OH-02 Republican Phil Heimlich: Suckers, I'm Not Refunding Donations

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Phil Heimlich's campaign for the Oh-02 Republican nomination is pffffft!!!! He raised nearly $350,000 and he's not giving the unspent cash back to donors now that he's cut and run from U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt. Heimlich plans to keep the left over for "future" opportunities. Some think that smells like a deal -- he bails and Schmidt and the GOP establishment give him an appointment to an office in Hamilton County somewhere down the road.

Howard Wilkinson gets Heimlich on the record about keeping the money:

"Heimlich has put together a formidable campaign organization, complete with a slick campaign Web site. Through last fall, he had raised more money than Schmidt. He said Wednesday that his campaign had raised about $350,000. Some of that money, Heimlich said, would be used to pay campaign staff and outstanding bills. The rest, he said, he would keep in his campaign account 'for opportunities that come up in future years.'"

Heimlich's slick campaign Web site was still up and running more than 24 hours after he quit the race. And at the moment he's still seeking campaign contributions. Inquiring minds are wondering: Wouldn't an ethical politician have shut down the donor page immediately upon ending his campaign?

Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports are due at the end of the month and will become public. Then, everyone can see how much Heimlich raised, how much he spent, and how much he kept.

3 Ohio Groups In Midwest Ethics Net: Query Prez Hopefuls On Reform

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- All announced presidential candidates are receiving identical questionnaires this week from the Midwest Democracy Network, a newly formed alliance of good government groups in Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. The candidates are being prodded to produce written answers describing where they stand on government reform issues involving ethics and lobbying regulations, ballot integrity, and whether states should be allowed to redistrict for congressional seats in a time span shorter than 10 years.

Redistricting in years away from the once-a-decade Census headcount is extremely controversial and politically explosive. Texas redistricted under an off-Census plan crafted by former GOP House Majority Tom Delay. Delay's legislative allies drew lines that gave Republicans a lock on the state's U.S. House delegation by eliminating some previously safe Democratic bastions. There was heated litigation, but federal courts have since ruled district lines can be redrawn at any time a state decides they appear to be unbalanced by population.

The Ohio groups in the network are Common Cause Ohio, the League of Women Voters Ohio and Ohio Citizen Action.

Catherine Turcer is the legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action:

"Voters deserve to know where candidates for our nation's highest office stand on issues fundamental to the health of our democracy. Our next president will have a special responsibility for safeguarding democracy at home and ensuring that the United States remains a model of popular self-governance for other nations."

Presidential candidates were told the network plans to release the answers Oct. 31, and that they will not be edited in any way. Spelling and grammatical errors won't be changed.

Hillary Ripped Over Campaign Financing

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- An editorial in The Cincinnati Post, the city's dying and Democratic-leaning afternoon newspaper, slams Sen. Hillary Clinton for opting out of the 32-year-old system of public campaign financing. It says big donors and a fat kitty will help her buy the party's nomination.

''She has $14 million in the bank left over from her Senate campaign; she is expected to raise $100 million this year for the primaries; and a total of about $500 million for the entire campaign. The ability of political fundraisers to shake the money tree has far outstripped the government's ability to cajole the taxpayers into making the $3 check-off that funds public financing. The most the government could have offered Clinton, for primary and general election campaigns both, was maybe $150 million," the opinion piece said.

The Post editorial is called Hillary Opts Out and it points out that the big money flowing into campaigns contributes "mightily to the influence that special interests now enjoy." It doesn't quite come out and say that Sen. Clinton will be bought, but that is clearly implied. Stunning to think $1 billion might be spent overall to win the White House in 2008, or $3.30 per American.

Of course, Ohioans know first-hand how "special interests" and politicians scratch backs. Think Bob Ney. Think Tom Noe. And stop to think about what might be coming in '08.