Hamilton County's Dem Chief Rips Jean Schmidt: 'Saturday Night Live Got It Right'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Tim Burke says OH-02 U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt's House speech asserting "the Chinese are drilling off the coast of Florida" is another Saturday Night Live moment. He was, of course, referring back to the now legendary 2005 comedy bit that lampooned Republican Schmidt for calling Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a Marine Corps Vietnam War hero, a "coward."

Burke says Schmidt, who lives in Clermont County near Cincinnati, should retract her statement that the Chinese are involved in energy extraction off the coast of Florida because it is both ludicrous and false. She made the statement June 5 on the House floor, a speech that is available here on YouTUBE. Burke says Schmidt has not offered a scintilla of evidence to back up her claim. Instead, she has cited the political grapevine, and says she was repeating what others have said. In a letter to Schmidt obtained by The Daily Bellwether, Burke says:

"If you continue to believe that such drilling is going on, where is it located? How far off the coast? Latitude and longitude? How many platforms are involved. I don't think you will or can answer those questions because you know your original claim was false.

"While I have no reason to believe that you made a deliberate attempt to deceive, you made a statement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives that was not true, a mistake that should be acknowledged and corrected. That is all I asked. So I was surprised to see your vitriolic, wild reply. I shouldn't have been give your history: plagiarizing as you own a newspaper column already published by another member of Congress; suggesting a nuclear waste dump might be a good thing in the Second District; and in another embarrassing speech on the floor of the House, accused a colleague in Congress, a Marine Corps hero, of being a coward. I guess Saturday Night Live got it right."

There's more on the ongoing "Chinese drilling off the coast of Florida" flap here. The issue is being driven by the Republican congresswoman's refusal to admit she made a mistake, and her insistence that others have made the same claim. In fact, no one has said the Chinese are drilling off the coast of Florida. There have been statements that China and Cuba may be starting to explore for oil in Cuban territory. Burke seems to have delivered a strong punch by demanding that she reveal the latitude and longitude of the Chinese drilling platforms that she claims exist somewhere off the coast of Florida.

Cincinnati Dem Insiders: See 5 Council Incumbents Safe On Election Day

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The City Council has nine seats -- and at this moment --Democratic Party insiders believe that a majority will be filled after the Nov. 6 election by people who are already there. Three are Democrats, and two are members of the independent Charter Party. The other expected winner is a Republican who once was a Democrat and now is out of public office. There are 25 candidates seeking the 9 seats and they run in a field race citywide. The top 9 vote getters are elected.

Now for the 6 names, alphabetical and not by order of expected finish:

Council member Chris Bortz, Charterite.
Council member Laketa Cole, D
Council member John Cranley, D
Council member David Crowley, D
Council member Roxanne Qualls, Charterite
Charlie Winburn, R (a former council member)

These others are described as very much in the hunt for three openings:

Council member Jeff Berding, D
Minette Cooper, D (a former council member)
Pat Fischer, R
Council member Leslie Ghiz, R
Council member Chris Monzel, R
Council member Cecil Thomas, D

These candidates are described as still having a shot, or as one Dem insider handicapped their chances, "I'd say they're on the low bubble."

Melanie Bates, C (a Cincinnati school board member and former Hamilton County Democratic Party executive director looking to change jobs)
Brian Garry, D
Sam Malone, R (a former council member)
Mitch Painter, I
Wendell Young, D

The Daily Bellwether got the list after lunches and discussions with several of Hamilton County's top Democrats. A couple of senior Republicans were asked for opinions, and they agreed their list looks the same. If there is a surprise in this, it is Pat Fischer, a former Cincinnati Bar Association president and downtown lawyer who is well-financed. Fischer lives in Pleasant Ridge, a Democratic neighborhood where he served as community council president. Several of the Democrats said they knew him, liked him and planned to vote for him.

Fischer also got a boost from a half-page write up in the monthly newsletter for his Catholic parish, the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord. There he was described as a GOPer who "bridge the gap between political parties" and work with the Democrats at City Hall. That is the kind of micro-level news that is priceless and only helped to build positive word of mouth for Fischer, a 49-year-old Harvard grad who got his law degree at the same school. He told the church bulletin: "I respect people that I disagree with."

Nobody would bet that Fischer is elected to council. At most, they said he has had a good couple of weeks and built momentum to become a contender.

Cincinnati's Ex-Mayor Roxanne Qualls: Council Candidate Delivers A Boffo Speech

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls is a Democrat running as a third party candidate for City Council, and she appears to have little patience for those who want to debate whether global climate change is occurring.

"It's a little bit like two people standing in a burning building and discussing who started the fire and not getting out of the burning building. We've got to get out of the burning building."

Qualls delivered the line in a speech earlier this month. She focused on urban development and warming. She clearly explained how the issues are linked and critical to Ohio's future. You can listen to her presentation by clicking the link to the Covington Rotary Club. Her description about the impact of climate change and how it can be managed come slightly past the halfway mark in the download. Qualls believes the key is by creating a "green infrastructure" -- one example, streets that don't absorb heat from the sun's rays.

Qualls ran for Congress in Oh-01 in the late 1990s and lost to GOP. Rep. Steve Chabot. Although she is seeking a City Council seat this fall as a member of the Charter Committee -- an independent group that is not affiliated with Republicans or Democrats -- she is a Democrat. Proof arrived in the mail this week. Qualls was listed among a group raising funds for Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Nadine Allen -- a Democrat seeking reelection to the bench. Democratic Mayor Mark Mallory's father, William, is on the list, too.

Cincinnati Politics: Rumors Fly That Hamco Clerk Hartmann Will Have 'Name' Dem Opponent

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- With his 2008 reelection bid still months away, Hamilton County's Republican Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann is suddenly and unexpectedly being dogged by rumors the Democrats are lining up a prominent political name to run against him. For two days this week, the courthouse was awash in speculation that former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken would seek the job, which controls some 320-patronage positions and is a huge political plumb.

Luken is now serving as the chairman of the Ohio State Racing Commission, a body that oversees the horseracing industry. He is a lawyer who served two stints as mayor and represented Ohio's 1st Congressional District, a job he quit to become a TV anchorman in Cincinnati.

Hartmann is a former executive director of the county GOP. He ran for Ohio Secretary of State last year and was soundly defeated by Jennifer Brunner. Some of the anti-Hartmann buzz downtown and in the courthouse was being fueled by staff shakeups and reassignments.

Other names mentioned as possible opponents were outgoing Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell, who launched an aborted bid for a Cincinnati school board seat last week. It folded when Tarbell failed to gather enough names on his nominating petitions. Tarbell would have party support if he took on Hartmann and his campaign would probably be better run. Another potential foe: Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes.

Some Democrats see Hartmann as vulnerable because he was returned to office in 2004 with 213,000 votes. That was fewer than the two county commissioners, and the treasurer -- who all faced opponents. While the Luken rumor probably is shaky at best, the fact that it flared to life and created such a buzz is a sign that Hartmann's job is being seen by some strategists as a prize within reach of the Democrats.