OHIO DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR BLASTS RENACCI FOR STAND ON CIVIL RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT - PREDICTS BOCCIERI & BOSLEY WINS

The SCPR caught up with Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern when he appeared the Akron Press Club on September 9th.

The 9th was the day after an Afro-American union leader from Canton (Robert Thompson of AFSCME - American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees) appeared at Town Hall meeting which Republican 16th District congressional candidate was holding at the North Canton Civic Center and confronted Renacci about his views on civil rights enforcement.

The SCPR believes that some Congressman John Boccieri's supporters had pre-arranged with Thompson and others to show up at the Town Hall meeting knowing that Boccieri was going to show up unannounced at the Renacci event and ask questions designed to put Renacci in a bad light and Boccieri in a good light.

Renacci took the bait and, The Report believes, misspoke in saying that civil rights enforcement should be handled the local level.

In doing so, Renacci may have hurt himself with "on the fence voters" who remember the days when civil rights were pretty much a state and local government matter.   As we all recall, in the South this was not a good thing for minorities.  It took Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s to get the federal government to intervene and deal with state and local government inadequacies to provide basic civil rights in such areas as education, the right to sit at the front of public buses and the right to vote.

While nobody believes that Renacci wants to move back to a time when discrimination against minorities abounded in local government settings especially in the South; in sounding out a return to local government enforcement of civil rights, he appears to be a tad naive as to what that might mean in certain U.S. localities.

So it would be Renacci's apparent naiveness that would be disturbing to some 16th District voters and may affect some votes.  As far as the SCPR knows, Renacci has never retracted his "local enforcement of civil rights" comments.

In a close race, which the Boccieri/Renacci contest certainly will turn out to be, a few votes here and a few votes there could make the difference in the outcome of  the election.  The SCPR believes this race could be decided by a handful of votes.

An effort that Democrats are making is to "get out the vote" (GOTV).  A statement like Renacci's could provide an incentive for urban voters whom are, for the most part,  located in Stark County (Canton, Alliance and Massillon) to vote in greater numbers than they normally would in an off-year election.  In fact, President Obama is out on the political hustings trying to persuade those voters to reverse the trend of their not voting in off-year elections. Those voters are not likely to be Renacci voters.

It appears that Congressman Boccieri has decided on a Stark County strategy to eke out a victory in this year's election.  As the election draws to a close in eight days, his campaign appearances are heavily, if not exclusively, Stark County.

Starting today, he is making stops at senior centers in various Stark County locales and has former President Bill Clinton doing a tailgating event at the Massillon-McKinley football extravaganza in Massillon on Saturday.  On Saturday, Stark County unions hosted a Boccieri event at the Golden Lodge on Harrison Avenue in Canton at which Clinton campaign advisor (1992 and 1996) and CNN political consultant Paul Begala appeared.


BACK TO THE NORTH CANTON CIVIC CENTER REMARKS

Of course, the Democrats jumped all over Renacci about his comments in North Canton.  Included in the Democrat onslaught (predictably so) was Chris Redfern in his capacity as chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party as seen in the video accompanying this blog which The Report recorded on September 9th.

Additionally, Redfern weighs in on the Bosley/Snitchler race for the Ohio House:

(VIDEO) SCPR PROJECTS BOCCIERI OVER RENACCI "BY A NOSE" BECAUSE OF LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATE JEFFREY BLEVINS

The Stark County Political Report projects that first-term congressman John Boccieri will defeat Republican Jim Renacci "by a nose" on November 2nd.

However, if Libertarian Jeffrey Blevins were not in the race, Renacci would ride the Republican tidal wave into Congress.

The Renacci forces are so worried about "the Blevins factor" that Renacci refused to participate in the October 12, 2010 16th Congressional District Debate sponsored by the Canton Jaycees and The Palace Theater.

Well, what is the worry?

That Blevins will convince independents and Republicans that he is a man to vote for those who are dissatisfied about the way things are going in the country under both Democratic and Republican leadership.

And they are probably correct.

Blevins of Wadsworth (interesting, Renacci is from Wadsworth) is a former Republican turned Libertarian.

Implicit in Blevins' presentations is the recognition that he cannot win on November 2nd, but over time 16th District Libertarians will build up the capacity to challenge the Democrats and Republicans for this seat.

If the Libertarians can be identified as the reason Boccieri wins (assuming he does win), then they can and will build upon being significant to turn significance into being competitive with a real chance of winning.

There are very few Libertarians in the 16th, however, there are more and more voters who are disgusted with the Republicans and Democrats, and are looking for an alternative.  Most such voters are on the conservative side of the political spectrum and would likely find Libertarian candidates attractive.

The Report believes that there will be enough of alternative thinking voters to cause Republican Jim Renacci to lose by an eyelash.

Another factor that will weigh in favor of a Boccieri victory is the opportunity that the Boccieri campaign "to get out the vote" for wards that exist in Canton, Alliance and Massillon where there is very little question on who the voters will vote for - if Boccieri campaigners can get them to the polls.

We hear much from the cable talking heads about "the enthusiasm gap" between Democrats and Republicans these days.  The Report believes that if Boccieri works his "automatic" wards, he will end up with some breathing room to win this contest.  If he does not or if he fails to generate excitement among his "sure to vote John Boccieri" part of the electorate, then his win will be scant indeed; perhaps, within the automatic "recount" margin - if not in the single digits.

In his 2008 race, the SCPR predicted a Boccieri win by 10 percentage points way early in the race and turned out to be pretty much on the money.

The Report believes that Renacci did the politically correct thing for his electoral fortunes by refusing to appear with Libertarian Blevins on October 12th.  The mystery is:  why did it take his advisers to figure this out?  Blevins came across as a highly credible alternative in the Wooster debate (September 30th).  Could that blunder have caused Renacci the election?

Here is a video of Boccieri and Blevins doing their opening statements at The Palace Theater on October 12th.

(VIDEO) BOCCIERI/RENACCI DEBATE - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT INCREASING NATIONAL DEBT - ON THE ISSUE SERIES

The Stark County Political Report has a lot of film footage of Congressman John Boccieri (Democrat - Alliance) and Jim Renacci (Republican - Wadsworth), Boccieri's opponent, speaking on the issues that voters of the 16th Congressional District care about in making their choice which of the two to vote for in the election that is now underway (early voting is in progress).

Between now and the actual general election day of November 2nd, the SCPR will be running excerpts of the film footage showing Boccieri's and Renacci's articulations of their positions on the many issues that will factor in to voters' choices as to which will be the 16th District congressman come January 1, 2011.

Check back to the SCPR frequently as The Report will be inter-splicing many such excerpts on a daily basis between now and November 2nd.

In the following video Boccieri and Renacci "debate" on how to spur economic development without adding to the budget deficit which is now about $13.5 trillion.

(VIDEO) BOCCIERI/RENACCI DEBATE SERIES - ON THE ISSUES - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT JOBS IN THE 16TH DISTRICT

The Stark County Political Report has a lot of film footage of Congressman John Boccieri (Democrat - Alliance) and Jim Renacci (Republican - Wadsworth), Boccieri's opponent, speaking on the issues that voters of the 16th Congressional District care about in making their choice which of the two to vote for in the election that is now underway (early voting is in progress).

Between now and the actual general election day of November 2nd, the SCPR will be running excerpts of the film footage showing Boccieri's and Renacci's articulations of their positions on the many issues that will factor in to voters' choices as to which will be the 16th District congressman come January 1, 2011.

Check back to the SCPR frequently as The Report will be inter-splicing many such excerpts on a daily basis between now and November 2nd.

In the following video Boccieri and Renacci "debate" on creating new research and development jobs within the 16th Congressional District.

(VIDEO) BOCCIERI, RENACCI & BLEVINS "ON JOBS" - 16TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SCPR "ON THE ISSUES"

The Stark County Political Report has a lot of film footage of Congressman John Boccieri (Democrat - Alliance) and Jim Renacci (Republican - Wadsworth), Boccieri's opponent, speaking on the issues that voters of the 16th Congressional District care about in making their choice which of the two to vote for in the election that is now underway (early voting is in progress).

Between now and the actual general election day of November 2nd, the SCPR will be running excerpts of the film footage showing Boccieri's and Renacci's articulations of their positions on the many issues that will factor in to voters' choices as to which will be the 16th District congressman come January 1, 2011.

Check back to the SCPR frequently as The Report will be inter-splicing many such excerpts on a daily basis between now and November 2nd.

In the following video Boccieri and Renacci "debate" on creating new jobs.

(VIDEO) BOCCIERI/RENACCI ON FREE TRADE VERSUS FAIR TRADE - BOCCIERI & RENACCI: SCPR "ON THE ISSUES"

The Stark County Political Report has a lot of film footage of Congressman John Boccieri (Democrat - Alliance) and Jim Renacci (Republican - Wadsworth), Boccieri's opponent, speaking on the issues that voters of the 16th Congressional District care about in making their choice which of the two to vote for in the election that is now underway (early voting is in progress).

Between now and the actual general election day of November 2nd, the SCPR will be running excerpts of the film footage showing Boccieri's and Renacci's articulations of their positions on the many issues that will factor in to voters' choices as to which will be the 16th District congressman come January 1, 2011.

Check back to the SCPR frequently as The Report will be inter-splicing many such excerpts on a daily basis between now and November 2nd.

In the following video Boccieri and Renacci "debate" the issue of "Fair Trade" versus "Free Trade."

SCPR SERIES: CANDIDATES ON THE ISSUES - RENACCI ON IMMIGRATION

With this blog the Stark County Political Report starts a series that will last through the end of October to let readers/viewers see the candidates (Boccieri versus Renacci - Ohio's 16th Congressional District)  "in their own words."

In this blog Republican Jim Renacci responds to a North Canton Town Hall question on immigration.

BOCCIERI CAMPAIGN (SEE VIDEO): "CAP 'N TRADE" IS A REPUBLICAN IDEA?

According to Congressman John Boccieri, Cap 'N Trade is a Republican idea.

Last night (August 30, 2010) at an event put on by OperationFree.net, 16th District Congressman John Boccieri unveiled his campaign strategy (undoubtedly, a strategy conceived by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - DCCC) to turn the Cap 'N Tax and National Energy Tax labels put on Cap 'N Trade legislation (formally known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act) by Republicans (including Boccieri's opponent Jim Renacci)  against the Republicans.

Apparently, Boccieri wants the 16th District public (Stark, Wayne Ashland and Medina (parts of) counties to think that the Republicans are the  real "flip-floppers" on the issue and not himself.  Readers of the Stark County Political Report will recall that The Report blogged that Boccieri was going around the 16th suggesting that he was likely to vote against Cap 'N Trade but in the end voted for it.

Moreover, it seems obvious that he also wants to come out of discussion on Cap 'N Trade as being bipartisan.

And he did his Republican idea thing last night in a room of the Stark County District Library, located in the heart of Canton, dedicated to the 16th District's most well known Republican; namely, William McKinley (i.e. "the McKinley Room) who was president of the United States from March 4, 1897 to September 14, 1901.

First, OperationFree?  Who are they?  Here is a video put out by the organization describing themselves:



Second,  a Boccieri Strategy?

Yes.

What is it?

Cap 'N Trade is a Republican idea going back to the days of Ronald Reagan.

Really?

Indeed.  Perhaps going back to the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

Yes, according to a piece put out by a reporter from National Public Radio's WBUR, to wit:

And more recently (2007 and 2008), the Republican version of Cap 'N Trade was put in legislative form in America's Climate and Security Act.

The list of Republican sponsors is impressive, to wit:

Boccieri's tack:  The Republicans are now in the political silly season. The implication being that Republicans are attacking their own idea for political advantage.

Will the Boccieri/DCCC strategy work?

Only time will tell and, of course, Boccieri's persuasion skills.  Look for him to be responding to 16th District voters who stop by his booth at the Stark County Fair (today through Labor Day) to hear the "it's a Republican idea" I'm supporting spiel.

Also, there are the debates.  No doubt Boccieri will be throwing this at his opponent Jim Renacci.  Will Renacci be able to debunk the notion that Republicans are turning on themselves?

Here is a video of Boccieri making his case for the strategy that in voting for Cap 'N Trade he is being "bipartisan" in supporting what was originally a Republican idea.