Cincinnati City Council member Laketa Cole will spend the next couple of weeks in Hawaii and then South Korea and Vietnam. The Enquirer reports that here. Some people just make my job fun. Ms. Cole just did. First, let's be fair. This junket is not paid for by taxpayers. Surprisingly. Nevertheless, it is irresponsible and a little arrogant. It is irresponsible to be making a two-week journey halfway around the world when our city faces a growing deficit and looming job layoffs. Especially when you have been appointed to the most powerful chairmanship on the city council--the Finance Committee chairmanship. The trip is a little arrogant because this is the election season. Is Ms. Cole so comfortable in her position on the council that she doesn't feel the need to connect with the voters for two weeks during the final stretch of the campaign season? I'll concede that Ms. Cole is well positioned to win re-election. But, campaigns are important to the function of our democracy because they make our elected leaders go into the community and hear from the voters. My friends in this campaign tell me that the voters are deeply concerned about public safety and the financial state of the city. Ms. Cole should have stayed in the United States and listened to the voters. She's not consulting me on her travel schedule these days. Had she done that, I would've told her to go to Greece! And...
Rob Portman had a great event at the Western Hills Country Club. The west side showed up big for Rob and that was great to see.
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Several GOP candidates received the ever-important Fraternal Order of Police imprimatur yesterday. Brad Wenstrup, Leslie Ghiz, Chris Monzel, Charlie Winburn, and Amy Murray all were recommended by the FOP for election to the council. Good work!
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The Hamilton County GOP is hosting two critical fundraisers in the coming weeks. Save these dates:
October 20, 2009 -- 5:00p - 7:00p -- Embers Restaurant
October 29, 2009 -- 5:00p - 7:00p -- Western Hills Country Club
We are having an Eastside-Westside challenge to see which part of Hamilton County can support the GOP the best. More information will follow on this blog. For more information on how to get in on the fun, contact Maggie Wuellner at maggien@hc-gop.org or 513-381-5454.
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President Obama is a rookie. Politically, we've seen it time and again. He's too smart to be this bad for long. The GOP needs to offer great ideas and great candidates. Counting on his continued stumbles is not an agenda for the future. We have these candidates and these ideas and I'm excited to see them emerge.
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Chris McDowell is running a great campaign for the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education. He's a great man and a great candidate. The kids who attend city schools would be well-served by Chris McDowell on that board.
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We are actively seeking a speaker for our Lincoln-Reagan dinner for February. Finding a great speaker is always a challenge. We try to reach every major contender for President. We also try and get other GOP "celebrities." That process is ongoing.
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The Bengals are 3-1. A team can play well and lose. A team can play poorly and win. I'll take the latter.
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I'm proud of our candidates and our campaigns all across the county. We have great people running in places like Delhi, Springfield Township, Green, Colerain, Anderson, Symmes, Sycamore, Blue Ash, Sharonville and all over. People who care about their communities subject themselves to the rigors of a campaign and there is something noble about that. Many of these jobs are not glamorous, but they make up the fabric of our democracy and I'm always happy to see people willing to serve.
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Have a great Tuesday.
