Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Inaugeration Day

For those of you still in Akron and out of the Dem loop, the hot ticket today is a watch party co-sponsored by Reps Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan at the Akron Civic. Details here.

My teaching schedule neatly coincides with the event, so no tweets or liveblogs around here. I have it on DVR, so maybe some reaction later.

Enjoy.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I TOLD YOU PHO!!!!



Scene Magazine

Volume 15, Issue 90
Published February 7th, 2009
News Lead
Mope
Summit County Republicans Throw Themselves A Pity Party

On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, a splinter faction of the Summit County Republican Party met in a small conference room in Akron's Four Points Sheraton to discuss plans for the future. These were members of the self-titled "New Republicans" of Summit County, the upper-class junta that tried to unseat Alex Arshinkoff in an unsuccessful coup last year.

It was a somber event, though they tried to spin their increasing irrelevance as best they could. One man stood up to explain how Obama's victory was actually a failure, since he outspent McCain, yet only won by a "small margin." The only real issue discussed was how they needed to utilize e-mail and Facebook in upcoming elections, a point somewhat lost on the mostly geriatric crowd.

The meeting was much like the Festivus tradition of "the airing of grievances," as Arshinkoff's supporters called for unity while the "New Republicans" demanded inclusion. Don Varian, a loyalist to state senator and gubernatorial candidate Kevin Coughlin, got himself in a tizzy at one point, claiming Summit County's GOP was ruled by a "clique" which he had never been asked to join, so he wouldn't let them join his club either! So there.

Finally, Coughlin stepped up. With Coughlin, a "family-values" Ÿber-conservative, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes he'll demand green license plates for sex offenders. Sometimes he'll talk about death certificates for aborted fetuses. Sometimes, as he did with Scene, he will tell you how Arshinkoff once made a pass at him at a Republican event. But on Monday, Coughlin blamed the media. Apparently, journalists never gave local Republicans a chance because we were too busy fawning over Obama and praising Ted Strickland.

You're right, Senator. Maybe it is time for us to pay a little more attention to you. - James Renner