What did Wall Street banker John Kasich do when he couldn’t find a steelworker to lie about Gov. Ted Strickland’s record on jobs?
He hired an actor to play one. We just figured Kasich would turn to his Wall Street friends to bail him out, not Hollywood.
With Kasich’s latest desperate stunt and with new internal polling that shows Strickland up 4 points, it’s clear why the people of Ohio are giving the governor all the momentum in the race: John Kasich isn’t on their side.
From: Seth Bringman
Subject: WITH WEB VIDEO: Paid Actor in Congressman Kasich’s Attack Ad Distorts Steelworkers’ Views
The Ohio Democratic Party compiled a web video that includes footage of Congressman Kasich’s paid actor Chip Redden in other acting roles, interspersed with footage from the Kasich campaign’s ad. At the end of the ad, a real Steelworker states how he feels about Congressman Kasich.
A day after three separate polls showed Gov. Ted Strickland in a dead heat with Wall Street banker and former Congressman John Kasich, a new poll released this morning shows Strickland up by 1 point. Respected Democratic pollster Benenson Strategy Group found Strickland is winning 41 percent of the vote to Kasich’s 40 percent, with Kasich’s fav/unfav rating underwater while Strickland remains much more favorable.
Building a Stronger Ohio, an independent group with support and funding from the DGA, today launched its sixth ad exposing how Kasich got rich working for Wall Street. The ad is available here.
All recent polling shows the momentum in this race with Gov. Strickland, as he has closed a gap in the high single digits to make the race a dead heat.
Building on a recent trend of favorable public opinion survey results, Gov. Ted Strickland (D) now has forged into the lead — 41% to 40% — over John Kasich (R) in a very hot gubernatorial race, according to a recently-concluded poll by the highly-respected Benenson Strategy Group of Washington, DC.
Six (6) percent of respondents chose other candidates and 13% were undecided. The poll of 600 likely voters was taken conducted from September 25 – 27, 2010.
Speaking for Benenson Strategy Group, pollster Peter Brodnitz said, “As early voting begins, the race for Governor is a dead heat: Governor Strickland leads John Kasich 41% to 40%, including leaners. While Kasich’s ballot support and favorability are essentially the same – 40% support Kasich and 41% are favorable toward him – Governor Strickland’s 47% favorable rating exceeds both his current ballot support [41%] and is 6% higher than Kasich’s favorable rating.”
The margin of error is plus or minus 4% (see methodology memo). The poll was commissioned by the Campaign for the Moderate Majority (CMM.)
Strickland had a favorable-to-unfavorable rating of 47% to 43%, with 11% stating ‘no opinon/don’t know’. In comparison, Kasich had a favorable-to unfavorable rating of 41% to 31%, with a surprisingly high 28% over stating ‘no opinon/don’t know’ about him with just five weeks left to Election Day.
The new Benenson poll follows closely on the heels of The New York Times/CBS poll yesterday showing that Kasich had slipped to a one-point lead – 43 % to 42 % — over Strickland.
A second poll out today shows that Gov. Ted Strickland has narrowed the race to dead heat, with Wall Street banker and former Congressman up by 1 point – after Kasich lead by 9 in the same poll in August. A Fox News poll showed Strickland within two points earlier today. Both polls come on the heels of the highly respected Ohio Newspaper Poll, also showing Strickland within striking distance.
Fox News polls out today in Ohio and Wisconsin show both Democrats in striking distance. According to the polls, available here:
“But Republican John Kasich’s bid to unseat incumbent [Ohio] Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland has run into some bumps. Kasich’s lead of six points last week was cut down to 2 points, 45 percent to 43 percent, well within the polls’ margin of error.…In the race for [Wisconsin] governor, Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker holds a 4-point lead over Democratic nominee Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 49 percent to 45 percent.”
It’s one thing to call for colleges to tighten their belts in tough times. It’s something completely different to do it and rake in cash from them on the side. But once again, Wall Street banker John Kasich is caught putting himself before Ohio families. The Dayton Daily News reveals today that the former Congressman is calling for college cuts in his campaign for governor, but was paid tens of thousands of dollars for teaching classes that other politicians did for free.
This isn’t the first time Kasich has lined his pockets at taxpayer expense: He also made millions working for collapsed Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers, whose implosion cost Ohio’s pensions nearly $500 million.
By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau Updated 9:25 AM Monday, August 16, 2010
COLUMBUS — As a candidate for governor, Republican John Kasich has called on colleges and universities to cut costs and force professors to teach more courses.
Yet for seven years Kasich served as a “presidential fellow” at his alma mater, Ohio State University, in a role that paid him the equivalent of about $4,000 per campus visit.
“It sounds like a perk program for a politician that we can’t afford,” said Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank that has posted government salaries in an online database.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, said: “John was paid in alignment with what OSU thought his teaching was worth. They thought his work there was valuable — they kept asking him back.”
The job was among the many hats Kasich wore in the years after he left Congress in 2000. Although other politicians, including Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman, have taught courses at OSU for no cost, Kasich’s role paid him $50,000 a year.
In a special report from Reuters today, Wall Street banker John Kasich says that his “fantastic time” as a managing director at Lehman Brothers would make him a better governor. Kasich – who also proclaims: “Thank God I spent that time” – actually spent some of that time trying to persuade Ohio pension funds to invest with the failed firm. Kasich’s lesson from Lehman? Ohio needs more Wall Street influence and management, not less.
COLUMBUS, OHIO (Reuters) – As Lehman Brothers spiraled to its doom in the summer of 2008, John Kasich could not help but worry. After all, Kasich, a former Ohio Congressman turned investment banker, had a chunk of his personal wealth invested in the free-falling firm.
“I would make a few calls to friends of mine, like one guy in Chicago, and we would just sit there and say, ‘Is the stock going to go any lower?’” Kasich, 58, said during an interview at his gubernatorial campaign headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, the city where he ran a two-man investment banking office until after Lehman’s bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. “I didn’t really fixate on it. You just kept doing your job and you saw crazy things happening.”
In the wake of Lehman’s demise, some of its 26,000 employees found new jobs with Barclays, Nomura Holdings or other surviving rivals. Others headed for the unemployment lines with the tarnished Lehman name atop their resumes.
Not only does the new Quinnipiac poll show Gov. Ted Strickland maintaining his lead over John Kasich, the most significant movement is that the Wall Street Congressman’s unfavorable ratings have doubled since April. PPP is also out with a poll today showing that among voters who know Kasich, more have an unfavorable view of him – a reversal from their last poll.
Kasich has been under assault from Building A Stronger Ohio, a DGA-led independent expenditure that has been on the air statewide since May. You can see BSO’s ads here, here and here.
June 29, 2010 – Strickland Holds Off Kasich In Tight Ohio Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Want Arizona-Type Immigration Law
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland holds a slight 43 – 38 percent lead over Republican challenger John Kasich, statistically unchanged from 44 – 38 percent in April, and 43 – 38 percent in March, at least partly because Kasich remains unknown to half of Ohio voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Ohio voters say 45 – 35 percent they would like Ohio to pass an immigration law similar to the law in Arizona, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
In the Governor’s race, Strickland leads among Democrats 81 – 4 percent and among independents 40 – 37 percent, while Kasich leads among Republicans 81 – 6 percent.
After former Congressman and Wall Street banker released only one of his tax returns, Governor Ted Strickland called on Kasich to tell voters how much he earned as a managing director at failed Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers.
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland on Monday, April 5, called on his Republican opponent John Kasich to release copies of his federal income tax returns as Strickland has done in the past and plans to do again this month.
“He, for whatever reason, has chosen not to do so. I would like for him to release his income tax (returns) for the last several years. That’s what I would like for him to do,” Strickland said in a telephone interview.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, separately at a press conference, also called on Kasich to release copies of his tax returns and asked “what is he hiding?”
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is having a good week, according to the latest polling.
After two consecutive healthy leads in the Quinnipiac poll, Strickland is now in a statistical dead heat in the Rasmussen poll, with an 11 point surge in the past month. In the Quinnipiac poll released yesterday, pollsters noted that “Democrats are having a mini-surge in Ohio as…Gov. Ted Strickland remains ahead of Republican challenger John Kasich, 43 – 38 percent.
Democratic Governor Ted Strickland and Republican challenger John Kasich are now in a virtual tie in Ohio’s gubernatorial race.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state shows Kasich holding a statistically insignificant lead of 46% to 45%. Early last month, Kasich led Strickland by 11 points, 49% to 38%. Only two percent (2%) of Ohio voters prefer some other candidate, while seven percent (7%) are undecided.
In surveys since December, Kasich’s smallest lead has been six points.
DGA Chair Gov. Jack Markell shares his thoughts and prayers with the families affected by the earthquake and the many volunteers who are helping them survive: “Our prayers are many these days. They are with everyone who experienced this tragic loss. They are with everyone are fighting each day for survival in Haiti and those who answered the call to help. They are with the brave volunteers from Delaware, hard at work in Jacmel, and everyone supporting them from home.”
“At times like these, we’re not Republican or Democrats. We’re Americans living up to our long tradition of helping our neighbors in catastrophic need, even when we face a challenging economy ourselves,” said Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association . “Together, we’re urging citizens to donate what they can to reputable aid organizations, readying our National Guard units and offering comfort to the Haitian communities in our states.”
Governors are mobilizing resources on the ground to make a difference in Haiti. In their states, they have helped airlift hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and supplies to Haiti, encouraged the members of the military deploying on humanitarian missions and established registries to help track the missing and reunite loved ones.
Some highlights of their efforts are below:
Pennsylvania:
On a request from the Haitian ambassador to the United States, Governor Ed Rendell flew to Haiti to rescue 54 Haitian orphans. The Haitian children are now safely in the United States and on track to join adoptive families.
Images of the skinny, shell-shocked little survivors of the earthquake being carried off a plane in Pittsburgh compelled hundreds of people to reach for their phones or send an e-mail with the same question: How can I adopt one of the Haitian orphans?
Gov. Rendell, and the 53 homeless children whose rescue he orchestrated amid the disaster, had barely touched down in Pennsylvania Tuesday morning when phones began humming at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.
Over the last two days, the agency has logged 430 phone calls from people who said they wanted to become adoptive or foster parents for Haitian orphans, said Karen L. Blumen, deputy director of the Office of Community Relations.
“Thanks to the patience, perseverance and determination of many people and organizations, today we were able to bring all of these children together with their new families,” Gov. Ritter said at Denver International Airport. “While getting these kids to Colorado was a major milestone, there are still more Haitian children waiting to come to Colorado, and many more Colorado families living on pins and needles waiting for them to arrive. We are going to keep up the pressure until all of these children are together with their new families.”
For the past week and a half, Gov. Ritter’s Office and the Colorado Department of Human Services have been working closely with the U.S. military and Departments of Homeland Security and State to get the orphans out of Haiti and processed through customs in Florida.
Maryland:
Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland visited with the crew of the USNS Comfort as they prepared their ship for a relief mission to Haiti.
The air base in Martinsburg, W.Va., was transformed Jan. 14 into a staging area for more than 332,000 pounds of supplies bound for the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of pounds more are expected to be palletized at the air base for shipment to Haiti in the coming days.
“Presently there is little information from Haiti because the earthquake caused extensive damage to Haiti’s infrastructure,” Governor Paterson said. “Although there is a massive international relief effort under way, it will take time until Haiti’s infrastructure is restored and systems are in place to help locate and identify individuals.
“However, collecting information now about New York citizens in Haiti will help locate them once information becomes available,” the Governor added. “Once the massive response to this catastrophe is in place, I am sure a number of organizations will work to reunite loved ones. This registry will be of vital importance to that effort.”
Illinois:
“I’m proud that the Illinois National Guard has been called upon to support the people of Haiti in their time of need,” said Governor Quinn. “This state will do all that it can to assist in this international effort.”
Governor Granholm: In difficult times we pull together to help one another.
There are hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti who need food, water, shelter and medicine, and the need is urgent and immediate. Monetary donations are the most efficient and effective way to help in the relief effort. They allow humanitarian organizations to purchase the exact type and quantity of items needed by those affected by the crisis.
I encourage anyone who is able to contribute to the American Red Cross to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. You can donate through your local Red Cross or online at www.redcross.org. You can also donate via cell phone by texting HAITI to 90999. An amount of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross and charged to your cell phone bill.
Please keep the people of Haiti and their families and friends around the world in your thoughts and prayers.
Ohio:
Governor Strickland: Today, our thoughts and prayers remain with everyone in Haiti, as well as the family and friends of Haitians here in the United States who may be in search of loved ones or grieving a loss. We know that many Ohioans are looking for ways they can financially assist with the relief efforts in Haiti. We are encouraging Ohioans to donate what they can afford to help the families who are struggling and without essential needs as a result of this catastrophe. The compassion and charity of Ohioans can go a long way toward helping Haitians who may be left with next to nothing.
Oregon:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people who have been devastated by this earthquake, and should our service be needed, Oregon’s National Guard stands ready to assist in the recovery effort,” said Governor Ted Kulongoski. “Our citizen soldiers are trained to assist in efforts like this at home and abroad – and if called, stand ready to serve.”
Wisconsin:
“The Haiti earthquake has claimed thousands of lives and has left many more without homes, food or water,” Governor Doyle said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by this tragedy, and Wisconsin is ready to step up and help any way we can.”
