Republicans Dig Up Dirt On Phony Steelworker In John Kasich's Latest Campaign Ad: Florida Actor With Interesting History

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Even Republican are aghast at John Kasich's latest campaign ad that uses a Florida actor to pose as an Ohio steelworker. They've noticed that the actor, Chip Redden, has a colorful [ed. note: I'm using a polite description] past. Right Ohio, the GOP leaning Ohio blog operated by Matt Naugle, a conservative who worked in Ken Blackwell's 2004 campaign, is taking Kasich apart today. Kasich's GOP campaign has promised to put Ohioans to work.  It seems he's delivering paychecks to Florida offenders.  Here's what Naugle has learned:

"Poor Chip… a local actor making a few bucks on the side and now he becomes a target of the Ohio Democrat Party machine.
I’m surprised they didn’t point out he has a MySpace page, with this being my favorite picture of Chip:

And although he is an Ohio-based actor, he has lived in other states where he has committed crimes. Here are all the ones I could match to his addresses, including a 1996 charge in Florida for battery!

Offender information
Name: REDDEN III, EUGENE V
Address: 225 CHADWORTH DR
KISSIMMEE, FL 34758-3041
OSCEOLA COUNTY
Case Number: CM 9500MM 003428
Case Filing Date: 01/02/1996
County: Osceola
Race: White
Sex: Male
Offenses
Case Filing Date: 01/02/1996
Court Case Number: CM 9500MM 003428
Court Offense: BATTERY
Court Disposition Date: 01/02/1996

And lots of traffic violations. Here are a few examples:

Offenses
Case Filing Date: 11/15/1995
Court Case Number: C 9500TC 037940
Court Offense: ATTACH LICENS PLATE NOT ASSIGN
Court Level/Degree: Traffic Criminal
Case Filing Date: 05/11/1995
Court Case Number: C 9500TT 017335
Court Offense: 51/35 SPEED: POSTED ZONE (MUNI
Court Disposition: VOLUNTARY PAYMENT – ADMIT GUIL
Court Disposition Date: 06/08/1995
Court Level/Degree: Traffic Citation

And at various times in Alaksa, he committed forgery, theft, driving without a drivers license, and driving drunk:

Offender information
Name: REDDEN III, EUGENE V
Address: AK
Case Number: 4FA-93-00439CR
Case Filing Date: 02/22/1993
DOB: 02/1969
Offenses
Case Filing Date: 02/22/1993
Court Description: Fourth District – Fairbanks
Court Case Number: 4FA-93-00439CR
Court Statute: FORGERY II
Court Disposition: No Contest Plea
Court Disposition Date: 10/12/1993
Court Level/Degree: Felony
Offenses
Case Filing Date: 11/12/1999
Court Description: Fourth District – Fairbanks
Court Case Number: 4FA-99-03631CR
Court Statute: NO VALID OL
Court Disposition: No Contest Plea
Court Disposition Date: 12/16/1999
Court Level/Degree: Misdemeanor
Offenses
Case Filing Date: 10/20/1988
Court Description: Fourth District – Fairbanks
Court Case Number: 4FA-88-02951CR
Court Statute: THEFT/FRAUD
Court Disposition: No Contest Plea
Court Disposition Date: 07/17/1989
Court Level/Degree: Misdemeanor
Offenses
Case Filing Date: 03/13/1989
Court Description: Fourth District – Fairbanks
Court Case Number: 4FA-89-00627CR
Court Statute: ALCOHOL
Court Disposition: No Contest Plea
Court Disposition Date: 07/17/1989
Court Level/Degree: Misdemeanor

There are a few other issue minor infractions he committed, but the point is he doesn’t have a clean record and in this tough political environment the Kasich campaign has opened themselves up to this attack.
And before you feel like starring in a political TV ad, prepare yourself to be embarrassed."

Here's more from Plunderbund, which wonders why Kasich couldn't find an Ohio steelworker to wear and hardhat for the ad attacking Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.

On Ohio's Plunderbund: The N-Word Gets Used, NAACP Gets Ripped

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Why would anybody want to use the N-word, to write it or say it? An Ohio blog, Plunderbund, has taken issue with the NAACP's burying the N-Word protest in Detroit. Plunderbund called it "cheesy," which is one way of describing an event designed, scripted and intended to have a cultural impact.

Under the Plunderbund standard, one supposes, Gandhi's and MLK's actions that argued for the dignity of mankind were just another slice of Roquefort.

[UPDATE: 7:57 PM EDT: There's another apparition of the N-word on the always provocative Cincinnati Black Blog, where it manifests itself as a five-letter variant. This time it appears under a caption referring to Ohio State Sen. Eric Kearney, D-9, a lawmaker who is described as wondering about the sanity of Christoper Smitherman, the Cincinnati NAACP chapter president. Yes, it is down to five letters, hopefully a portent it has shriveled and may leave all of us refreshingly free of old stereotypes.]

But was Plunderbund guilty of cheese-manufacturing itself? Did it have to use the hateful six-letter slur to try and make its point -- that it is probably futile to try to drive a fetid racist expression out of the English language for all time. Did it use the malodorous N-word merely to attract attention?

The N-word is supposed to denigrate the person at which it is aimed. But its force for evil is such that it also lowers to the gutter the utterer. Plunderbund is a great blog -- and the opinions expressed therein have a record of being progressive and powerful. But Plunderbund, please stay away from the N-word. Don't use it. Don't write it. Please don't allow it ever again to creep into your mind and intrude upon your mental processes.

Remember always: The N-word is dead and gone. This time the NAACP got it right and you got it wrong.