Fake Ohio Hunter Pictured In John Kasich Mailer: Buckeye Firearms Association Shoots Down Fraudulent Photo

Kasich Hunts For Votes With Fake Ohio Hunter

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The pro-gun Buckeye Firearms Association says John Kasich, Republican candidate for Ohio governor, has stooped to using a photo of a fake Ohio hunter in his campaign literature. It calls him a gun-rights phony.  Or, as Ken Hanson, the group's legislative chair put it today, "Kasich is finding religion like a nervous whore in church on Sunday."  Hanson said the picture of a hunter in a recent mailer wasn't from Ohio -- the hunter depicted is aiming a scoped rifle.  But hunting with such weapons is illegal in Ohio.  Rifle slugs can travel too far from open fields and stray into populated areas.  So the scene was staged.  Or it was purloined from some other state.  Either way, it proves that Kasich knows nearly nothing about hunting or guns.  In other ads this year, Kasich has used a fake steelworker and a fake journalist. Here's Hanson on the latest Kasich scam:

"Fast-forward to late October, when the race is a statistical dead heat, and all of a sudden Kasich is finding religion like a whore in church on Sunday.  Exhibit A is a recent mailing targeting gun owners.   Note the picture on page 2 of the mailer.  A hunter in blaze orange in the middle of a field with a medium bore, scoped rifle.  Tell us, Sportsman Kasich, what is this sportsrman hunting in Ohio, since rifle hunting of that sort is not legal here?"

Kasich is firmly opposed by pro-gun groups from the NRA on down.  They frequently back Republicans, but this year are enthusiastic for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, who hails from rural Ohio (Scioto County) and has been a gun rights supporter all his life.  Strickland talks about the days when his family had to hunt for food when times were hard.  The Buckeye Firearms Association says Kasich's mailer has another distortion -- it claims Kasich has NRA support.  Hanson said the endorsement was moldy, from 20 years ago in a Congressional race, ancient and not pertinent to the 2010 race for governor of Ohio.  Does Hanson have cred on pro-gun issues?  Check out his bio:

"Ken Hanson is a gun rights attorney in Ohio. He serves as the Legislative Chair for Buckeye Firearms Association, and is the attorney of record for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases. The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has awarded him with its 2008 Defender of Justice Award and 2009 Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award. He is the author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws, a certified firearms instructor and holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License."

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources hunting regulations (online here) are clear that rifles are not a among the types of firearms allowed for deer hunting. Shotguns and muzzleloaders and some handguns can be used -- but none of them would need a scope gunsight to put a deer in the crosshairs.

UPDATE: 2:10 pm -- At Ohio Daily Blog, which has linked to The Daily Bellwether, Kasich's hunter photo is being compared to a golfer teeing off with a putter.  Only idiots would try to play like that.  And only the Kasich campaign would try to fool sportsmen with an idiotic photo.  Says Ohio Daily:  "There are numerous reasons why Ohio sportsmen reject John Kasich. First, is his F rating from the NRA. That's right. I said it. F! F! F! The Ohio Elections Commission today dismissed Kasich's claim that somehow he didn't receive an F. He did. And we're repeating it in case you skimmed over it. F!  Second, Kasich forgets that many of Ohio's sportsmen and sportswomen are hard-working, blue collar, union-workers. And John Kasich just called those people 'thugs' earlier in the week.  Third, Kasich forgets that many of Ohio's sportsmen and sportswomen are residents of rural areas. They don't go hunting as part of some junket paid for by some lobbyist that starts with mimosas & eggs benedict and ends with strippers & cigars. They go hunting to provide for their families. And John Kasich's campaign mocked those same Ohioans, with humble, rural roots, in a statement a few months ago."

My senses tell me that Kasich's problems with accuracy in his campaign literature date back to his stint on Wall Street as managing director of Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt investment house.  Truth is, the Wall Streeters bent information to meet their purposes.  Lehman said it was solid.  Fact is, it was hollow.  The Wall Steeters would pump stocks, pump bonds, pump mortgage markets and derivatives.  Numbers would be strung together.  In that culture, two minus  two could come out equaling 4,000,000,000 plus.  Carnival barkers and Bigfoot hunters had as much credibility as Lehman's balance sheet. Kasich lapped it up like mimosas and eggs benedict.  Hand 'em a putter so he can tee off.  Fore.