As an Ohio resident, I learned some sad, yet valuable lessons. The GOP pretty much owns this state thanks to lawless gerrymandering and political corruption. The super-majority legislature is already making autocratic moves to tighten control on voting, public education, gun safety, and LGBTQ+ rights. They are wasting no time cementing their control.
As an Ohio resident, I learned some sad, yet valuable lessons. The GOP pretty much owns this state thanks to lawless gerrymandering and political corruption. The super-majority legislature is already making autocratic moves to tighten control on voting, public education, gun safety, and LGBTQ+ rights. They are wasting no time cementing their control.
Meg, the Dems in control have enabled this. I understand the fact of gerrymandering, but the way Dems run the same old campaigns, with the tired homilies and inane endorsements is just not working. And Ryan astonishingly, attempted to appeal to MAGAs by superficially aligning himself with Trump and relying on Bernie Kosar's endorsement v being brutally candid about the Coup, GOP complicit treason, lies and GOP votes against the public good - which might have struck home with agnostic voters!
It's ancient history now, but the Dems have already torpedoed their own candidates for not toeing the line. For instance, Dennis Kucinich was a powerful member of Congress, and perennially carried his district, along with having a strong following throughout northern Ohio. But he refused all corporate money and wouldn't be bought. He stood by his progressive policies (e.g., anti-MIC), and the DNC couldn't order hum around, so they gerrymandered his district out of existence. That was one of the stupidest things the DNC has ever done, among many, many other unforced errors they've made in the last couple decades.
I know Dennis personally since he was the mayor and a good friend served as his law director. First, Dennis was gerrymandered out of the House by Oh Republicans; next, he is not pragmatic, very bright, but tends to go against the grain for no purpose other than to make a meaningless statement, like voting against ACA, тАЬbecause it was not good enough.тАЭ How about supporting RFK Jr. who, even his family get is suffering from mental problems? I like Dennis, but he is looking in the wrong places to regain relevance.
Yes, I misspoke. The gerrymandering was Republican, yes, but the Dems threw all their support behind Kaptur and effectively shut Dennis out.
I backed Dennis 100% when he opposed the ACA, because it was NOT good enough. It was a huge giveaway to Big Insurance. And as someone who has used the program, I've found that it works fine if one is truly destitute, but if one is just a few notches above that, the premiums are very high and coverage is minimal.
RFK, Jr.? Absolutely no way. He's totally supportive of Israel, he's an anti-vaxxer, and even many of the major conservation organizations have turned against him. Also, he talks a good game against Bug Corp, but he's quick to take their money. No, thanks!
First, Dave Pepper, with his Harvard degree, was totally inadequate, more concerned with preserving his fiefdom than anything. I know Dennis, who is very bright, but went out of his way to create attention. I remember bumping into him at Shaker Sq, and asked him how in the hell he could vote against ACA, his response, not good enough. But, this was the first improvement to US national health since Medicare, and as all Republicans were opposed, it was emblematic of how "progressives" ( closet Marxist Socialists who see glasses as 30% empty) don't get the Framers set up a Democratic process that depended on negotiations conducted in "good faith" to reach a compromise to enact legislation. And I don't know what progressive policies means. Establishment Dems have initiated all legislation of benefidicial interest to the public good. Harry Truman first proposed national health, and Nixon. Further, the GOP gerrymandered 2 Democratic districts into one, which left Dennis in the lurch.
I agree with you. In Ohio, and several other states, Dems continue to run tired, old candidates when they need to be fielding newer younger folks for election. On the state level, there isn't urgency, but instead an incipient defeatism and lack of movement to counter the corruption and lawlessness of the GOP here. I like Ryan as a candidate, but by trying to be all things to all voters he screwed himself. Saying he voted with Trump was not a selling point for me. Now we're stuck with Vance and I think Sherrod Brown is going to have a tough time beating whoever the GOP decides to throw up against him in two years. I am seriously considering moving to Michigan where the Dems are fighting for us.
Thank you for stating this. My folks were from Ohio and we went back to visit relatives when I was a kid. It always seemed like a fairly conservative, but nice place. I have been horrified watching it become a home for bigots and right-wingers. This has made me incredibly sad. What happened?
The southern half of the state has always been much more conservative than the north. Add in gerrymandering and other intense efforts by the GOP, combined with lackluster messaging and lack of support by the Dems, and the southern half has taken over. As part of the Rust Belt, Ohio has suffered big losses in jobs (especially in the once-numerous steel mills), and the Dems haven't done much to help. After all, Ohio has become a fly-over state. Unfortunately, many people don't stop to question the GOP's endless assurances about how much they've done for our state, as is the same case elsewhere. The GOP has done nothing good for Ohio in decades, but that doesn't stop them from claiming they have.
It has become a deep-red Trump-supporting state. Quite a few militias all over the state. Active KKK cells are in play as well. Legislature is in control. Open-carry. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are everywhere. I will leave as soon as I can.
Desperate to belong, deluded, and possessing no critical thinking skills. Additionally, of course, they either espouse or turn a blind eye to TFG's racism, misogyny, lawlessness, hypocrisy, and other sins.
I live in Cleveland, which is solidly blue, and must watch with sadness while most of the rest of the state has gone red. I agree, Meg, the gerrymandering has fixed the results for the GOP. This, despite the fact that a more equitable map had been proposed in plenty of time for the midterms.
I wasn't a big fan of Tim Ryan, but it beggars belief that a conman like Vance could have prevailed. Perilous times for our state, and the country, indeed!
My view from Shaker Hts, was that Ryan ran the worst campaign ever, considering he tried to align himself with Putin's Puppet, in a way, and then relied on Bernie Kosar's endorsement v telling Ohio citizens exactly how the GOP has shafted them with particular examples, like the GOP blocked Dem efforts to stop price gauging by Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Food. He could have attempted to educate the ignorant by explaining why there was no good reason for the price of gas or chickens to go up!
Yes! Exactly so! That's why I really couldn't get behind Ryan. Throwing footballs through TV screens? Really? And trying to make himself into Rethuglican-lite was a calculated move that not only repelled me, it backfired overall. He came across sounding a LOT like Joe Manchin, and that was a bad move. He ended up alienating the northern half of the state and not convincing the southern half.
I fully understand how bone headed Ryan campaigned, but I also understand how Democrats, especially the ones who claim to be "progressive" have no understanding of what it means to be pragmatic. So to have not either voted for Ryan or not supported him, was self-defeating.
I held my nose too, as his campaign revealed he does not have the spine to stand up for truth, or maybe just not the wisdom and judgment to turn on fence sitters and disregard the entrenched MAGA ignorant racists. Regarding "progressives" - liberal Dems and Dems want the same thing Progressives want... and have always been focused on improving and protecting the public good. Conservative Dems, a term coined by the Fourth Estate, are the ones who have realistically and pragmatically realized the road to passing legislation depends on negotiating compromises! And the liberal Republicans with "conservative" Dems are the ones that have enacted social welfare benefits, civil rights and voting rights... and been Partisans for America. There are no liberal Republicans now, and the GOP has become the UAP - the Un American Party. Progressives seem to either ignore this or be unaware that in the past, it required pragmatic compromise, and now the GOP has been compromised by Russian Oligarch political bribes/donations... which enabled Putin's Puppet and his complicit Cabal to engage in overt Treason. The idea that Dems have not asked for enough or tried to shoot the moon is not objective or reality based.
DeSantis couldn't himself prevail using gerrymandering unless he was able to change the state line.
He is a skillful politician; really a master player who calculates every move, even those he's pretty sure he will lose out on in the long run. I don't like him, but I have to give him credit for that ability. The courts are a pawn in his game; throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks and if it doesn't, then blame the courts.
He gerrymandered the crap out of districts but he's hardly alone and both parties have been guilty of doing that for a long time. That's a failure in the system design that neither party has been really strong at wanting to change.
At the end of the day, with a 50% +/- 2-3% split on a national level, we will always see similar results and swings in results.
Actually the vast majority of Dems in Congress DID try to end partisan gerrymandering and tried to pass through various iterations of the For the People Act but every Rep. opposed it. They can't win without gaming the system. The Redmap Redistricting plan has meant that most purple/red states now have extreme partisan gerrymandering and some important D-run states now have independent or bipartisan district drawing measures. The Ds, of course, then lose out.
Laura, my comment was meant to be more over a longer-term history. I agree with you on the current context and the gerrymandering is the only way they can win in many places.
Independent/Bipartisan commissions are much better, however they are not totally "independent". They prevent the gross abuse of gerrymandering but still allow it on a subtle level. Giving more potential votes to one side or the other in a lopsided district can still affect the map, as it did in CO CD3, for example.
The geo-diversity of the country isn't conducive to creating an easy solution to the problem.
DeSantis won by nearly 20%. That's not gerrymandering.
Democrats in Ohio lost 10 of 15 races and 8 of those weren't close at all. That doesn't sound so much like gerrymandering as getting beat at the ballot box.
Vance did much worse than DeWine so that's a positive for Democrats.
DeSantis is an authoritarian! HeтАЩs axed his way through FloridaтАЩs laws, judgeships and school boards, destroyed school curriculum because he тАЬknows best what should and should not be taught to
ChildrenтАЭ! This huckster just wants to be President and the Fla. governorship is his springboard Heaven help us if the white, Christian GOP buys him the votes to get there!!!
As an Ohio resident, I learned some sad, yet valuable lessons. The GOP pretty much owns this state thanks to lawless gerrymandering and political corruption. The super-majority legislature is already making autocratic moves to tighten control on voting, public education, gun safety, and LGBTQ+ rights. They are wasting no time cementing their control.
Meg, the Dems in control have enabled this. I understand the fact of gerrymandering, but the way Dems run the same old campaigns, with the tired homilies and inane endorsements is just not working. And Ryan astonishingly, attempted to appeal to MAGAs by superficially aligning himself with Trump and relying on Bernie Kosar's endorsement v being brutally candid about the Coup, GOP complicit treason, lies and GOP votes against the public good - which might have struck home with agnostic voters!
It's ancient history now, but the Dems have already torpedoed their own candidates for not toeing the line. For instance, Dennis Kucinich was a powerful member of Congress, and perennially carried his district, along with having a strong following throughout northern Ohio. But he refused all corporate money and wouldn't be bought. He stood by his progressive policies (e.g., anti-MIC), and the DNC couldn't order hum around, so they gerrymandered his district out of existence. That was one of the stupidest things the DNC has ever done, among many, many other unforced errors they've made in the last couple decades.
Denise,
I know Dennis personally since he was the mayor and a good friend served as his law director. First, Dennis was gerrymandered out of the House by Oh Republicans; next, he is not pragmatic, very bright, but tends to go against the grain for no purpose other than to make a meaningless statement, like voting against ACA, тАЬbecause it was not good enough.тАЭ How about supporting RFK Jr. who, even his family get is suffering from mental problems? I like Dennis, but he is looking in the wrong places to regain relevance.
Yes, I misspoke. The gerrymandering was Republican, yes, but the Dems threw all their support behind Kaptur and effectively shut Dennis out.
I backed Dennis 100% when he opposed the ACA, because it was NOT good enough. It was a huge giveaway to Big Insurance. And as someone who has used the program, I've found that it works fine if one is truly destitute, but if one is just a few notches above that, the premiums are very high and coverage is minimal.
RFK, Jr.? Absolutely no way. He's totally supportive of Israel, he's an anti-vaxxer, and even many of the major conservation organizations have turned against him. Also, he talks a good game against Bug Corp, but he's quick to take their money. No, thanks!
First, Dave Pepper, with his Harvard degree, was totally inadequate, more concerned with preserving his fiefdom than anything. I know Dennis, who is very bright, but went out of his way to create attention. I remember bumping into him at Shaker Sq, and asked him how in the hell he could vote against ACA, his response, not good enough. But, this was the first improvement to US national health since Medicare, and as all Republicans were opposed, it was emblematic of how "progressives" ( closet Marxist Socialists who see glasses as 30% empty) don't get the Framers set up a Democratic process that depended on negotiations conducted in "good faith" to reach a compromise to enact legislation. And I don't know what progressive policies means. Establishment Dems have initiated all legislation of benefidicial interest to the public good. Harry Truman first proposed national health, and Nixon. Further, the GOP gerrymandered 2 Democratic districts into one, which left Dennis in the lurch.
I agree with you. In Ohio, and several other states, Dems continue to run tired, old candidates when they need to be fielding newer younger folks for election. On the state level, there isn't urgency, but instead an incipient defeatism and lack of movement to counter the corruption and lawlessness of the GOP here. I like Ryan as a candidate, but by trying to be all things to all voters he screwed himself. Saying he voted with Trump was not a selling point for me. Now we're stuck with Vance and I think Sherrod Brown is going to have a tough time beating whoever the GOP decides to throw up against him in two years. I am seriously considering moving to Michigan where the Dems are fighting for us.
Spot on!! i am staying in Shaker... my wife is from the UP... too cold. How dumb does it get for a Dem to say he voted with Putin's Puppet.
Thank you for stating this. My folks were from Ohio and we went back to visit relatives when I was a kid. It always seemed like a fairly conservative, but nice place. I have been horrified watching it become a home for bigots and right-wingers. This has made me incredibly sad. What happened?
The southern half of the state has always been much more conservative than the north. Add in gerrymandering and other intense efforts by the GOP, combined with lackluster messaging and lack of support by the Dems, and the southern half has taken over. As part of the Rust Belt, Ohio has suffered big losses in jobs (especially in the once-numerous steel mills), and the Dems haven't done much to help. After all, Ohio has become a fly-over state. Unfortunately, many people don't stop to question the GOP's endless assurances about how much they've done for our state, as is the same case elsewhere. The GOP has done nothing good for Ohio in decades, but that doesn't stop them from claiming they have.
It has become a deep-red Trump-supporting state. Quite a few militias all over the state. Active KKK cells are in play as well. Legislature is in control. Open-carry. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are everywhere. I will leave as soon as I can.
I'm thankful every day that I live in the small, blue, saner part of the state. Half an hour outside Cleveland, the t***p signs fly.
T is such a soulless grifter. It makes me feel that these people must really be desperate. Just painfully sad.
Desperate to belong, deluded, and possessing no critical thinking skills. Additionally, of course, they either espouse or turn a blind eye to TFG's racism, misogyny, lawlessness, hypocrisy, and other sins.
Sadly, Americans have a long history of doing this. I don't want to be part of that and I know there are many Americans who feel the same way.
I hope you're right, Susan. Unfortunately, the mob mentality is all too prevalent.
Ouch. Sorry.
I live in Cleveland, which is solidly blue, and must watch with sadness while most of the rest of the state has gone red. I agree, Meg, the gerrymandering has fixed the results for the GOP. This, despite the fact that a more equitable map had been proposed in plenty of time for the midterms.
I wasn't a big fan of Tim Ryan, but it beggars belief that a conman like Vance could have prevailed. Perilous times for our state, and the country, indeed!
My view from Shaker Hts, was that Ryan ran the worst campaign ever, considering he tried to align himself with Putin's Puppet, in a way, and then relied on Bernie Kosar's endorsement v telling Ohio citizens exactly how the GOP has shafted them with particular examples, like the GOP blocked Dem efforts to stop price gauging by Big Oil, Big Pharma and Big Food. He could have attempted to educate the ignorant by explaining why there was no good reason for the price of gas or chickens to go up!
Yes! Exactly so! That's why I really couldn't get behind Ryan. Throwing footballs through TV screens? Really? And trying to make himself into Rethuglican-lite was a calculated move that not only repelled me, it backfired overall. He came across sounding a LOT like Joe Manchin, and that was a bad move. He ended up alienating the northern half of the state and not convincing the southern half.
yup!
I fully understand how bone headed Ryan campaigned, but I also understand how Democrats, especially the ones who claim to be "progressive" have no understanding of what it means to be pragmatic. So to have not either voted for Ryan or not supported him, was self-defeating.
I disagree with your comments about Progressives, but I did hold my nose and vote for Ryan, DINO that he appears to be. For all the good it did.
I held my nose too, as his campaign revealed he does not have the spine to stand up for truth, or maybe just not the wisdom and judgment to turn on fence sitters and disregard the entrenched MAGA ignorant racists. Regarding "progressives" - liberal Dems and Dems want the same thing Progressives want... and have always been focused on improving and protecting the public good. Conservative Dems, a term coined by the Fourth Estate, are the ones who have realistically and pragmatically realized the road to passing legislation depends on negotiating compromises! And the liberal Republicans with "conservative" Dems are the ones that have enacted social welfare benefits, civil rights and voting rights... and been Partisans for America. There are no liberal Republicans now, and the GOP has become the UAP - the Un American Party. Progressives seem to either ignore this or be unaware that in the past, it required pragmatic compromise, and now the GOP has been compromised by Russian Oligarch political bribes/donations... which enabled Putin's Puppet and his complicit Cabal to engage in overt Treason. The idea that Dems have not asked for enough or tried to shoot the moon is not objective or reality based.
He prevailed, as did Florida nut jobs, due to illegal gerrymandering by DeSantis
DeSantis couldn't himself prevail using gerrymandering unless he was able to change the state line.
He is a skillful politician; really a master player who calculates every move, even those he's pretty sure he will lose out on in the long run. I don't like him, but I have to give him credit for that ability. The courts are a pawn in his game; throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks and if it doesn't, then blame the courts.
He gerrymandered the crap out of districts but he's hardly alone and both parties have been guilty of doing that for a long time. That's a failure in the system design that neither party has been really strong at wanting to change.
At the end of the day, with a 50% +/- 2-3% split on a national level, we will always see similar results and swings in results.
Actually the vast majority of Dems in Congress DID try to end partisan gerrymandering and tried to pass through various iterations of the For the People Act but every Rep. opposed it. They can't win without gaming the system. The Redmap Redistricting plan has meant that most purple/red states now have extreme partisan gerrymandering and some important D-run states now have independent or bipartisan district drawing measures. The Ds, of course, then lose out.
Laura, my comment was meant to be more over a longer-term history. I agree with you on the current context and the gerrymandering is the only way they can win in many places.
Independent/Bipartisan commissions are much better, however they are not totally "independent". They prevent the gross abuse of gerrymandering but still allow it on a subtle level. Giving more potential votes to one side or the other in a lopsided district can still affect the map, as it did in CO CD3, for example.
The geo-diversity of the country isn't conducive to creating an easy solution to the problem.
DeSantis won by nearly 20%. That's not gerrymandering.
Democrats in Ohio lost 10 of 15 races and 8 of those weren't close at all. That doesn't sound so much like gerrymandering as getting beat at the ballot box.
Vance did much worse than DeWine so that's a positive for Democrats.
Also see the November 23rd editorial by Hayes Brown on MSNBC on line
The House was lost in NY and CA, very blue states where gerrymandering should favor Democrats.
It was surprising that Democrats did so well considering Republicans got 4 million more votes nationwide.
I refer you to both the Common Cause article, and the Pro Publica article on this issue.
Floridas was so extreme the courts ruled it illegal. At which point, DeSantis took it to HIS. Supreme Court which supported him
DeSantis is an authoritarian! HeтАЩs axed his way through FloridaтАЩs laws, judgeships and school boards, destroyed school curriculum because he тАЬknows best what should and should not be taught to
ChildrenтАЭ! This huckster just wants to be President and the Fla. governorship is his springboard Heaven help us if the white, Christian GOP buys him the votes to get there!!!
He won by nearly 20% so it wasn't just whites voting for him.
He has common sense, something sorely missing among politicians, especially some far left ones.
I'd trust more what he wants taught to children than many others. If I recall correctly, that law was passed by the legislature.
Your comment reads a bit racist. Substitute black for white, Muslim for Christian and Democrat for GOP and see how it sounds.
Well state, Mary
I find him more dangerous than trump and have stating this for months.
We can beat trump if he runs, but DeSantis is another story. HeтАЩs got the backing of the Murdoch money and media, and Moron Musk.
So it was legal per the supreme court. Not sure you have much of an argument.
тАЬLegalтАЭ only in the sense that it was ruled illegal by a non partisan court, but okтАЩd By a court completely appointed by DeSantis
Which court had the final say?