Chicago Trib Gives Away Obama T-Shirts With New Subcriptions: A Randy Michaels Move?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Cincinnati radio shock jock Randy Michaels has been the Tribune Co.'s Chief Operating Officer (COO) for slightly more than a month. He was known for outrageous promotions during his Cincinnati days as an executive with Jacor and Clear Channel. Now there's a flap bubbling because the Chicago Tribune is giving away Obama t-shirts when people purchase a subscription. The ploy is drawing complaints that the newspaper is biased because it is piggybacking off the Illinois senator's hometown appeal in Chicago. But Sam Zell, Tribune Co.'s chairman, promised last month the Michaels' era would shatter tradition:

"Randy is one of the most creative human beings I've ever known. But he is exactly what Tribune needs to keep moving forward -- smart, decisive, relentless, irreverent, fun and cutting edge."

So far, there's no word about Michaels' role in the political tie-in to the presidential campaign. But it sure is "irreverent" by traditional newspaper standards.

Hillary Ohio Mailer Attacks Obama: Cites $200,000 Contribution In Illinois Maytag Plant Closing

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The mailer uses a Chicago Tribune story as its source. It contends Sen. Barack Obama turned his back on union workers in Illinois whose jobs were shipped to Mexico when a Maytag appliance factory was shuttered. The mailer -- which is reprinted above -- arrived with yellow highlighting over the message that reads:

"When a Maytag plant in Obama's home state shut down, shipping jobs to Mexico for cheaper labor and devastating the surrounding community, Barack Obama refused to stand up for union workers.

It was later revealed that a large investor in the company that ran the plant had given nearly $200,000 to Obama's US Senate and presidential campaigns."

A link to the Chicago Tribune story, which appeared in print on Feb. 2, is available here. It is about Lester Crown, an Obama supporter who served on Maytag's board when the company closed a refrigerator plant in Galesburg, Ill. The factory had 1,600 workers with the International Association of Machinists, a union supporting Clinton. Maytag has since been purchased by Whirlpool Corp., which closed its former rival's headquarters in Iowa after the consolidation. The Clinton mailer is designed to play off the concerns of Ohio factory workers in a state where more than 200,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past eight years. The Clinton flier began landing in the mailboxes of union households Saturday. It's the latest jab between Obama and Clinton over NAFTA, although the controversial trade agreement is not directly mentioned. Instead, Clinton contends Obama did nothing to help the workers keep "their jobs here in America."

Here's An Interesting Editorial: Chicago Trib Says Dem Plagiarist Should Resign

CINCINNATI (TBD) --Here's the Chicago Tribune's editorial calling for the resignation of the former Democratic congressman who is now the president of Southern Illinois University. The offense: Plagiarism.

Apparently, it's a big deal to filch somebody else's words. Have any Republicans ever done that in Ohio?