being who he really is.
But the SCRP wasn't buying. Moreover, The Report is not buying the executive committee member's protestation that he was acting on his own.
The Report believes Jeff Matthews (chairman of the Stark County Republican Party) et al were trying to protect their concept of what a Stark Republican should look like. And Davison's rhetorical flourish style did not fit.
Organized Republican and Democrat political parties are desperate these days to get the attention and respect of the American voters in national, state and local elections. Only about 20% of the electorate has any regard whatsoever for America's two political parties. However, they are not about to embrace Davison types.
Any maverick-esque politicians like Davison can be sure that the organized parties will do everything they can to marginalize them.
As far as Phil Davison is concerned (as can be seen in his own words on the included video), his speech was an old style Lincoln-Douglas Debate type speech.
Only trouble is that only a Lincoln proxy (Davison) was present at the Stark GOP event last Tuesday. None of the other candidates simulated Douglas. Nor in the year 2010, will there be any. Davison is definitely one of a kind.
Davison himself recognizes that he is "special" in terms of having a flair about himself as he manifested in his presentation to the Stark GOP. But he offers no apologies and thinks that local political parties need to excise themselves of their blandness, staleness and mediocrity.
On Saturday, The Report sat down with Phil Davison for an extended interview regarding:
- his life since the video went viral on YouTube,
- his explanation for the ferocity and intensity of the speech, and
- what he thinks his political future might be.
ABC NEWS 20/20 COMES TO STARK COUNTY SEEKING OUT DAVISON
The past Saturday Davison telephoned the SCPR to inform The Report that ABC News 20/20 was going to include him in a segment and that ABC personnel had been in town earlier that same week and filmed him at the Stark County Office Building (the treasurer's office is located on the second floor of the building).
Davison credits the SCPR with making him famous with the video and called to make sure The Report knew how appreciative he is.
In the upwards of three years that the video went viral, Davison has appeared on quite of number of national media shows including Comedy Central, a Volkswagen advertisement for SuperBowl XLVII, National Public Radio and The Huffington Post among others.
He made CNN's list of greatest all time rants.
Davison has a Wikepedia piece that is dedicated to him.
After serving on Minerva City Council for about 16 years, Davison did not seek reelection in November, 2013.
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