ELECTION 2006: REV. ART WILL ACCEPT A DRAFT...

ITEM: Stephanie Studebaker, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Representative, 3rd District (OH), who was challenging the  incumbent - was arrested this week, along with her husband, Sam, following a reported domestic dispute.

The information that Mr. Studebaker called his Dad (who then called the Sheriff's office) 'cuz his wife was kickin' his ass is the stuff of reality TV - or Surreality TV (Springer Show).

 I had high hopes for Stephanie Studebaker. I have fairly LOATHED the one-term incumbent Mike Turner since he first ran for Mayor of Dayton. After serving two years as Mayor, Turner ran for the vacated seat of long-time Congressman Tony Hall, a Democrat. From my personal perspective, Turner's tenure as Mayor was marked by refusal to recognize the demographic and population changes in the city which signalled a need to reorder budget priorities to address shrinking tax revenues. His successor has been presented with the task of closing fire stations and reducing the number of municipal employees in order to maintain fiscal solvency - a task made more difficult because the Turner administration had given no indication that the city was heading for a near-term day of fiscal reckoning.

As mayor, the "stealth" anti-Choice Mike Turner, courted the right-wing evangelicals by turning the traditional Mayor's "Prayer Breakfast" into a forum for decidedly theocracist speakers, including a preacher prominently associated with the patriarchist organization "Promise Keepers". When the City Commission appeared poised to extend civil rights protection to members of the GLBT community, Turner rallied support from conservative preachers, including influential African-American church leaders, to mount a last-minute campaign to turn the commissioners. As a result, the initiative was defeated by one "reconsidered" vote.

It appears that Ms. Studebaker's chances of upsetting the incumbent congressman were very slim - if fundraising is an indicator in the race - and it almost always is.  With the announcement of her withdrawal from the campaign, the Montgomery County Democratic Party has been presented with an opportunity to choose a more seasoned, better-known candidate to oppose Turner. The replacement must be someone who can hit the ground running - and raising big buck$ in a hurry. The Montgomery County Dem chair, Dennis Lieberman, has floated the name of former Congressman Tony Hall, who keeps busy as an activist on the global hunger front, but apparently has no position that would keep him from running. 

If Tony Hall should accept the invitation to run, it seems a good bet that he would unseat the one-term Republican in this year when GOP incumbents seem to be vulnerable, particularly in Ohio, where corruption at the state level seems to have sickened a majority of the electorate who will cast ballots in November. Ohio has operated effectively (though ineffectually) as a one-party state since the early '90s.

Da Rev will accept a draft...   

(Campaign Photo)

I am perfectly happy in my present position as a retired eccentric - however, I would probably have to respond if a groundswell builds in anticipation of my candidacy for Congress. I don't live in the 3rd District, but I often attend concerts and eat in restaurants in the district with the Pagan Baby. Besides, Ohio law says it doesn't matter what district you live in!

First, I'd like to say, as an indicator of my support for traditional values, I will campaign in a Loewy-designed '53 Studebaker two-tone hardtop with a V-8 engine sucking premium leaded.

I offer the following as qualifications:

1) I admit upfront that I've done EVERYTHING at least once - and I damn well ENJOYED it!

2) I've outlived any potential scandals that might embarrass my family or supporters - and besides - most of those women are OLD now!

3) I can do dinners with fundraisers 'til all the sacred cows come home to roost.

4) I know a bunch of rich, guilt-stricken liberals.

5) I will compose and perform my own campaign theme song - on a 12-string guitar - using both hands...

6) As a meat food products purveyor, I have conveyed mass quantities of pork, fresh and processed, to merchants of both Jewish and Palestinian extraction.

7) I expect my wife could beat me in a fair fight - and I've never tested that assumption.

8) As evidence of my "smack dab in the middle of the road" political philosophy - I offer my voting history, which includes pulling the lever for Goldwater AND McGovern... and Nixon and Carter.

9) While standing on the white line in the middle of Ohio SR73 in Waynesville, I pledged my support to Republican Buz Lukens and Democrat Jim Ruppert who opposed each other for a congressional seat in a district in which I was not a resident.

10) I assure every potential constituent that I do NOT favor any one religion over another.

11) War is Hell. I don't believe in Hell.

Oh - a couple more things I have taken Senator Lieberman's recent primary experience as an object lesson - I promise: NO WHINING & NO RIDICULOUS HIGH-FIVING of everyone in sight as if I'm auditioning for "River Dance"...

I think I would have a fair chance of winning if Turner slips up between now and November. For example, if he were found in bed with a dead girl - or a live boy...

IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!!

 WHAT WOULD FDR SAY?
"TURN LEFT AT THE NEXT ELECTION!"