Today's topics: Ohio Senate race. Ohio redistricting. Media disconnect. Pete Rose. A 'Healthy Democracy Ecosystem.'
Today's topics: Ohio Senate race. Ohio redistricting. Media disconnect. Pete Rose. A 'Healthy Democracy Ecosystem.'
By Gary Abernathy
Will Ohio be part of a GOP U.S. Senate take-back?
A new poll from the New York Times says (to the Times’ chagrin, no doubt) that the GOP appears poised to take control of the U.S. Senate – but no thanks to Ohio.
All things considered, incumbent Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown should be extremely vulnerable. But a new Washington Post poll shows a virtual tie in the race between Brown and GOP challenger Bernie Moreno.
Brown should be losing pretty big. This is the first year he’s had to run for re-election in anything but a very good year for Democrats nationwide. The same poll shows Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris in Ohio by six points, which might be a little closer than it actually is – Trump won by about eight points in both 2016 and 2020 – or it might be right.
I’m still not convinced that Ohio is a safe Republican state. I think Trump is an outlier, and that the typical GOP presidential candidate wouldn’t be as strong as Trump.
Barack Obama won Ohio pretty comfortably in 2008 and 2012. Did Ohio really change that much politically four years later, by 2016 when Trump won convincingly? If Brown wins re-election and Trump wins Ohio by six points or fewer (or, highly unlikely, loses outright), Ohio should again be recognized as the swing state I still think it is.
Ohio’s redistricting initiative is not nonpartisan
Speaking of Ohio, the ballot issue to reform how Ohio draws legislative districts will almost surely pass comfortably. Anything portrayed as “giving power to citizens over politicians” will always have a good chance of winning.
But it’s just politics as usual. Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor is one of the main movers and shakers behind the issue and is featured in the TV advertising. She’s always been miffed that her fellow Republicans in the legislature found ways to get around her when she joined with the Democrats on the court to rule time and again against the legislative maps drawn by the GOP-majority redistricting commission.
For decades, the redistricting commission was made up of Republican and Democratic elected officials. For years, Democrats had the majority and controlled the process, and they had no complaints. But after Republicans began to win consistently beginning in the 1990s, all of a sudden the Democrats began crying about how unfair it all was.
The new plan will be just as political as the current one. And it’s about as convoluted as it can be. Read the details in this Cincinnati Enquirer article.
Hilariously, one of the stipulations for the new citizens commission will be that “commission members cannot be elected officials, lobbyists, campaign staffers or others closely connected to politics.” In other words, anyone with any interest or knowledge on how districts are supposed to be drawn is barred from participating. How they define people who are “closely connected to politics” will be interesting. If you vote, you’re arguably “closely connected to politics.”
Redistricting is an inherently political process. Partisanship will never be removed.
And why should it be? Drawing legislative districts is rightfully part of the spoils of winning, as I detailed in a Washington Post column a while back.
Democrats are upset they that they haven’t been able to win control of redistricting by winning the offices they need to do it, so they’re strongly backing this issue to change the rules, ala Captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru simulation, for Star Trek fans.
The result of the Ohio ballot initiative — and its obvious goal — will be to help Democrats win future elections. New maps will themselves be “gerrymandered” to group thousands more Democratic Party voters into what are now Republican districts in the name of “fairness.”
Whatever you think of it, let’s be clear – this is not some non-partisan, altruistic effort designed for the public good. This is a plan to elect more Democrats.
Media’s disconnect from most Americans on full display
As detailed many times here in recent months, we no longer have fair, balanced and detached journalism on a national level. We have spin machines masquerading as news organizations, most of them aligned with Democrats, including our most esteemed “legacy” news outlets.
The latest ploy is to label any criticism of the Biden administration as dangerous misinformation. The tactic began a few months ago when claims arose that video revealing President Biden showing his age were “cheap fake” or even “deep fake” videos.
Many of them – maybe most – were in fact completely unaltered, but the media ran with the White House’s assertion that the “right wing” was behind it all and Biden was just fine, thank you.
When Biden basically lost it on live TV in his debate with former President Trump, it was impossible to ignore the problem or claim that the video was being manipulated.
Unable to sustain their spin – their lies – about Biden’s condition, and knowing that a General Election drubbing was on the way, the media narrative turned to a “dump Biden” campaign. Biden was forced kicking and screaming out of the race, an event which today is spun as a heroic and patriotic decision by the president.
But the spin goes on. Now, any criticism of the Biden administration is called “misinformation” or “disinformation,” and once again, the far-left (formerly mainstream) media is there to help.
Don’t think the federal hurricane response has been sufficient? Irresponsible disinformation! Suggest that voter fraud actually happens sometimes and we should be on guard against it? Dangerous misinformation! Question climate change orthodoxy? Ignorant lies! Point out that Venezuelan gangs are making cities less safe? Bigoted falsehoods!
Sunday’s exchange on ABC between J.D. Vance and Martha Raddatz was astounding in that Raddatz seemed to treat Venezuelan gangs invading “a handful” of Aurora, Colorado, apartment buildings as something barely worth mentioning. Vance rightly called out her cavalier attitude. It’s a perfect example of the disconnect between liberal media elites and average Americans.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press moved a story Monday comparing Trump’s agenda to the left’s favorite bogeyman, “Project 2025.” Naturally, they claim to have found it quite compatible.
If the AP really wanted to be honest — and fair to both sides — they could report on how Kamala Harris’s statements and voting record through the years — until a few weeks ago — compare to socialism. The similarities would be striking. Don’t hold your breath.
I don’t know how the election will turn out. But I do know that it must drive the far-left (formerly mainstream) media crazy to watch as Trump keeps the race close or even make gains despite their abandonment of all traditional journalistic principles to openly advocate for and defend Harris and her backers while relentlessly (and calculatingly) attacking and demeaning Trump and his supporters.
Major League Baseball set a worse example than Pete Rose
Maybe for my generation in particular, Pete Rose exemplified everything positive about sports and, to a degree, life. His death hit us hard, maybe because it seemed like the drive, hustle and sheer willpower that elevated moderate talent into superstar status might never wind down. But reality finally intruded.
As a teenager in the Cincinnati region in the early to mid-1970s, the Big Red Machine was awe-inspiring. Going to games was like attending an all-star game every night. We could all recite the lineup, although the order – except for Pete consistently leading off – was slightly altered now and then: Rose. Griffey. Morgan. Bench. Perez. Foster. Concepcion. Geronimo. The Great Eight, they’re called now.
Even outside of watching him play baseball, running into Pete over the years was pretty common, even in Highland County, Ohio, 50 miles or so east of Cincinnati.
Pete was here to compete in the unofficial Reds’ traveling basketball games, until the team banned it due to injuries. (He played basketball just like he played baseball, full steam ahead.) Or in later years he’d show up to sign autographs at the local Gold Star restaurant, as part of one of his many endorsement deals. Or he just might be spotted driving through town on U.S. 50 on his way to somewhere else.
For Reds fans, Pete’s later gambling scandal was more sad than disqualifying. We didn’t have to be told that Pete never bet against his own team. We knew that by the way he played (and later managed) the game.
Late in the 1984 season, shortly after Pete came back as player-manager of the Reds and about a year before he set the all-time hits record, I got a couple of press passes (I was editor of the Hillsboro Press-Gazette at the time) to sit in the photographers’ section at Riverfront Stadium, which was right next to the dugout, separated only by a metal bar. I gave the second pass to a friend, Kenny Wells, one of the biggest Pete Rose fans I know to this day.
By this time, the Reds were out of the playoff hunt and the other photogs who were there left in the middle of the game. Only Kenny and I remained.
Pete came to the on deck circle and kneeled down. I raised my little 35 millimeter with its black-and-white film (most newspapers weren’t yet routinely printing color photographs) to get a shot. Pete looked back over his shoulder, maybe thinking, “Who are these yahoos?” Or maybe he thought, “I’ll do him a favor.”
Either way, after I took the pic, Kenny said, “He looked right at you!”
He did indeed, and the picture, posted below, (the print is a little faded and damaged, but I have the negative somewhere) remains among my personal favorites of all the pictures I took during my newspaper years.
The hypocrisy of keeping Pete out of the Hall of Fame all these years is beyond description, considering what we know of so many who were allowed to be inducted. It’s not the Moral Majority Hall of Fame. It’s the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It’s too late now. Any posthumous induction would be next to meaningless. As Pete said in interviews, he hoped it happened during his lifetime because induction is for the fans, the family, and the inductee to enjoy together.
Pete Rose was a flawed human being, as are all human beings. Major League Baseball’s perpetual grudge against its greatest ambassador is unforgiveable.
Johnny Bench likes to say that if you think Pete should be allowed into the Hall of Fame, go home and tell your kids that the rules don’t matter.
In fact, we should tell our kids — or grandkids — that the rules do matter. But so does forgiveness. Punishing Pete for a few years or even a couple of decades should have been enough. Then MLB should have said, “Hey Pete, welcome back.” Or, they could have kept him banned from baseball but made him eligible for the Hall of Fame. They changed the rules to keep him off the ballot; they could have changed the rules again to allow him on it.
By taking such an unyielding stance, Major League Baseball has set a worse example than Pete Rose ever did.
Thanks for making baseball so much fun to watch, Pete. And thanks for that picture.
Introducing the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Map
When I was writing for The Washington Post, I often wrote about the need for more civility and respect among people holding polar opposite political views. We get nowhere hurling insults at each other. We need to re-learn the art of tolerating and even sustaining friendships with people who strongly disagree with our political opinions.
To that end, one of the people who reached out to me after reading my columns was Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founding executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse. Carolyn, in turn, is working with another group, the National Civic League, which is trying to promote positive discourse and raise awareness of just how many groups and organizations there are across the U.S. promoting democracy and civic engagement in as nonpartisan a way as possible (I believe few things can be truly and completely nonpartisan — nor should they be). The goal is to raise awareness — and maybe eventually bring people together — based on their common love of democracy and furthering productive discourse.
Some of the organizations you find on the “Democracy Ecosystem Map” may strike you as left-leaning, others as right-leaning. That’s OK. In the United States, we all have to share this land and tolerate our differences — and learn to have civil conversations along the way.
Following is an announcement from the National Civic League about a big development in regard to their efforts to map participating organizations across the first 10 states they tackled.
The National Civic League is proud to announce the release of data from ten states for the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Map, a groundbreaking, interactive tool that highlights the organizations, resources, connections, and ideas that sustain and strengthen democratic practices across the U.S.
At a time when democracy faces serious challenges, this map offers a powerful reminder of the vast network of groups working to protect and enhance our democracy. It not only raises awareness of their efforts but also fosters hope for a more secure democratic future by encouraging collaboration, sharing ideas, and promoting strategic funding.
Now Available: First 10 States Mapped
Explore the 1,257 organizations already mapped in the following states:
Alaska
Georgia
Kentucky
Nebraska
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Are you part of an organization that’s not listed yet? Help us grow the map by adding your group to the ecosystem!
How Can the Map Help You?
· Practitioners: Forge new connections within and beyond your existing networks.
· Funders: Identify high-impact opportunities for strategic investments.
· Community Leaders: Understand your local civic landscape and explore ways to engage citizens more meaningfully.
· The American People: Discover how to get involved and strengthen democracy in your community.
Take the map for a spin! Find ways to collaborate, invest, volunteer, research, and more.
Stay tuned—data and additional functionality for the next ten states will be released in late-October!
‘MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal,’ in print & eBook
My new book, “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal — And Other Shocking Notions,” is available on Amazon. Buy it here.
The book (actually much thicker than the illustrations above indicate — the hardcover and paperback are each 453 pages) is a compilation of many of the columns I wrote for The Washington Post from 2017 to 2023, and covers a variety of topics.
Here’s a link to our website dedicated to the book. Thank you!
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Thank you, Gary.. glad you are back, missed your views!
Welcome back and just in the nick of time.