GOP's John McCain: Drops 'Roosevelt Republican' Rhetoric On Foreclosures

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The Plain Dealer's political reporter Mark Naymik reports that he's caught GOP presidential candidate John McCain on tape in full waffle mode. Last month, as McCain campaigned and looked for support in foreclosure-wracked Ohio, the Arizona Sen. portrayed himself as a "Roosevelt Republican" of the FDR variety who would offer relief to homeowners facing adjustable rate mortgage increases. Naymik says that McCain's words in a California speech Tuesday struck a noticeably different tone, and "suggested homeowners facing foreclosure have only themselves to blame."

[UPDATE: 4:17 PM -- The Ohio Democratic Party has noticed and says McCain's "conflicting takes on the foreclosure crisis constitute the latest in an ongoing series of economic policy stumbles."]

So what did the Roosevelt Republican say to a group of California business leaders that was at odds with what he told Ohioans? Here's McCain in what some have called his Herbert Hoover persona:

"I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers. Government assistance to the banking system should be based only on preventing economic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy."

Chris Cillizza Blows It On Ohio Politics: One Of His Best 'Columnists' Has No Column

CINCINNATI (TDD) -- Washington Post political expert/blogger Chris Cillizza says one of the best political newspaper columnists in Ohio is named Howard Wilkinson. In Ohio, we know Howard, and he's no columnist. The headline says reporters, the copy says columnist, and Wilkinson used to have a column at the Cincinnati Enquirer. But the paper took it away from him years ago. It vanished not many months after George Bush beat Al Gore at the start of this century --the last Wilkinson column Cillizza linked to was in August 2001.

Ending Wilkinson's run was probably a mistake by the Enquirer's management because Wilkinson is wired into Southwest Ohio's political network. Still, he's no columnist. Wilkinson is now a reporter who writes about a variety of topics, including politics. A very talented reporter, by the way. But he doesn't have a column. He doesn't even have a political blog like Chris Cillizza -- Wilkinson merely contributes to the Cincinnati daily's Politics Extra.

No snark aimed at Howard. He's a bright and talented fellow. Snark aimed at Cillizza. Does it seem he has little first hand knowledge about the Ohioana he's writing about? Didn't Jill Miller Zimon raise questions earlier this month about the Washington Post's touting of Iowa political reporter David Yepsen?

Joe Hallett of The Dispatch in Columbus deservedly makes Cillizza's list. Hallett came from The Plain Dealer, where he covered the Statehouse. There is no question (bias displayed here as a former PD employee) that the Cleveland newspaper has the superior political writers and reporters and columnists in Ohio. It is a hallmark of the newspaper. Another nit to pick with Cillizza. He writes that The Plain Dealer's Tom Suddes is one of the best in Ohio. Suddes is clearly one of the best. But he's a freelance. He's been in Athens after resigning from The Plain Dealer Columbus news bureau years ago to seek a Ph.D. at Ohio University. Suddes is not on The Plain Dealer's staff.

Ohio Journalists And Campaign Contributions: Money Flows To Democrats

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- There's a strongly worded sentence at the very end of this column in a certain large Ohio newspaper today that says journalists cannot contribute to political campaigns. But they do. The money flows indirectly through their union, the Newspaper Guild, which is an affiliate of the 750,000-member Communications Workers of America.

Almost all of the CWA's money goes to Democrats. The national Guild's recommended model contract -- which is not adopted or in force at every unionized newsroom -- actually contains language that calls for journalists to set aside a portion of their paychecks to support politicians.

"There shall be provision for payroll deduction of political contributions for employees who voluntarily authorize such deductions in writing."

Contrast that statement to the very last sentence in the column that appeared today in Cleveland: "You can't contribute to a political candidate and then write about his or her campaign, either as a paid employee or as a paid free-lancer for . . . on paper or online. Period."

Does that seem to suggest Guild members ought not be writing about U.S. Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Zack Space and Betty Sutton, three Ohioans who have gotten CWA money this election cycle? Does that imply there is a conflict of interest when journalists belong to a union that uses a percentage of its financial resources to fund campaigns?

Clearly there are opposing views about political activity and journalism, and management appears to be taking a harder line than labor, which favors allowing payroll deduction plans for political donations by reporters and editors. (Note: I don't know of any newspapers in Ohio that have such a payroll deduction plan.)

Not every newspaper in Ohio is covered by a Guild contract. Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown are the big dailies where journalists belong to the Newspaper Guild, along with the afternoon Cincinnati Post, which is scheduled to shut down at the end of next month. The Columbus Dispatch and Cincinnati Enquirer are non-union.

OH-14 Steve LaTourette: No Pressure From GOP Congressman In Dem Blogger Firing

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Capitol Hill insiders insist Republican U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette did not pull strings with top newsroom managers at The Plain Dealer to have a Democratic critic in the Ohio blogosphere sacked. The blogger, Jeff Coryell, was ousted from his post Tuesday as a paid contributor to Wide Open. There have been numerous reports saying LaTourette used his influence to have Coryell bounced. Another of the Democratic bloggers on Wide Open, Jill Miller Zimon quit today in solidarity with Coryell and said the fact she had given money to Democrats in Ohio would probably limit her freedom to say what she wanted on the newspaper's site.

Sacking Coryell is generating a blogstorm, with critics (mostly Democrats) lining up to say LaTourette had him dumped. Although the congressman has widely been portrayed as the heavy, sources The Daily Bellwether spoke to all agreed that LaTourette did not ask for a firing, played no role in the sacking of Coryell, did not express anger, nor put pressure on the newspaper or threaten it in any way. The sources do agree that LaTourette spoke to The Plain Dealer's editorial page editor, Brent Larkin, briefly earlier this month about Coryell's work appearing on the newspaper's Web site. Coryell's name reportedly came up when Federal Election Commission campaign finance records were made public, and LaTourette mentioned to Larkin that Coryell had given money to the congressman's Democratic opponent, former Ohio Court of Appeals Judge William O'Neill. LaTourette is supposed to have said something like "what's up with that" during a brief chat, but did not suggest or demand that Coryell be fired, the sources say.

According to the insiders, the seven-term congressman -- whose district includes the eastern suburbs of Cleveland and Akron in a region near the Lake Erie shoreline known as Ohio's snowbelt -- never met formally with anyone at The Plain Dealer about Coryell. They added that he did not send an email or a letter of complaint, nor did he meet with The Plain Dealer's editor Susan Goldberg.

"Absolutely did not ask for anyone to be fired," is how one insider put it, and said the only conversation LaTourette had about Wide Open was with Larkin.

The insiders say that Larkin could back up their accounts, and that they expect and hope he will write something describing The Plain Dealer's handling of Coryell's ouster. They said it should help remove suspicions that the congressman pressured the newspaper.

One source said "there's nothing, nada. He didn't ask to have anybody fired. The only person he spoke to was Larkin and it was just a remark that the blogger had given money to his opponent, something like $200. I don't think that is out of bounds or pressure, to wonder what's up."

These insiders also say that LaTourette never spoke to Jean Dubail, the newspaper's online editor. They contend that anything Dubail told Coryell about the congressman would not have come from the congressman.

So far, LaTourette has not spoken publicly, nor has his office issued any kind of statement. Perhaps he never will. But if the story grows legs -- that a Cleveland area congressman was able to lean on his hometown newspaper and get someone fired -- he'll probably have to speak out and describe his version of what happened.

Ohiosphere Tale Of The Day (IV): RAB's Naugle Delivers A Hornswoggle

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Self-assured, fiercely partisan and way too interested in Connie Schultz's armpits. That's one way of reading the RightAngleBlog's agitated write-up about former Cleveland Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau reporter Ted Wendling. RAB has produced a duplicitous online screed whose tenor is meant to demonize a truly excellent person.

Wendling, with whom I worked for nearly 20 years at the PeeDee, is dedicated, honest, polite, intelligent and a superb human being. Every resident of this state should sleep better at night upon learning that Ted Wendling has been hired as a deputy inspector general to monitor the Ohio Department of Transportation for fraud, waste and abuse of public funds.

Wendling is a dogged investigator. He and his former partner, Dave Davis, were finalists for a Pulitzer in the mid-1990s for a series of stories that exposed covered up medical errors with radiological equipment. It was a seminal event that changed policies across the nation.

Matt Naugle, the RightAngleBlog's editor, writes posts that are interesting, engaging and occasionally enraging. (I am a fan, though I sometimes flinch over things I see there. But it is fun, and I love free speech.) Now he is labeling Wendling a hack, a Democratic hack:

"But on the bright side, at least Ted Wendling won't be a spokesman for a Democratic office holder -- I guess he was tired of being a Democrat spokesmouth via his job at the Plain Dealer, and wanted to try something new. Ted, you are a partisan hack, and I wish you much failure with your new gig."

RAB is wrong. Ted has unrivalled experience. He has character. He will serve the state well.

RAB's rap against him comes out of the last election, when Ken Blackwell, the rock upon which Matt Naugle had sought to build his hopes, was crushed. By firing unscrupulous and uninformed salvos at good people intent on public service, Naugle is still trying to salvage something from that sad wreck. Naugle is a voice who wants to show that Republicans can produce superior statecraft. But habitually engaging in duplicity won't make that case.

Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown: Shy Or Sly About '08 Dems

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown says he doesn't have a favorite in the 2008 presidential primaries and seems to have put himself in the I-could-care-less camp. Brown told The Plain Dealer's political writer Mark Naymik he's staying neutral until a nominee is picked.

"Frankly, I don't want to be distracted by this. It just doesn't matter to me," Brown said.

Guess that means he soon won't be writing any checks for Hillary, or Dennis Kucinich, the Cleveland congressman who comes from the same chunk of Ohio as Brown. Or Obama, Edwards or anyone else. The whole field is out there right now stumping like crazy, trying to raise money and line up backers. Brown plans to watch from the sidelines, then "work hard for the nominee."

Can Brown hold to his plan? Will pressure build? Time will tell. Naymik's interview with the senator is an AUDIO on The Plain Dealer's politics portal. Brown did have a few choice words to say about Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican presidential candidate who wants to add troops in Iraq.