My View

By Jack Ford
The Truth’s Political Columnist

The decision by Senator Barack Obama to forego public financing means that you and I can keep giving to the campaign. We can keep sending the small checks each month.

Obama plans to raise $300 million plus and he will need every bit of it. The Democratic nominee will need all the money he can raise because the GOP will carpet bomb us with the messages that Obama is too far left, too soft and too tax spend happy to be an effective president.
 

Jack Ford

The GOP will probe ad tests to find that one hot button that resolutely moves voters to go Republican. Once the party figures that out, the air waves will reverberate with their message. The late Lee Atwater perfected this particular strategy in 1988 when he brought out his fear message in the form of Willie Horton and battered Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis to death with it.

Just before his untimely death some years later, Atwater apologized for such stunts but they have proven to be effective and, as of yet, no other Republican has apologized or seems to have had second thoughts about their use.

So give money to Barack Obama by going to BarackObama.com. Will a mere five dollars help? Yes, it will. Five dollars will buy two yard signs. And, remember, Obama has over 150,000 givers. Just five bucks each would bring in $7.5 million.

Will my one vote count? Yes, it will. Remember 1976? Jimmy Carter won Ohio by winning an average margin of less than one vote per precinct in Ohio’s 11,000 precincts.

The possibility of raising $300 million for the general election also brings with it the chance of scandal. That much money is hard to spend in a political race and not make some miscues.

This is particularly true when it comes to the Get Out the Vote campaign – GOTV. Much of the GOTV campaign involves “street money” which can really get a campaign into problems.

Who will control the local GOTV? Traditionally, the state party runs it through the black state representatives in the urban districts. This year may be different under the Obama banner. Maybe Obama’s folks will keep control themselves. The amount is usually $15,000 to $30,000, spread out over supervisors, car drivers, door knockers, phone callers and poll greeters. To do it right, you need a separate organization just for GOTV.

Remember, the Republicans have their own operation and they can be quite tenacious as they were in 2004 under the overall tutelage of Karl Rove.

I used to run GOTV in Lucas County and it can be a real headache.

Jon Stainbrook is riding high. Stainbrook is a true character and will relish the limelight in his role as the new head of the Lucas County Republican Party. Along with the public admonishment which The Blade stated in a very pointed editorial, I would add the following for your consideration, Jon. Do not cling too closely to The Blade. Heed my warning, Jon.

The recent overtime flap at City Hall is a chronic problem. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner is wrong in not seeing the nexus to sick leave patterns. Both are out of control among a few city workers and very much so in a few city divisions. This is true not only in Toledo but also around the country and is seen differently by older workers versus the relatively newly hired.

Be sure and participate this weekend in an Obama house party. Anybody can host them. They are designed to expand the volunteer base for the candidate.

Next week – how to vote 10 times for Obama and still be legal!

Contact Jack Ford at  jack@thetruthtoledo.com.

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