The Truth: Former Mayor surprised Obama not using “street money” and more
While as I always I recommend stopping by and reading this week’s Sojourner’s Truth, especially the This Strikes Us that this week lauds the benefits of early voting, I want to focus on what Former Mayor Jack Ford wrote in his column, My View for a variety of reasons.
You get a mixed impression when reading this story from the Former Mayor, he touches on some areas of concern that he has with the Obama campaign:
Last week I attended a meeting called by the Obama campaign to get together with area ministers. Not one area pastor or minister showed up.
Then just a bit further down:
It is surprising that Obama would not use the tried and true method of “street money.” Obama has set records for fundraising and broke new ground in reaching targeted voters. Why not keep a full quiver of campaign arrows to use in this fight?
The week before the preachers’ meeting, I ran into the long-time Democratic mechanic Domenic Montalto at a local restaurant. I asked Dom what he was doing for Obama and he replied nothing. I asked why not and he said that nobody has asked him to help.
Let me say that it is a mistake to be in a presidential campaign in Lucas County with Montalto on the sidelines. Forget about the golf outing and the strippers. Put your best team on the field.
Yet in reading the rest of the column, Ford appears to express the belief that Obama will win, which would mean that Obama won without using street money and without the participation of many of the area pastors and ministers that are believed to be critical to a win in this area in addition to not using experienced campaign volunteers like Montalto.
The Obama campaigns decision to not use street money was decided during the primary, they’ve also taken a different attitude when it comes to things like campaign signs, with the main attitude presented on those being, if you want one, buy one. Depending on how much stock you put in polls, these decisions do not appear to have openly hurt the campaign.
Earlier we focused on campaigning in churches, in this week’s column Ford provides us with a glimpse into how churches and their congregations are used to promote the message from one or more candidates. Ford is going to some of the local churches and campaigning for Obama, other candidates and some of the ballot issues, one not mentioned but I’m assuming he does mention at these churches is the two school levy issues.
Something else that is mentioned that I wanted to point out:
Did you know that there is only one police officer for East Toledo on certain weekend days? I hear that coverage has gotten down that low on occasion. That is not only dangerous for citizens but also hazardous to the lone officer with no quick back up.
Since we do have several members of our local law enforcement forces that read and participate here, I’d be interested in learning if this is true.
Back in the day, “street money” was used to grease the palms of passersby/residents to vote for Joe or Jane Schmo who would be best to “represent the people…the folks…the workers….the non-rich.”
Perception was that Pastors were the greasees…who would get the parishioners out to vote for “take your pick…our guy/gal.” Trust us.
We know better…..the folks aren’t smart enough to know what’s right…so a little incentive can’t hurt…..
October 8th, 2008 at 5:01 pmOne can feel little surprise that Jack Ford would think the Democratic candidate would win, regardless of the mistakes that he might be making. To think otherwise would be considered blasphemy and cast Mr. Ford into the 4th circle of political hell.
Perhaps the column seeks to point out, in a backhanded way, the “change” that Sen Obama represents; which would be a pretty cagey move and potentially put him in good stead if his prediction should prove correct.
October 8th, 2008 at 8:26 pmWhy would obama throw “good” money after bad? Meaning he already has all the black votes that are possible. Why would he pay pastors to encourage the congregation to vote for him? Almost all blacks will vote for obama. Maybe ford is upset because he didn’t get a piece of the action?
October 8th, 2008 at 8:51 pmDominic Montalto is a fool and a thug that has done more damage to the Democratic Party than good. He was removed from his post and good riddance. I hope the current Democratic party leadership has deemed him persona non grata, his tactics will go over better at John Stainbrook’s Republican Party better anyway.
I agree with Tom above, “street money” is something that occurred in the Democratic party of the past. And Senator Obama is refusing to dole it out in cities beyond Toledo. This is why Obama is the change we need. No more Montalto’s, no more bought votes, no more of that.
The thin coverage of police all over our city is something you would be shocked by. Not very long ago, on a summer night eight or nine hour waiting time between a call to the police and a response was normal. I believe that this has improved, marginally, but many factors account for why this occurs: police reports are on paper and must be handwritten rather than processed in the patrol car’s onboard computer, budget crises after budget crises cutting patrolmen, and many more issues that are above my pay grade to bring up.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:22 pm# 4 Radio Says:
October 8th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
“I agree with Tom above, “street money” is something that occurred in the Democratic party of the past. And Senator Obama is refusing to dole it out in cities beyond Toledo. This is why Obama is the change we need. No more Montalto’s, no more bought votes, no more of that.”
The libs have a different tactic now. Now Obama has his acorn cronies stealing votes through registration fraud.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:49 amYes! Screw ACORN. Those community organizers should go get jobs as small town mayors where they have some real responsibility.
There are no stolen votes when dealing with falsified registrations. The motive for the crime ACORN is accused of is not political, it is economic. The canvassers who fake registrations are looking to keep their jobs by increasing the numbers of registrations they turn in at night. That’s it, no one is going to show up on Election Day at multiple sites trying to vote under aliases. The falsified registrations have several layers of validation to go through, starting with the ACORN organizer the canvassers report to who checks the registrations, to the Board of Elections staff whose responsibility it truly falls with to verify the voter rolls, and finally poll workers and challengers on Election Day.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:52 amHere’s where we enter the Catch22, if we are going to focus on companies like Arno Political consultants and not allow them to claim that they didn’t know or support fraud by those paid to collect signatures for them, then we can’t allow Acorn to get a pass on this.
Either we have one standard of behavior or not. This is one of the key problems with the way this process is done when you hire people to collect signatures and voter registrations. The increased chance for fraud directly relates to creating a paid per signature/registration voter system. Whenever that or quotas of a certain level of signatures is required either for a bonus or to keep the job? People are going to break the rules. It can happen with an unpaid volunteer base as well, but it appears that most of the evidence here in Ohio and elsewhere suggests a good part of the problem relates to paid signature/registration gatherers who are required to meet some type of a quota system. Someone with no financial benefit does not face the same motivation for job retention or financial gain.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:06 amI laughed so hard this morning when I heard ACORN’s defense that they couldn’t monitor their employees so they can’t tell anyone who filed fake cards, where they filed them or how many.
What other industry would that be an acceptable defense for failing to turn out the product you promised and breaking the law while doing so?
Too funny. Or maybe just so sad you have to laugh b/c there’s nothing else to do.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:53 amMaybe it’s just me, but I’m nagged by the unanswered question as to why the invited clergy didn’t show up.
It seems to me that any reasons they may give, their answers would be enlightening since ALL of them were “no-shows” to the Obama event.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:31 pmI don’t disagree Lisa. The profit motivation is a very big problem, both for groups like Arno consulting and community organizations like ACORN. I feel that our system of opt-in voter registration and percentage-based ballot initiatives is broken.
I have seen how organizations like ACORN operate and those like Arno-Arno has taken the opportunity to form a business and gain profit by taking on ballot initiatives that no one else will touch. ACORN is first a community organization that sees voter registration drives as serving two goods-increasing the number of registered voters in central city, underserved populations, and secondly using the money raised to help offset the large budget shortfalls that ACORN offices are constantly dealing with.
If the profit motive were removed I believe that Arno would close down, but ACORN’s registration drives would continue. This is why I am inclined to be less moralistic about the failings of community groups.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pmI was going to write something thoughtful and intelligent here (as usual), but someone beat me to it on another blog… so I’ll just copy and paste.
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http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/voters_arent_votes/
Here’s the entire thing about registering to vote: it’s the act of trading in a set of information about your self which may or may not allow to subsequently register your choice for a series of offices and issues at a time and place of someone else’s choosing.
It is not, however, voting, a distinction which seems to elude many voter/vote fraud theorists. There’s a reason most of us aren’t too pressed about ACORN handing in bad voter registrations – while it’s certainly inconvenient and even potentially illegal to do so, a voter registration for a voter that doesn’t exist generally doesn’t result in an actual vote, making the entire thing more a comedy of errors than a grave threat to our democracy.
The problem is, however, that the right is using what mainly constitute bureaucratic snags and padded timesheets/registration targets to subsequently declare that all of those registrations are being turned into real votes, which makes no sense. The amount of coordination and deception to turn ten fake voter registrations into ten fake votes is so large and likely so inconsequential to the vote that anyone capable of doing it in a way that would alter a major election either A.) will and should win, because they’re the Illuminati or B.) will get easily discovered and put in jail, because it’s already hard enough to get real people with real names and addresses out to vote.
It’s the oddest obsession imaginable – even if you get Elmer Fudd’s registration through and they can show up and vote, the person who dumped Elmer Fudd’s name into the registration queue is now going to have to manufacture the vote. It’s really, really difficult, and you might as well just get a real voter to vote honestly.
All us wacky liberals are concerned with the machines and the workers and the tabulation because it’s far easier to alter votes after they exist than it is to manufacture voters who then manufacture votes. The only reason you’re concerned with registrations and not about tabulation is because you’re trying to reduce the pool of votes to fuck with in the first place.
October 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pmThe obama cronies of acorn are such crooks. The voter registration scandal is countrywide (no pun intended). If this racket was orchestrated by the Republicans, the libs would be raising holy hell. The libs are hypocrites.
The libs that openly support the fraud and pretend it isn’t a moral problem – as some on here have said – will see it come back and bite them in the ass. This will blow up into a huge problem for the Marxist, obama. Amazingly, obama was trying to funnel bailout money to these acorn crooks. How could a reasonable person support obama?
October 9th, 2008 at 7:56 pmHow could a reasonable person support obama?
How could a reasonable person not…
October 9th, 2008 at 11:28 pmNo, not again, the issue I have is with McCain, who just three weeks ago, at 11 in the morning, clearly stated and assured that our economy was sound, yet when 5 in the afternoon rolls around, he tells the media that our economy is in shambles.
The voter thing, blah blah blah, will happen again in 4 years. It happened in 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992…
The economy has eluded the republican presidential nominee and your nominee is more worried about how many times “maverick” can be used in a speech rather than being open and honest about the economic world crumbling around him while he fiddles away…..
No thanks.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:43 amHas the Obama camp here in Toledo used ACORN? Were they out and about in town?
CLEVELAND – A man at the center of a voter-registration scandal told The Post yesterday he was given cash and cigarettes by aggressive ACORN activists in exchange for registering an astonishing 72 times, in apparent violation of Ohio laws.
“Sometimes, they come up and bribe me with a cigarette, or they’ll give me a dollar to sign up,” said Freddie Johnson, 19, who filled out 72 separate voter-registration cards over an 18-month period at the behest of the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dlnt9maBJA
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10102008/news/politics/1_voter__72_registrations_132965.htm
October 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pmObama to speak at SeaGate Convention Centre
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will hold a campaign rally at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the downtown SeaGate Convention Centre.
Doors open at 11:30 a.m., and for security reasons no one is allowed to bring bags into the rally. It is suggested that personal items be limited. No signs or banners are permitted.
The event will be free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday at Obama Headquarters at 48 South St. Clair St., downtown.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:57 pmHussein osama speaking at seagate.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pmI bet there will be plenty of acorn folks to register folks twenty or thirty times each.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:13 pmWith osama in toledo, we will have an opportunity to observe his marxist acorn cronies in action.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:16 pmNot Again, voter registration ended October 6th, so anyone stupid enough to register to vote would be disappointed.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:17 pmIn Ohio, anything goes, just ask the secretary of state. The only way to stop the fraud is law suits.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:19 pmThese acorn scumbags would probably back date the registrations and the sec of state might support it in court. That might seem silly, but we are in weird times. Osama and his crooked friends will do anything to win.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:23 pmNo?
October 10th, 2008 at 11:23 pmNo – the close date was the 6th so no one can register, even Acorn.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pmOk then, but I would suggest that all good citizens should keep a close eye on osama and his crew when they are here, and report any unusual activity to the fink and his competent police force.
That is all.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:34 pmWho is this Osama person?
There are plenty of reasons to NOT support Barack Obama without resorting to poking fun at his name’s unfortunate resemblance to a name which identitifies a certain terrorist.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:03 amSorry, typo.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:04 amall you partisan politicos and biased posters, on either side, take note. This was posted yesterday to my family from my niece (emphasis is mine):
You two are retarded. (hee hee hee my sister and brother)
1. Yes they both are gonna try an get peoples votes…. they’re politicians
2. Barack Obama is personally against abortion but is all for women’s rights… something that i can’t say for Palin
3. Both sides wanna keep a war just in different places.
4. Yes Barack befriended a terrorist… but who is to say that guy was like that when Barack had met him. If we base a person off their friends then we’re gonna have problems aren’t we. think about it.
5. McCain is proud of his heritage. Anyone would be, but there is a time when people need to realise when we’re in a war that we cannot win. You would think being in Vietnam would help bring that sense. Apparently not. If we keep this up the soldiers are gonna come home to an angry crowd an rotton tomatos.
6. Religion shouldn’t play a part in our politics in the first place so if i ever see anything from either of you makin fun of Obama’s name i’m gonna go balistic on you.
7. I know a lot because i have to do freakin power points on all the canidates, and when you get a divorce in my eyes you just defaced the value of marriage. these days it isn’t sacred it’s just a piece of paper tellin people that you’re havin legalized sex. yay you.
8. A true Patriot protects their country from their Government.
9.
We’re gonna cause world war 3 if we don’t get out of the Middle East
10. You guys are going along with party politics. No one is truely informed because we treat every piece of information we hear with extreme bias. Yes mom you do. So do you Uncle B.
an while I’m on the subject i want my presents (she just turned 18, the cutie!)
As a young voter i feel that the older generations aren’t really paying attention to what we really need. It’s not that we need some Mixed man in office, or an old white guy or a woman for that matter. What we truely need in the office these days is real reform. The consitution was kept as a livin document for a reason. We need to start thinkin about the future of our children for that matter the world in general. The way we have things going now it’s like playing with a broken arm, it causes extreme pain an in the end it’ never works right.
So before you two start a knock down think about what really needs to be “changed” .
She, a brand new eighteen year old registered voter, was speaking to my sister (Obama) and brother (McCain).
So to all you party torch-bearers, keep this in mind. I’m looking forward to the day you become irrelevant. You’re going to have to learn to embrace our differences and get past your agendas. There’s a much bigger picture you all are missing out on.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:10 amActually Lisarenee, you can regsiter to vote any time. However voter registration closed on October 6 for those who wanted to register to vote in this election.
Therefore, if you did not register by the October 6 deadline, you cannot vote in this upcoming election.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:52 amWhich was my point, voter registration for this election closed on October 6th so anyone registering after that date would be disappointed, as in not able to vote in this election. I assumed those who read here would surmise that.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:55 amBrian, it looks as if your niece is a perfect product of the social engineering taking place in the public school system.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:35 pmThe free tickets for the Obama event at the Seagate center was suppossed to be passed out today and tomorrow, however all the tickets were gone within the first hour today.
Also according to the Toledo Blade, it looks like Obama will be spending Sunday night -Tuesday preparing for his final debate at the Maumee resort.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:53 pmIt’s also rumored (not confirmed) that he will be appearing at the October 12th Lucas County Democratic Party Fall Dinner so those of you interested in paying $150.00 per person might actually get a view of Obama if you missed the free tickets to the Monday event.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:01 pmI doubt if the average Joe will be allowed in. Certainly not Joe “six-pack”.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:14 pmIf the average joe has $150.00 per person…
October 11th, 2008 at 3:16 pmThe overt racism and hatred directed at Senator Obama than many of those commenting on this thread are expressing is disgusting and ridiculous.
ACORN has issues that are valid for criticism. However, ACORN endorsed John Edwards in the primary. Acting as if they are somehow a shadow campaign is idiotic. And charges that ACORN is responsible for the Sub-Prime Mortgage mess? ACORN Housing has been working for years to help individuals get into fixed-rate mortgages and providing counseling and legal support to those in need. These are baseless, senseless accusations. Even though Senator McCain started them it doesn’t mean they’re true. He simply wants everyone to talk about any issue other than the economy, so the whisper campaign is under way.
“Not Again” you are either a paid shill or an imbecile. Either way you are using overtly racist language and if you are an adult you should be ashamed of yourself.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:03 pmMcCain did not start the accusations about Acorn, unless you believe he had something to do with the several recent media reports and investigation into Acorn and fraudulent voter registration. The “shadow group” accusation stemmed from this. The fraud aspect was also not of McCain’s making but stories like this. Both campaigns have used media reports as a part of their campaign against each other. Acorn endorsed Obama on Feb 23, 2008. I don’t think they endorsed John Edwards, they did endorse a Donna Edwards in January.
I agree there is too much hatred out there and at times here, but I also think there is too much of an instance to point fingers at the political side you differ with rather than to demand better behavior from those who you share a side with. Considering what myself and my family have dealt with, calling someone “Osama” is not racist nor as hatefilled as that or other comments made on this blog.
I do my best to control this blog and considering charges of racism have been levied at me, if I thought Not Again was being hateful or racist in a manner that crossed the rules of this blog, I’d say something. No, I don’t agree with all of his comments, and Yes, I wish he didn’t use Osama but I’ll take that over calling a candidates wife a whore. Sad as it may seem, this blog is much more civil than a great deal of the ones out there.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:31 pmPurposefully calling a presidential candidate by the name of a terrorist leader does not cross the boundary of decency? If Governor Palin were nicknamed as such, perhaps “Adolph Palin,” would you not object?
Who was called a whore? I certainly haven’t called anyone associated with either party such, nor has anyone that I know. Is that something that speakers use to pump up crowds at Obama/Biden rallies? No, but “Barack Hussein” is used at McCain rallies. The slights are purposeful and echoing. Karl Rove was gleeful when he attacked McCain, and Gore and Kerry in the same manner. Appealing to the basest instincts of otherwise civilized people: fear and “others.”
These allegations of voter fraud are NOTHING swirled up into a blinding mess. You should be able to see through the BS of political campaigns better than most. Voter registration drives are occurring and there are mistakes made, usually because of exhaustion on the part of the organizers rather than malfeasance. Beyond that, McCain has his own ties to ACORN. This is a non-issue.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:58 pmhttp://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/a_lifetime_ago_sen_john.php
Two wrongs don’t make a right, and that seems to be the common excuse given when one candidate does something, not that we should expect better from them, but that “someone else did it too”. I didn’t post that I thought McCain was the better candidate or that the Acorn story had no merit. All I did was point out that this was not some fabrication and that Acorn does have some issues, which I think we do agree with.
Considering the whole Osama thing is not just related to terrorism but has been said in error even by Kennedy, and even on ballots, it’s a bit of a stretch to take it from how Not Again intends it, which having had contact with him on this blog for quite a few months now, is a jab. One that most of us ignore and just concentrate on the real discussion at hand.
I actually know a few Osama’s, so it’s really not fair to assume that everyone named Osama is a terrorist. I also know a few Husseins and I think the whole hysteria over the use of Obama’s middle name is silly given…it is his name. If a terrorist bomber named Lisa Renee appears some where, I’m not going to stop using my name…
All of this has nothing to do with what really matters except to demonstrate there is a lot of hatred out there from both sides, and as long as it’s less than what my own 14 year old daughter had to endure from Obama supporters? I’m not going to become the total pc blog police.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:08 amThe first report you posted is what I was referencing when I said that ACORN has plenty to be criticized over. The second is nothing, an amended financial statement.
I do believe that the McCain campaign or his surrogates have something to do with the media reports about ACORN. Have you seen the McCain “Too Risky” ad? Have you actually watched that through?
October 14th, 2008 at 12:11 amAnd…considering I have a great grandfather who was named “Adolf” no I wouldn’t object…a name is a name, it’s not that big of a deal and anyone who is a rational adult realizes that one “bad” person does not ruin a name. It’s like all of those silly women out there making a huge deal because they are named “Sarah”.
We wonder why no one talks about issues, it’s because too much time is wasted on mindless arguments over elementary grade school name taunts.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:13 amI haven’t watched it and it really wouldn’t matter what I thought, personally I think both campaigns have done a really bad job in being honest with their advertising and it’s a shame that we live in a Country where rather than focus on what a candidate can actually accomplish they instead try to out dirt the other one. Yet, that appears to be what the American public wants…Well, some of them.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:15 am“Not again” used “Osama” in four posts in THIS thread. Beginning with “Hussein osama speaking at seagate.”
Not a typo, not a misspelling. Not a valid usage of Senator Obama’s middle name. That is purposeful slur intended to tie Senator Obama to terrorism.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:17 amI really don’t think we have much to talk about tonight if you think this:
The brother, Dale Rathke, embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000, Acorn officials said, but a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group’s board members and not to alert law enforcement.
Dale Rathke remained on Acorn’s payroll until a month ago, when disclosure of his theft by foundations and other donors forced the organization to dismiss him.
Is only an “amended financial statement”.
Night radio…
October 14th, 2008 at 12:18 amOne last thing – If I deal with Not Again using Osama, then I have to also deal with people here who have said worse. I ask people to be civil but I’m not going to have one person and my judgment as the blog owner be questioned when I have allowed others to write things that I personally find offensive, and have even been directed at me. Kurt calling me a “fucking moron” is just as offensive and I let that stand.
Go visit some of the other blogs out there – try The Chief Source as one example, you’ll discover that things here are much more civil and less vulgar and that what you call “defending” I call not being over reactionary.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:23 amI reversed the order when responding, funny joke you made there. The news story about Obama filing an amended financial statement that you posted is pretty thin. The corruption at the highest levels of ACORN is a valid criticism.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:24 am