Thursday, March 24, 2016

CREIGHTON: A REPUBLICAN KINGMAKER?


UPDATED:  08:45 AM


Janet Creighton, currently a sitting Stark County commissioner,  has been working in the trenches of Stark County Republican Party grassroots politics for decades.

Though she has been an elected official for many years (i.e. recorder, auditor, mayor of Canton [also appointed to a stint in the George W. Bush White House] and now commissioner) might therefore think she is exempt from nitty-gritty politics as some elected officials do.

Quite to the contrary.

Creighton has done more than her fair share of telephone banking, door-to-door, fundraising and like grassroots-esque political activities

At long last at this year's 71st Annual McKinley Banquet she was selected as Stark GOP Volunteer of the Year.

There couldn't have been a better year for her to receive this honor inasmuch as the SCPR believes she could as a Governor John Kasich delegate (elected "at-large" on March 15th) to this year's Republican National Convention (RNC, July 17-21) be the personification of the type of delegate who stops Donald Trump from emerging as the RNC selected standard bearer in this year's presidential election.

She told me yesterday that she was committed to supporting whatever John Kasich indicates he wants (if he expresses any desire) in terms of an alternative to Kasich himself if and when he releases delegations from their formal obligation by virtue of being selected as a delegate in the Stark County March 15th Republican primary election.

While Creighton would not absolutely rule out the possibility as a released delegate left to her own devices supporting Trump, I got the distinct impression that those chances are between "Slim and None, with Slim just having left town."

However, this Kasich delegate noted that notwithstanding David Brooks' of New York Times fame definition of a typical Trump supporter, to wit:




that she has been involved in discussion(s) with—unnamed by her— prominent Stark County Republicans (easily recognizable by Stark County political observers) who have been Trump supporters since August, 2015 and remain absolutely committed to Trump being the Republican nominee to and through the March primary election and presumably will be continue to be Trumps supporters going forward.

And these folks hardly fit the Brooks' definition of Trump supporters.

Creighton said that the Trump phenomenon emerged because of the failure of both the Democratic and Republican Parties and their national elected leaders to deal with the frustrations of day-in, day-out citizens.

The Report agrees but in the November election Republican candidates from the U.S. Senate/U.S. House of Representative clear down to the local level (e.g. Stark County) have the most at stake should Trump capture the party's nomination.

His corollary in the Democratic Party has virtually no chance to the Dems' nominee.

As the SCPR sees the Stark County side of November's election, a Donald Trump as the head of the Republican ticket smells of trouble for the likes of:
  • Republicans Jeff Jakmides (running for prosecutor), and 
  • Family Court judge candidate David Nist, as well as 
  • Republican candidates for
    • Stark County treasurer (Alex Zumbar, an incumbent), 
    • Stark County recorder (John Arnold, a Lake Township trustee),
    • Stark County clerk of courts (Claude Shriver, II of Plain Township) and
    • Stark County coroner (Brian Briggs of Louisville)
Moreover, 49th District Ohio House Republican candidate Dan McMasters might get caught up in the unknown effect of Trump as head of the ticket as might incumbent Republican 50th House District incumbent Christina Hagan unlike Kirk Schuring who The Report perceives for his district as being the least affected by a Trump presence.

How so?

While it appears they did not crossover in large numbers to vote Republican on March 15 primary election, The Report sees that in the November 8th general election scores of Democrat who may have sat on the  sidelines in previous elections might well be in the mix in November for Trump.



However, if they vote down ticket, it is hard to imagine that they will vote for the likes of Jakmides, Nist, Zumbar, Arnold, Shriver, McMasters and Hagan.

It could that many of them will not vote down ticket at all as seemed to be the case in the primary election as most local Republican candidates ran way behind the Republican Stark County vote total of some 70,000 votes.

That's the best it seems that the Republican local candidates can hope for in a Donald Trump led ticket with many "new" voting Democrats showing up on November 8th.

In Stark County the stakes could be very high for local candidates as to what Delegate Creighton and the other 65 committed to Kasich delegates do in terms of whom they support in a second, third, ... ballot should Trump fail on the first ballot.

Creighton and her fellow delegates just might find themselves in the role of being kingmakers come July in Cleveland.

And the likes of Jakmides, Nist, Zumbar, Arnold, Shriver, McMasters, and Hagan have to be crossing their fingers Ohio's delegates (perhaps, led by Stark County's Janet Creighton) turn out to be critical factors in stopping Donald Trump, no?


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