Friday, November 03, 2006

House 41: Brian Williams' Return Volley.

Add Brian Williams to the list of Dems who have learned the lessons of 2004 and will not sit back and take all this crap. Today I got a mailer using the ABJ editorial Redhorse flagged. And note to campaigns everywhere: They asked for permission first. Bloggers everywhere, give me an "Amen!"


I do wonder about the ABJ treating the illegals campaign as just boys will be boys or something. Earlier this week I got a letter from Brian about the Guns for Illegals part of the sleaze campaign against him.



Reading the letter, it's clear Brian will still pretty warm when he wrote it. Generally, it's not good to compose political communication when angry, though Brian angry is still a pretty mellow guy, so this isn't a disaster. And it comes off as sincere and, darn it, just so Brian.

Nonetheless, the email I got today on the issue is far better. An excerpt:

    AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE

    First, thank you for calling and e-mailing me with your concerns.
    Because I have had inquiries, this response is being directed to all
    e-mails on file. If you wish to share this message with your neighbors,
    you may feel free to do so.

    I want to take this opportunity to go over my voting record. Also,
    below I have provided links so you my word AND verification - you can
    READ about the legislation I have voted on as a Member of the General
    Assembly. In addition, the Ohio Channel tapes actual floor votes and
    speeches if you are interested in seeing them.

    Regarding my "no" vote on House Bill 347, the legislation does include a
    provision that bans concealed carry permits for illegal immigrants, but
    it is a tiny provision in a very large bill. The main point of the bill
    was to prevent cities like Akron and Cleveland from deciding for
    themselves whether to allow handguns in their parks. So, by voting
    against the bill, I took a stand for the right of local communities to
    set their own rules for their parks. Our local law enforcement and the
    Akron Beacon Journal all took sides against the bill.

    How insignificant was the illegal immigration provision?
    -- Jim Aslanides, the sponsor, spent just eight seconds (less than a
    full sentence) discussing it during the course of a 10-minute
    explanation of the bill last March.

    -- If there is some sort of crisis of county sheriffs handing out
    concealed carry permits to illegal immigrants, Republicans don't seem
    too concerned. For the past seven months, the Ohio Senate has failed to
    act on this bill.

    -- Further, I received correspondence from PRO-gun carry advocates who
    did NOT approve of the bill. They said that the original bill on
    concealed carry, took 12 years to pass, and they wanted no changes to
    the legislation.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Given the two candidates this race should be a complete runaway victory for Williams. Unfortunately there are people out there that believe everything they read and with the huge amount of money spent by the GOP to slander Brian's name this race could be closer than it should. Tom Cousineau has missed 90% of the scheduled debates between the two candidates. The reason for this is because Williams knowledge and expertise in education makes Cousineau look like a fool when it comes time to debate the issues. The GOP likely told Cousineau to skip the debates just as they told Marilyn Slaby two years ago. You do not want to debate the issue of Education with Williams, he will eat you up and spit you out. If Williams loses this race the state of Ohio will lose its best shot at school funding reform because Williams knows what needs to be done and how to do it. With the Democrats possibly taking more control of the House Williams just might get an opportunity to get some attention for his plans.
Cousineau is qualified to coach the State House football team but not much else.

54cermak said...

I saw Brian at the grocery store yesterday and he seemed upbeat and relaxed. Several people were stopping him and talking with him or just saying hi.

Its too bad I don't live in his district to give him my vote.

Anonymous said...

I DO live in the 41st district and I wish I could knock on all the doors where I see Cousineau signs and explain the huge difference between the two candidates. Unfortunately there are those staunch republicans that will vote Republican no matter who the candidate is. Politics is a sickening game and it demoralizes me when I see a good, honest candidate lose to an idiot. Let's hope this is not the case in this race. GO WILLIAMS