Obama has been making his way around Ohio the past few weeks, as he has faced criticism over his campaign’s attack that Romney is a felon, despite the fact that even Democrats from Romney’s time at Bain have come to the former Governor’s defense. Mr. Romney has filed all the legally required campaign finance information, but as the jobs reports continue to show dismal job growth and the economic reports overall are just as weak, the President, who promised vast change and improvement throughout his 2008 campaign and the resulting  presidency, is finding that he is being out fundraised and has lower  voter optimism than he would like, is trying to find anything to attack Governor Romney on to distract from the growing unpopularity  his Presidency faces.

Senator Portman, who many have placed on Romney’s short list for Vice Presidential candidates has been selected to give the rebuttal to Obama’s speech that will be held near Music Hall today in Cincinnati. With Obama expected to continue the attacks on Romney’s business career and his personal success, just a day after saying, “you didn’t build that” in regards to successful business owners,  Portman is likely to highlight the failed economic policies of the Obama regime. Unemployment  is now higher than when Obama took office, and the number of Americans excluded fromt he labor force is near all time highs, pushing the real unemployment situation drastically higher than it is being reported.

Outsourcing is also a likely topic as the President has spent millions of dollars in attack ads spreading lies, as according to Bain representatives and Fact Check in regards to Romney’s record at the company. In a state such as Ohio, where there is a large presence of workers who have at some point lost a job that ended up to more affordable  labor in other countries, the topic is a sensitive one and is expected to be pushed hard this election cycle. The state and its neighboring states also have a long history of coal mining, and with even union workers in the coal industry expressing their opposition to Obama’s expensive and job killing regulations on the industry, the topic is likely to come up at some point.

An anti-Obama protest is also expected in Fountain Square as demonstrators display their displeasure with the President’s failed economic policies and their opposition to Obamacare. The state of Ohio passed a resolution in November against Obamacare, as the nation -and the state – prepared for what they thought would lead to a Supreme Court ruling in their favor. The ruling and the law still remains drastically unpopular in the state and the nation, so thousands are expected to show up to  the protest to display their displeasure.

These public unions have decades of history of protecting inefficient workers, poorly reviewed workers, of increasing costs, making it hard if not impossible to balance the budget as they demand excessive wages and benefits that most of the nation’s employees do not see, and their refusal to compromise. After seeing the damaging impact of these unions and the collective bargaining rights, Governor Scott and the state passed a law to limit the union’s collective bargaining abilities for public (government ran) unions. This measure would effectively allow public officials to drastically cut the budget as they save money through curtailing the union’s excessive and wasteful programs that incentive inefficient management.

Walker Wins Recall

While never having an impact of private companies and their associated unions, the powers came out yelling. Seeking to return things to the way they were, after unsuccessfully trying to violate state congressional rules to hold up the process, they gathered near 900,000 signatures to force a recall election.

No governor has ever won their recall election in the United States’ history, but his reelection effort is being backed by large donors and small donors alike who are seeking justice in the political system, who find the intentional misuse of the recall system as inappropriate, and those who are concerned after seeing the government caused economic problems at the federal level and global level such as Greece that was caused by similar excessive budget deficits caused by public unions and irresponsible decision making .

Walker Recall Wiki

In an election that has divided many in the state, its national implications have already been discussed among pundits and leaders. Obama who supports such inefficient government practices has come out against Walker. He won the state in 2008, but instantly saw the state turn in 2010 in a backlash to his policies. In an election that is expected to be close, every state will matter and the results of tonight could be an indicator of what is to come in November.

Other states passed similar proposals that was signed in by Governor Walker including Ohio, but after a heavily funded campaign of lies it was defeated in November of 2011 on the issues ballot.

Governor Walker is projected to win his recall election.

Radio Host Challenges Santorum

Trying to out compete Mitt Romney after losing both contests this week in Michigan and Arizona, former Senator Rick Santorum took to the radio air waves to send his message. After calling in near 15 minutes late than the scheduled time, and  leaving voters and Scott Sloan waiting, perhaps their minds have drifted to  other candidates like Ron Paul, who is running on the values of freedom and prosperity.

The economy is by far the largest issue in most American’s minds at the moment, but for the past several weeks big news have been made out of Rick Santorum’s stance on birth control. Santorum has been popular amongst social conservatives, despite  his record of endorsing candidates to the contrary, and the birth control issue has put a lot  of focus on his social views.

After Senator Rick Santorum and Scott Sloan were going back and forth on the birth control stance, an issue that has already angered large numbers of women, the phone lines went dead. Adding to the controversy, Rick Santorum did not call back.

Sloan challenged that Senator Santorum originally brought the issue to the front of the election stage to drive out the far right voters and to bring in money from those support groups, but Mister Santorum held strong saying his primary concern is on the economy.

Despite blasting Rick Santorum for focusing on such an issue instead of issues the tri-state of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, Sloan’s primary audience, he went on to say that it is  not his job to try to get a certain candidate elected or not,  but rather to ask the tough questions about housing, jobs, gas prices and the overall economy, while not  letting basically petty social issues that gets people mad get in the way.

He was also quick to dismiss the notion that the media is to blame for the rise of social issue discussions on the campaign trail, instead focusing on how Santorum has handled his message and veered off from the economic’s  issues that most Americans and Cincinnati business deal leaders care about  more.

santorum sloan

Super Tuesday Ohio Results

In many people’s minds will be the Republican primary contests that features top Republicans duking it out for their bid to face incumbent President Barack Obama in November. Ron Paul has surged this election season and has had several strong showings in the previous states, focusing his efforts on total delegate accumulation to maximize his exposure and support at the Republican National Convention. Then there is Mitt Romney who lost to John McCain in the selecting process in 2008, who eventually lost to now President Obama, and the surging Rick Santorum. Newt Gingrich also remains in the contest, but has lost most of his support and his struggling to stay competitive.

Last week both Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney made stops in the state to campaign and try to convince voters that they are the candidate for them. Ohio has a strong history in the Republican selection process, as no Republican President has ever won without having won the state of Ohio. Because of this fact, it is wise for them to utilize digital printing and other media resources to get their name out there.

Also at issue this upcoming primary election is the Ohio state representative candidates. In district 27, for example, you see a Democratic challenger Nathan Wissman as he prepares to square off against the primary winner between Peter Stautberg and Tom Brinkman Junior. In the 32^nd district, Republican Ron Mosby is preparing to face off against incumbent Dale Mallory.

With the state having such a rich history in deciding election contests, a lot of time have been spent on campaigning in these states and the state wide House of Representatives election contests are a clear sign of how the state is willing to swing in the general November election. Yard signs are filling up people’s property and across public land, literature is being handed out, digital printing services and graphic services are being used, and volunteers are in full stride as each candidate pleads their case to the Ohio voters before the upcoming primary election.

Ohio Primary March 6th wiki

Ohio Right to Work

After organized labor had such a large win, many in the political scene thought that Ohio would not end up pushing for a “Right to work” law, and get public support in favor of such a proposal. Currently, when workers are employed by a company that supports unions, they are not given any say on whether they can opt out or not. As a result, you have millions of workers paying fees to join and weekly fees every year to go to causes they do not support, that lessens the money they have in savings, and leads to a higher cost of doing business. The right to work proposal gives all workers the right to join a union and the right to not join a union if they choose not to.

Ohio Supports Right to Work

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Ohioans are not showing much love for unions and showing plenty of love for their personal rights. A Quinnipiac University poll released puts the public in favor of right to vote measures by a solid margin. By a 14 point difference at 54 percent in favor and 40 percent against, Ohio supports their right to choose union membership upon employment. A 14 point difference has to be encouraging for supporters after last November’s results for Issue 2.

In addition to Right to work law support, Republican Governor John Kaisch saw her approval rating rise since mid January. This perhaps is a sign of voters seeing his push for their rights as employees and now fully understanding the ramifications of their vote in November.

These key polling questions will impact Ohio’s competitive advantage across the tri-state region and even nationally as a whole. By giving workers a right to work free from union interference against their will, the companies will be able to save money, workers will no longer have to have their pay checks deducted, workers will no longer have their money going towards political groups they do not affiliate with.

Remaining in the republican field is Ron Paul, who is spreading the message of freedom and prosperity, Mitt Romney, having already failed at securing the nomination in 2008, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.  For over a full year the candidates have campaigned and debated, but polls suggest that the party is still not satisfied with the choices remaining and would be interested in seeing another candidate offer him or herself up, or even consider voting for the Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

After Mitt Romney was being hailed as the candidate seen as most likely to secure the nomination, Rick Santorum swept him on Tuesday’s primaries and caucuses. In addition to that, Ron Paul even defeated him in a state. With Ron Paul having a large and energetic base behind him, it is expected he will pick up a lot of delegates at the convention. The rest of the battle is now between the 3 other candidates that all have polled poorly at some point or other, has an unfavorable view, or their ability to defeat Obama has been questioned.

Due to these opinions, one in five, or 20% of all Republican voters have stated they are leaning towards Obama for the November election, as according to a WND/Wenzel Poll conducted at the beginning of the month.  The only candidate to not reach the 20% level out of the remaining Republican candidates is Ron Paul.

While the poll could be analyzed as a dissatisfaction of the republican candidates, it should be noted that when attention is on the nomination process, favorable opinions always tend to drop lower. Supporters of one candidate may feel polarized and not accurately report their opinions. Some have also speculated that the reason is the “improved” economic numbers coming out. Unemployment saw another drop, however real unemployment, which went primarily unreported still hovers at 15%.

The poll also showed that if the election was held today, President Obama would defeat all the republican candidates, but Ron Paul would be the most competitive. On another interesting note, Obama’s approval ratings are in the levels seen of one term presidents, suggesting perhaps the re-election won’t be as easy as some polls like this may suggest. The economy is still in a bad situation and the population tends to hold the ones in charge accountable for that, meaning Obama may have a tough road ahead.

Whatever the case may be, the election cycle is far from over.

Republicans for Obama

Rick Santorum Wiki Iowa

Rick Santorum has been projected to win Iowa’s caucus.  Iowa has been given the honor of holding the nation’s first primary/caucus in the 2012 election cycle, where Republican candidates are all vying to have the nomination against incumbent President Obama.

With an election cycle that has seen near every candidate rise to the top of the polls, the nation’s first election results have finally poured in. Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum each gained a large portion of the vote in an effort to win the 25 delegates at stake. Ron Paul, running a campaign based on liberty, a balanced budget, and following the constitution scored very well with ending up just in third place by a few thousand votes.

Mitt Romney, who lost against John McCain last election cycle to run against Obama also scored well in the poll coming in a close second place, where votes at times were as small as 5 apart.

Rick Santorum had polled poorly most of the preceding months before the first caucus, but had seen his support rise after a large ground effort in the state. After the results are finalized, candidates will head towards the next state in the election cycle, New Hampshire.

First place: Rick Santorum
Second Place: Mitt Romney
Third Place: Ron Paul
Fourth Place: Newt Gingrich
Fifth Place: Rick Perry

In the following speeches, Ron Paul stood strong behind his statements regarding foreign policy that includes a less interventionist policy that has cost America billions of dollars, while also expressing public polls and opinions and holding the government accountable to the people.

Newt Gingrich, while congratulatory to the other candidates, spoke off the tone of the election thus far, especially the negativity of the ads that have him him. Newt Gingrich is the former Speaker of the House, well known for balancing the budget in the late 1990′s and for reforming welfare.

Michelle Bachman, a native of Iowa, managed to place in 6th. In her speech she was positive about moving  forward, but spent most of the time reassuring supporters that President Obama will be a one term president, with her or any of the other Republican candidates replacing him.

Rick Perry began his speech by referencing a solider and his conversation  of family and religion. He however did not talk optimistically in regards to the continuation of his campaign.

rick santorum wins iowa

While the end result put Mitt Romney up by 8 votes, by far the closest Republican primary/caucus election ever, Santorum is being viewed as many analysts as the winner due to the fact that Romney far outspent Santorum and had already ran in the state last election season in 2008. There has been some evidence of faulty votes, however Santorum said he would not challenge the results as he views the results as an essential tie and there is no need for any further analysis or calculation of the votes cast.

Donald Trump, the real estate mogul  previously flirted with a 2012 Republican nomination bid after months of leading on the media, party officials, and voters. Through a series of interviews, debates, and his own book, it was heavily thought Donald Trump would finally jump into the political arena, however just like past suggestions, the conclusion was the same, it was all hype.

Seven months ago Donald Trump finally stated he would not seek the Republican nomination, but has tried to stay relevant by offering to host debates, staying on the media, and possibly looking for other ways to get onto the ballot.

After seeking the Republican nomination despite never having followed the Republican platform, Donald Trump has now changed his party affiliation from Republican to “unaffiliated” reported a source close to Mister Trump. It was also reported that the reason he did so was that he was “disgusted” with the Republican Party, including recent efforts to that led to the Payroll tax cut deal.

Back in May when he backed away from the Republican nomination, many suspected that Donald Trump was setting himself up as a third party ticket presidential bid. Along with jumping off board from the party he never fully supported, he has now been in contact with the independent nominee presidential group, Americans Elect, which has already gotten candidates on the ballot in several states across the nation.

Is Donald Trump Republican?

Donald Trump has a history of changing parties to benefit himself and gather up hype in regards to his “political ambitions.” While registered as a Republican for decades, he changes to the Democratic party in 2001 to coincidentally change back to a Republican in 2009. Changing parties is no rare occurrence for Mister Trump, as now it is becoming common place, but he has stated that the defeat of President Obama’s reelection is top priority. To ensure/ sabotage this effort he has stated that in the event Republicans pick the wrong candidate he would highly consider an independent Presidential bid.

With such a high profile name and a vast fortune to spend, getting the name out will be no problem, but perhaps his high inconsistencies and inconsistent record will be. Having ran several businesses into bankruptcy, he is perhaps not the greatest candidate for president in the time of a struggling American economy. This and the constant switching of parties in a highly polarized political environment has not help Donald Trump back though. Until not enough candidates agreed to show up, he tried to moderate the Newsmax Republican debate, but was ultimately forced to step aside with little support.

Staying relevant is vital to a candidate in this election’s early election cycle and with primaries starting earlier than ever, but failing to maintain the debate was a blow to staying in the mix.

In terms of leaving the Republican Party, it is no surprise as he never followed the Republican values.

Since the 1990′s he has donated money to liberal icons such as Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, John Kerry,  Charles Rangel… On top of that in 2000 supported a heavily criticized model of socialized health care similar to that has been unpopular since signed by President Obama, among other anti- free market measures.

Donald Trump is Not a Republican