Some Post Primary Thoughts

With the actual ballots cast information still not yet published its interesting to see that over 5,000 absentee ballots were requested but only a little more than 2,600 were returned.

Once the voter information is published it will be telling to see who did the better job of stirring the pot and moving people into the polls.

As in past years, the sad part is that about 10% of the voting public will be making choices that affect 100% of the population and businesses in Lakewood.

Mayor FitzGerald's piece seemed to help Monique Smith at the absentee level, but I think the Lakewood Democratic piece helped Dan Shields more.

Can Monique Smith keep the party faithful to her side or do they side more with Dan Shields?

More to come in the next few weeks. Everyone, except Antonio is going to need to work a little harder to keep their voters in check and pick up new supporters along the way.

UPDATE: Here is the Unofficial breakdown by Precinct.

Lakewood is near the end of the page.

Results from Primary Day in Lakewood

Selected Election Results
Municipal
LAKEWOOD COUNCIL AT LARGE 41 of 41 precincts reported. (Bolded Moves on)

NICKIE J. ANTONIO 2400
DANIEL BARTOS 756
ANTHONY DAVIS 377
RYAN PATRICK DEMRO 1993
EDWARD M. MCCARTNEY 483
BRIAN POWERS 2283
JARED K. SHAPIRO 825
DANIEL E. SHIELDS 1157
MONIQUE SMITH 2196

Congratulations to all, now the hardwork begins!

Primary Day in Lakewood

Tomorrow the City begins to narrow down the list of candidates for the At-Large City Council race.

Here is the ballot:

You get to make three choices on the ballot:

Nickie Antonio - Incumbent
Daniel Bartos - Challenger
Anthony Davis - Challenger
Ryan Demro - Challenger
Edward McCartney - Challenger
Brian Powers - Incumbent
Jared Shapiro - Challenger
Daniel Shields - Challenger
Monique Smith - Challenger

Now looking at the historical data from the 2005 At-Large Race the level of turn out was a paltry 9.27 percent or about 3,935 ballots cast out of 42,441 registered voters. With no one garnering more than 1750 votes.

If my information is correct 2800 absentee ballots were requested, so the polling locations could be very sparse and the results should be known very quickly after 8 PM.

We have nine candidates and the primary will cut it down to six:
I think at 11 pm the six will be in alpha order - Antonio, Demro, Powers, Shapiro, Shields and Smith.

Now I would not be surprised in Bartos slid in there and maybe knocked Shields or Shapiro out. But, I think the Republicans will be trying to keep two GOP candidates for the General in November.

What has been interesting to me is the play amongst the Democrats. Who will the Democratic voters be going for. Will have to wait and see.

The Health Care Issue

As most know I grew up in the WNY area and the only remaining paper is The Buffalo News and it is very similar in many ways to the Cleveland Plain Dealer with its very strong lean to left.

Its a paper that I read every day, more so than the Plain Dealer.

As to the Health Care Issue, The News has been steady in its support of it, until this morning.

This editorial is summing up the fact that Obama has lost this round and needs to go back and rethink or redraft the legislation.

Here it is in its entirety:

Before he took office, one piece of advice President Obama took seriously was that "you can't succeed with your agenda without the cooperation of the Congress."

Perhaps he took that too seriously, because in at least two instances he has directed Congress to draft the actual legislation for what are perhaps his two most critical domestic problems. He should have proposed his own bills.

In the first case, he allowed Congress to draft the stimulus bill. It did, coming up with a hugely expensive plan -- an estimated $1.2 trillion when interest payments are factored in -- that minority Republicans quickly criticized as laden with pork. And then, the next day, it passed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill that included 8,575 spending "earmarks" from congressmen. The slow trickle of actual financial stimulus into the economy is good evidence that never would have passed a panel most concerned with need and effectiveness. Economic recovery might be a lot further along had the president drafted a bill that met those goals he was promoting.

Now, in the second instance, he is faced with multiple thousand-page proposals, in several House and Senate committees, and a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the two leading plans -- the House leadership's HR 3200 bill and Sen. Ted Kennedy's still-unnamed plan -- will drive up costs until 2019, when savings supposedly would take over. Be wary of any politician who wants to tap your wallet more deeply based on savings that might appear in 10 years.

Also, be wary of efforts to ram through such sweeping, financially freighted and dramatic reforms -- changes that would affect a sixth of the American economy -- on a political deadline.

The president is a gifted communicator, but even he cannot overcome the confusion the multiple, changing bills have created. And now he has a public uprising on his hands. Most people in the country don't trust the government to maintain the health care they now have, and while people realize costs have spiralled out of control, they don't believe the health bills will produce a solution. In fact, many worry that their health costs could accelerate more quickly with what has been proposed. They are right on both scores.

The bills have sought to add new programs that are staggering in their costs and potentially reduce existing health care, particularly for the elderly. There are calls for mandates that would escalate business costs, with potential stimulus-killing effects on the economy.

All deserve careful, not rushed, consideration and reasoned, not misinformed, debate.

Most immediately, the president also must address true reductions in costs -- the costs of care that are in large part driving up the price of insurance and driving down the number of people able to afford insurance -- before he simply adds on new benefits or expands the ranks of the insured. Cutting just 1 percent from the escalating cost of health care would save the nation $1.3 trillion.

What is needed is genuine reform. Various agency watchdogs say there is plenty of room for that. Bad practices and policies have been identified; let the government's energies be spent there.

Two relatively easy but gigantic savers are conspicuous. Introducing universal use of electronic medical records not only should save billions, it also can prevent errors that can cost lives. Tort reform -- changing medical malpractice litigation -- also could save hundreds of billions by eliminating "cover your backside" testing and allowing doctors to practice and prescribe according to their own training and judgment, not to mention curtailing the costs of physician insurance that in turn also escalates health costs.

The president does not have a lot of time. He rightly should fear that the Democrat-controlled Congress will pass a hodgepodge of compromises that will be costly and accomplish little. His signals that he may be willing to drop the "public option" that would offer a choice of a government-run program alongside existing private health plans may be evidence of his awareness of his limited opportunity, and his willingness to compromise to win some health care reforms.

In any case, it is time for reform proponents to regroup. What has happened so far has been soundly rejected. Confusion still reigns.

Draft a simple, clear bill that makes some headway. The cost of health care is a complex problem of major proportions, and it will not be easy to solve. Rather than take a chance on risky proposals that are certain to be costly, do something in which the people can have confidence.

Obama indeed may need the cooperation of Congress to get his agenda passed, but he can do nothing lasting if the people of America have lost confidence in the current proposals. It's time to restore that confidence, and move forward with clear, significant reforms.

I agree the White House needs to go back and start over. The American people are demanding it now and deserve something that is workable and won't bankrupt the nation in 50 years.

Just in Time for the September Primaries - Check your Registration

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has redrawn the precincts for the County. I noticed it when I received my absentee ballot.

Do yourself a favor and check your registration. Here is the link for the polling locations

Here is the new map for Lakewood.

Lakewood 4th of July Parade

County Commissiner Jimmy Dimora

If you have not see the diatribe by Dimora from yesterday's press conference, here is a bit of it.

Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora wants federal investigation

I watched the whole thing and felt like it was a train wreck waiting to happen.

While Dimora was flailing away at the DOJ, the Plain Dealer and the GOP, my thought was the following.

What lawyer in is right mind would let his client get out in front of the media and lay out such drivel. Honestly, it was despicable advice from counsel.

Based on this press conference, it will be my guess that if Dimora and Frank Russo are indicted, the legal maneuvering will be to get the location of the trial moved to either Akron or Youngstown, since the Jury pool will be fairly tainted by the time it comes around.

Wonderful Video Honoring One of America's Heroes

I have watched this twice and is still moved by it.



From Blackfive

God Bless SSG Beale and Thanks to Rep. Steve Davis for showing the view from the motorcade!

Dever Announces he won't seek re-election

Didn't see that coming:

Mike Dever, Council President and At-Large Council member told the Lakewood Democratic Club last night that he won't seek re-election in November.

Citing that it was time to put family ahead of the City matters.


This certainly puts a twist into the At-Large Race for this fall.


Mike, thanks for your Leadership in Lakewood!

A beautiful Friday Morning

These pictures just don't come out as well as the naked eye as to the brightness of the morning and the clarity of everything. Visibility is 15-20 miles from this vantage point.