Whole mythologies have sprung up about southern Ohio. Either we are racists, bumkins, or just plain dumb. Many argue that Obama should neglect the region and concentrate on more "fertile" ground in Montana or old Virginia. They overlook that southern Ohio boasts a heritage as the organizing center of the Underground Railroad movement, that the population in substantial measure descends from a mix that included fugitive slaves and recalcitrant Indians, and that the oldest interracial churches west of the Alleghanies are here, some still in operation.

     How soon we forget such south Ohio bumkins as Branch Rickey (who integrated major league baseball by sheer force of will), Ambrose Bierce, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

    Ok so why has Barack Obama done so poorly in southern Ohio, in the primaries and in recent polls? Why the pandemic bad advice that he ditch the region for more tolerant terrain? And why is it so important that the Obama campaign ditch this advice and send the candidate to the south-central Ohio corridor?

   

Given what happened yesterday, I feel it's important I repost my earlier diary on who are the GOOD Democratic challengers when it comes to FISA.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  (For the Senate, I'm only including those who voted against cloture yesterday for the bill.)  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  But so far, it's been all over the map.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

With a lot of attention that will be played on Ohio in the presidential and some of the congressional races, it is nice to see that there is a "diamond in the rough" with Sharen Neuhardt in the OH 7.

In a poll released by the campaign, Sharen finds herself trailing by only 6 points in the trial heat.

Confounding the conventional wisdom that OH-07 is a "safe" Republican seat, the campaign of business attorney Sharen Neuhardt (D-Yellow Springs) has released internal polling showing that her open-seat race against State Sen. Steve Austria (R-Austria) is within 6 points, indicating a winnable contest:

41% Austria (R)
35% Neuhardt (D)
24% Undecided

This is an open seat due to the retirement of long-time incumbent Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Springfield). His hand-picked successor Austria has nothing like his personal appeal or popularity. However, the district has a Cook PVI of R+6.0 and Bush won 57% of the vote in 2004. Hobson defeated repeat challenger Bill Conner (D) by 61% to 39% in 2006.

More findings from the poll after the flip.

Every State. Every race. Right here.

This is number eleven in a planned series of 50 entries between now and November, looking at each of the 50 states in terms of every race on that state's ticket--Presidential, Gubernatorial, Senate, House, State legislatures--the whole casserole.  Special attention paid to identifying and promoting the most important contests per state.

Today's entry is about, not the only battleground state, but arguably the most important battleground of all: OHIO!

Following the break is a complete roundup and ranking of Ohio races for the U.S. House of Representatives. I have separated them into Republican-held and Democratic-held seats and divided each into tiers. Within each tier they are ranked in order of likelihood of changing parties.

Democrats were very successful in 2006 in winning a U.S. Senate seat, four out of five statewide offices, and a net gain of seven seats in the Ohio House of Representatives, but  the U.S. House races were a relative disappointment. The party gained only one seat and watched two promising races end in narrow losses after recounts. In this cycle Ohio has three open GOP seats and perhaps four or five races altogether that already look very promising, with another two or three that could be added to that list. The DCCC has already added three races to their "Red to Blue" program and is likely to take an interest in at least two more. In other words, Ohio is once again a critical congressional battleground.

I've previously posted on the Illinois and Maryland Congressional candidates where the filing deadlines have passed.  I hope to post the listing of Texas candidates in a few days.  I've left out any comments on the candidates so as not to bias any opinions.  I will make comments as a comment though.

As a certified political junkie, I actually have the filing deadlines for each state on my calendar. Yesterday, Ohio's filing deadline came and went. Unlike Texas, which saw nine of their 32 incumbents wind up unopposed (including, unfortunately, six of their Republican incumbents), it is a full field of candidates in Ohio.

Furthermore, there are some interesting primary elections which will kick off the Buckeye State campaign season early in March.

Follow me past the jump for the list and the analysis.

Is there any image that warms the heart more than a Congressional credit card being used to fill a mini-van at a taxpayer subsidized gas pump?

Green County Dailies

WILBERFORCE — More than 25 years after he nearly ran out of gas there, Rep. Dave Hobson was finally able to fill up in Wilberforce Thursday at a new Speedway SuperAmerica gas station at U.S. Route 42 and Brush Row Road.

Central State University President John Garland was so happy about the new oasis that he pumped the Springfield Republican’s gas himself, filling up Hobson’s Pontiac Montana SV6 after the Congressional credit card was swiped at the brand new pump.

The development, named the Tawawa/Dave Hobson Plaza at a 1 p.m. ribbon-cutting, is joint project between Speedway SuperAmerica, which has its corporate headquarters in Enon, and the Tawawa Community Business Development Center.

The full rankings are available on Campaign Diaries.

Plenty of action in House races since our first ratings came out in mid-September. This is recruitment and retirement season in the House, and Ohio has been the center of it all, with three Republicans retiring, two of them in very competitive districts (OH-15 and OH-16). Democrats have had better news on the recruitment front as well (look at AK-AL, FL-24, IL-11 and MN-06), but Republicans reply that they are very satisfied with their newest candidates in NM-01 and OH-07...

Rep. Dave Hobson calls it quits. What's this make, 12 Republicans who are fleeing for greener pastures? That makes three in just Ohio as well, with Hobson joining Deborah Pryce (which will almost certainly flip hands) and Ralph Regula.

This is an R+6 district, so on the tougher side of things, but Democrats can win these kinds of seats. And the last thing the NRCC needs is more seats they have to defend. Too bad for them, this won't be the last GOP retirement in the House (or the Senate, where five Republicans have called it quits).

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Springfield) has announced that he is retiring at the end of his term:

Hobson, R-Springfield, a nine-term lawmaker, is one of the senior members of the area's congressional delegation, and has used his spot on the House Appropriations Committee to garner millions of dollars for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and other economic development projects for the region. He made his announcement at a birthday party surrounded by staff, former staff and community leaders.

Continued after the flip.

It's an even dozen now as Republican Congressman David Hobson of Ohio has announced his retirement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. David Hobson, a nine-term Republican from Ohio, announced plans to retire Sunday, the 12th member of his party to do so since the beginning of the year.

Hobson represent the 7th District, which encompasses a belt of counties south of Columbus.

President Bush has come out in opposition to a plan that would raise the gas tax to help fund infrastructure repair.  Just a week after the bridge collapse in Minnesota, Bush is concerned that members of the Transportation Committee might not be able to put the public's interests above their own personal priorities, saying "I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."  Really?  Those pesky Democrats are the ones that are struggling with spending priorities?

Since there are so many, let's go through Republicans with questionable spending habits alphabetically by state:

Yep here we go again. With the dust not yet settled on the last challenge in FL-13 (Good luck Christine) we take a look forward to 2008.

Wander below the fold for the good oil.

First things first.  Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Iowa, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Virginia, Nebraska, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, Alabama, Michigan and Arizona.

And before we take the jump, I just wanted to remind you again that you can contribute to candidates on this project by hitting this ActBlue page
And, because I get grief about not pimping my other series, here are the stories in The Basics Series...

New Republican Sales Pitch
DLC Democrats Sales Pitch
City on a Hill
The Napoleonic Strategies of the GOP
The Danger Called Howard Dean

JUMP!

I am known in these parts as someone who care deeply about taking back the House, So in extended entry I will detail all our fabulous house candidates. However two very interesting things to note, Almost as many people cast Democratic Ballots for Governor as Republican, this despite the fact that The Republican Primary was a brutal contest between two-statewide elected officials.  In addition to this fun fact, a Republican Treasurer Jeanette Bradley lost Re-Nomination to Sandra O'Brien. Overall these results would indicated that there is much hope in the races for Governor, Senate and House.  Now to the House Races.