OH-02 Dem Steve Black: Another Campaign Manager Departs

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Just two months ago, Democrat Steve Black was touting the arrival of a new campaign manager who had a wealth of experience. But Joel Coon is now gone, The Daily Bellwether has learned. Black is a Cincinnati lawyer who switched from Republican to Democrat and is challenging physician Victoria Wulsin in the OH-02 primary next March.

Coon was brought in to replace Mary Huttinger, who for a time was signed on with Black. If that sound like musical chairs hang on to your seat: Huttinger was Wulsin's campaign manager in 2006 when she won the Dem nomination. The Black-Wulsin winner gets to run for the southern Ohio U.S. House seat that currently is held by Jean Schmidt, who beat Wulsin but now has a challenger in the GOP primary.

Black's campaign has not publicly announced Coon's leave taking after about three months on the job. Coon was reached by phone today and confirmed he has moved on.

"I would rather not get into the reasons why I left. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Steve Black. He's a good candidate. He has the highest integrity. Leaving -- it was something I had to do. Steve can beat Jean Schmidt. He's a very good candidate."

Coon was a former John Edwards campaign aid involved in rural issues.

While Coon is out, The Bellwether hears that former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee executive director John Lapp is in as the ad man for Black campaign. Lapp joined the political consulting firm McMahon Squier Lapp and Associates after 2006 elections and is considered an architect of the Dems' victory that ended GOP control of the House. At the DCCC, Lapp was in charge of a $60 million budget. He knows Ohio River politics -- he worked for former U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas who held a Kentucky House seat on the opposite side of the river from OH-02. He was Lucas' campaign manager, then his chief of staff. Lucas retired to keep a promise about term limits.

U.S. House Democrats Target Ohio's Chabot: Voted Against Kids Health Care

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Radio spots during drive-time weather and traffic reports are being used this week by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to hammer Cincinnati Republican Steve Chabot. The ads started airing Monday afternoon and will continue for a week. Chabot, who represents Ohio's 1st Congressional District, voted against CHIP, a federally subsidized health care program for children. And it is all about putting pressure on Chabot to change his vote.

The ad says:

"Did you know Congressman Chabot gets health care at Taxpayers' expense, but Chabot and Bush are blocking health care for 10 million uninsured children. Tell Steve Chabot to put families first."

DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen said the campaign is also using robo calls and e-mail in addition to radio. The full-text of the DCCC's statement describing its CHIP efforts is available here. Van Hollen said:

"We're going district by district to tell Republicans and President Bush to stop obstructing progress and start putting children first. Republicans who continue to vote in lockstep with President Bush and against children will be held accountable."

Ohio's John Boehner: DCCC Says GOP House Leader Is Quiet Now Over Republican Boodling Report

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- House Democrats have accused Rep. John Boehner -- the GOP Minority Leader from Butler County -- of a double standard when it comes to Republican members of Congress who are under a corruption cloud. Boehner wanted Louisiana Democrat U.S. Rep. William Jefferson booted off a committee, then expelled when he was targeted by the FBI. But Boehner hasn't said a word about Alaska's Don Young, a member of his party who may have taken gifts and bribes for political favors.

Jennifer Crider, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took the shot at the Ohioan's purported hypocrisy:

"Apparently, Minority Leader John Boehner didn't mean it when he said that the 'clear likelihood of of serious transgressions will lead to suspension from important committees.' Don Young is being investigated for bribery -- one of the most 'serious transgressions' a Member of Congress faces -- but he still sits on the Committees overseeing the issues important to the company that allegedly bribed him. Clearly, Republicans haven't leared their lesson about holding their Members accountable for their wrong doing."

The DCCC's blast is HERE and followed news reports last week about Young's problems with an on-going corruptions investigation that has brushed up against several political figures in Alaska.

When Jefferson was in the headlines, Boehner was outspoken about ethics and cleaning the crooks out of Congress. Cynics and skeptics might suspect he only wants to clean out Democrats. Others say there is another double standard at work -- Jefferson is a black man, and the Republicans targeted him especially because of race.