Candidates Summary by Matt Miller

My name is Matthew Miller and I am a pro-life, Bible-believing, born again Christian with an interest in politics. I believe that the Bible contains principles that should be used in governing. I have made contributions to this blog in the past, and I will begin making weekly posts on Thursdays. For my first weekly post I have information about Rebuplican candidates. I'll give you both the good and the bad. I am not endorsing anyone except Mary Taylor and Sandra O'Brien.

Abortion

R-Ken Blackwell (Governor) – “Ken Blackwell has always been pro-life. The first obligation of government is to protect innocent life. As Governor, Ken Blackwell would advance a culture of life, just as he has for 30 years, as Mayor of Cincinnati, Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission and in statewide office. Ken Blackwell's grandmother made it clear to him when he was young when she said birth is but a change of address. All children in the womb or outside should be guaranteed the right to life. We must promote a culture of life, and we start doing so by defending defenseless unborn children.” (from Blackwell’s website)

R-Mike DeWine (U.S. Senate) – “I am pro-life.”

R-Sandra O’Brien (for Treasurer) is Pro Life. She believes that life begins at conception and that abortion is an act that has two victims, the child and the mother. All voters should know that they have a clear choice on the issue of abortion. (from O'Brien's website)

R-Betty Montgomery (for Attorney General) is against legalizing partial-birth abortion, government funding of abortion, and is for parental consent laws and two murder charges when a pregnant woman is murdered, but says, ” …beyond these restrictions, I do not believe that the awesome power of government should intrude into the personal life of Ohioans to make any further mandates.” http://www.bettymontgomery.com/assets/leadership/leadership_pdf_1.pdf

R-Mary Taylor (for State Auditor) is a cosponsor of Ohio HB 228, which if passed, would ban abortion in Ohio.

Homosexual rights, Gay Marriage/Civil Unions

On his website, the defeated primary gubernatorial candidate Jim Petro said he supports a Federal Marriage Amendment, but he did oppose Issue 1 (of 2004), the Ohio Marriage Amendment that passed with overwhelming voter support. Petro says that the reason why he supports the Federal Amendment and not the State Amendment is because the language of the State Amendment is vague, and subjects the State of Ohio to potential lawsuits. But the reason why the language is vague is because it protects Ohio from having to recognize anything having the “qualities of marriage” between same sex couples. The proposed Federal amendment contains no language that would disallow civil unions or anything else that is an attempt to mimic gay marriage, but called by a different name. It is precisely this added language that Republicans Petro, Governor Taft, Senator Mike DeWine (up for U.S. Senate this year), and Senator George Voinovich have called “vague” in the State Amendment that is what makes it effective. The reasons why they were against it were fear of losing businesses to other states. DOMA is like the Federal Amendment proposal. It is useless. Bill Clinton signed DOMA into law.

See the Citizens for Community Values survey for the other candidates’ responses on this question.

Senate Filibusters of Judicial Nominees

Mike DeWine is one of the seven Republican senators who compromised against the proposal to change the rules of the Senate to disallow filibusters of the President’s judicial nominees.

2nd Amendment rights

Sandra (O’Brien) is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. She believes that law abiding citizens have the right to own firearms for hunting, sport shooting, or personal protection. Sandra supports concealed carry. She is a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). All voters should know that they have a clear choice on the issue of the Second Amendment.

More on Blackwell

After drumming up support for his Taxes and Expenditures Limitation Amendment, which would have limited wasteful spending in Ohio, Blackwell abandoned it.
In the hotly contested Republican primary, Jim Petro ran ads saying that Blackwell invested in stocks which included gambling, electronic voting machines, radio stations which use vulgar language, and even a pharmaceutical company that makes abortion pills. Blackwell said that he had been unaware of the investments because he doesn’t manage his finances himself. He has already sold the voting machine stock at a loss, and is working with the Ohio Right to Life to clean up the rest of his portfolio.

“…he is opposed to the expansion of state-sponsored gambling because it does more harm than good.”

From the Toledo Blade June 5, 2005:

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell was not initially concerned or even shocked that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation had invested $50 million in rare coins.

In fact, Mr. Blackwell told The Blade on April 5 (2005) that "most people" wouldn't find it "unreasonable" that the state had invested in rare coins with Tom Noe, who has said through his attorneys that at least $10 million of the state's assets are missing.

"When you run a fund the size of $18 billion and you're looking at $50 million, beyond what one's disposition might be, is that an irresponsible amount of risk? Most people would say no," Mr. Blackwell said on April 5 (2005) - two days after The Blade's initial report on the coin investment.

Sunday, January 09, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state's chief elections officer, accused of mishandling the presidential vote in Ohio, sent a fund-raising letter for his own 2006 gubernatorial campaign that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions.

A pledge card with the letter from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (search), a Republican who co-chaired the Bush-Cheney election campaign in Ohio, said "corporate & personal checks are welcome."

Corporate donations are illegal in Ohio. His spokesman, Carlo LoParo, said Saturday that any corporate donations would be returned. Blackwell said the request sent to GOP donors and activists was an oversight. His campaign's fund-raising coordinator, Jeff Ledbetter, blamed a printer for the mistake, saying it used a template for an issue committee, which is allowed to accept corporate donations. Ledbetter told The Columbus Dispatch that no corporate donations had been received in response to the letter. Blackwell's letter also praises Republicans for helping deliver Ohio to President Bush. U.S. Rep. John Conyers (search), D-Mich., who prepared a report on election problems in Ohio, said the letter supports suspicions that Blackwell's actions as secretary of state during the election "stemmed from partisan political motivations" to help Bush.