MARCH 12, 2018
10TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCPR
(3344 BLOGS POSTED)
(3344 BLOGS POSTED)
AS OF 12/31/2017 FEC REPORT
NOT ONE SINGLE STARK COUNTIAN
HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE
GIBBONS CAMPAIGN
Before getting into today's blog, here is my wife and my "farewell to Hawaii" photo as we will be departing for "frigid" northeast Ohio tomorrow evening after having been in Hawaii for two months.
Readers will note the "jackets," it was a little cool this morning at 71 degrees on a spot near Waikiki Beach. With temperatures at 40 degrees in Uniontown as this blog is being written, no doubt we will be putting the parkas on once we disembark the plane.
TODAY'S BLOG
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons of Cleveland tipped his hand last week that he himself thinks he is on the losing side of his challenge of U.S. Representative James Renacci for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate (currently held by Democrat Sherrod Brown) when he jumped all over some "cherry picked" remarks that Renacci made to a group of Northeast Hamilton County Republicans recently.
(Standard YouTube License) (LINK)
There has to be more to this story. Of course the Gibbons campaign does not provide the full context of Renacci's remarks. He sarcastically attributes "telling the truth" to Renacci while apparently trafficking in a "partial" truth himself.
The SCPR thinks it is a good thing that Renacci is ranked 46th in his current congressional history of having some ability to work with other Republicans and some Democrats in crafting/sponsoring legislation.
Much of the general public disgust with congresspersons is that way too many of them including Ohio 7th district (which includes most of Stark County) are way, way, way too partisan. Reflect a moment on Republican Bob Gibbs ranking. Absolutely disgraceful, no?
The Report takes Gibbons' "cherry picking" on Renacci to be a de facto admission by Gibbons that he knows he is way behind in this race and the "Renacci is a Democrat" line is a political Hail Mary inasmuch as we are now inside 60 days until the primary election and less than that until "early" voting begins.
If anyone doubts that Renacci has earned credentials as card carrying Republican, take a look at this graphic.
Looking at Renacci's placement in the congressional Republican grouping, he is smack dab in the middle and a top tier (probably second tier) Republican congressional leader.
From what The Stark County Political Report reads about Gibbons' political positions, if her were in Congress he would be on the right wing fringes ideology-wise and like bringing up the bottom on the "leadership" factor.
So why would Republicans cotton to him in the primary on May 8th?
Answer: They won't. It will be Renacci versus Brown. Brown has no Democratic Party primary opposition.
On a wealthy relative scale of the richest to the poorest (still not poor by average person standards), as already state Renacci is one of Congress' richest whereas Brown is one of the Senate's poorest.
Originally in this election cycle, Renacci of Wadsworth decided not to run for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives (the 16th district which includes north/northwest Stark county where he has been serving since January, 2011) to run for governor.
Well, that was a non-starter. There was no way he was going to be a viable statewide candidate against the likes of Attorney General Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Jon Husted and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor.
As luck would have it, the far and away Republican shoe-in to run against Brown for a second time was Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel shocked the political world in dropping out of the Senate race on January 5th of this year.
That left Clevelander Mike Gibbons as the heir-apparent (announced in May, 2017) to the GOP Senate nomination.
Not so quick.
Knowing he was not going to be the GOP nominee for governor, Congressman Renacci jumped all over the Mandel withdrawal and by January 11th was "all-in" for the GOP Senate nomination.
Gibbons big problem is that though a big time Republican donor, he has never run for office and therefore nobody knows him.
Renacci is not exactly a household name across all of Ohio but he has better name ID than Gibbons and he is very, very, very wealthy. Reportedly, he is among THE RICHEST congresspersons in all of Congress.
Gibbons has a few bucks of his own but is not in Renacci's league.
To the SCPR's way of thinking, that Gibbons is trying to match or exceed Renacci in being pro-Trump is a battle Gibbons cannot win.
Much like his foolish, politically ridiculous "Renacci 'at heart' is a Democrat" ploy.
With the prospect of a "Blue Wave" kicking in for the general election, the "who is more like Trump" positioning by Gibbons and Renacci is likely to backfire hugely.
Who is providing campaign advice to this guy?
So the Republican primary battle is not about who connects with everyday people.
Both Republicans have more money than they know what to do with and are up somewhere in the elitist-rich stratosphere.
Most of us struggle to get from day to day.
The November general election will about connectivity to day-in day-out Ohioans which should be ADVANTAGE incumbent Sherrod Brown.
Adequate campaign funds does not seem to be a problem for either of the Republicans and certainly not for Senator Brown.
Stark County could be a "swing district" battleground between Republicans Renacci and Gibbons.
Who are the Stark Countians "individually" contributing to Renacci?
Who are the Stark Countians "individually" contributing to Gibbons?
Would you believe ZERO?
Believe it or not, nary one Stark Countian is recorded as having contributed to the Gibbons campaign.
Ohio's eight largest county and NO contributors meaning perhaps NO Gibbons organization in Stark County.
Now that'a a campaign to win statewide in Ohio, no?
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