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.

Ohio Righties In A Mattfight: With Claws Out, Matt Naugle Scratches Matt Hurley Off His List

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Matt Naugle, who was Ken Blackwell's official campaign blogger during the Cincinnati Republican's ill-fated 2006 run for governor, is on the warpath against another GOP blog. Naugle says folks should tune out Matt Hurley's Weapons of Mass Discussion -- "let's ignore these vulgar basement dwellers." Both Naugle and Hurley are fixtures in the Ohiosphere, and they endlessly hammer liberals and Democrats. But it seems some of the partisan vitriol may be spilling into an internecine turf battle.

So far, there's been no response from Hurley, who has been gaining prestige in the world of conservative bloggers as a voice from Ohio. Hurley operates out of Butler County in the state's SW corner. Naugle says Hurley's blog is for dunderheads:

"If there are any conservatives in Ohio who are seriously interested in blogging about state politics, please shoot me an email (matt-at-naugblog.com) and I'd be happy to help you set up your blog."

Is it jealousy -- or self-promotion -- at the heart of it all? Feuds can be good for business, as Olbermann's swipes at O'Reilly have shown. Hurley is rated the most influential blogger in Ohio this week on BlogNet News while Naugle is No. 5. (The Daily Bellwether is usually somewhere in the mix on the same Top 20 list. But not this week because there were no posts for nine days during a Bellwether sabbatical.) Suspicion here is that the feud between the GOP bloggers is genuine. Naugle probably breaks more news than Hurley -- Naugle broke the story about former Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann's problems la femme last November, long before anyone else. He appears to believe that Hurley's blog is dependent on press releases more than any independent reporting.

[UPDATE: 9:45 pm -- The alert folks at Democratic-left Plunderbund (No. 6 on the BlogNet News influence list) have more on the back story. And it is an entertaining yarn about the blogspat's evolution throughout the day.]

Ohiosphere Tale Of The Day (IV): RAB's Naugle Delivers A Hornswoggle

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Self-assured, fiercely partisan and way too interested in Connie Schultz's armpits. That's one way of reading the RightAngleBlog's agitated write-up about former Cleveland Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau reporter Ted Wendling. RAB has produced a duplicitous online screed whose tenor is meant to demonize a truly excellent person.

Wendling, with whom I worked for nearly 20 years at the PeeDee, is dedicated, honest, polite, intelligent and a superb human being. Every resident of this state should sleep better at night upon learning that Ted Wendling has been hired as a deputy inspector general to monitor the Ohio Department of Transportation for fraud, waste and abuse of public funds.

Wendling is a dogged investigator. He and his former partner, Dave Davis, were finalists for a Pulitzer in the mid-1990s for a series of stories that exposed covered up medical errors with radiological equipment. It was a seminal event that changed policies across the nation.

Matt Naugle, the RightAngleBlog's editor, writes posts that are interesting, engaging and occasionally enraging. (I am a fan, though I sometimes flinch over things I see there. But it is fun, and I love free speech.) Now he is labeling Wendling a hack, a Democratic hack:

"But on the bright side, at least Ted Wendling won't be a spokesman for a Democratic office holder -- I guess he was tired of being a Democrat spokesmouth via his job at the Plain Dealer, and wanted to try something new. Ted, you are a partisan hack, and I wish you much failure with your new gig."

RAB is wrong. Ted has unrivalled experience. He has character. He will serve the state well.

RAB's rap against him comes out of the last election, when Ken Blackwell, the rock upon which Matt Naugle had sought to build his hopes, was crushed. By firing unscrupulous and uninformed salvos at good people intent on public service, Naugle is still trying to salvage something from that sad wreck. Naugle is a voice who wants to show that Republicans can produce superior statecraft. But habitually engaging in duplicity won't make that case.

Kent State University Denies Links to 'Jihadist' Professor Web Site

KENT, Ohio (TDB) -- Kent State University issued a statement today that strongly denies any involvement with an Islamic jihadist Web site that openly supports terrorist groups and Osama bin Laden's goals in Muslim world.

"Julio Pino, an associate professor of history at Kent State University, is being accused of authoring an anti-American Web site. This site has no connection to Kent State, and we object to having the university's name linked to it," the statement says. It was issued as an uproar develops over suggestions that the that the NE Ohio school could have looked the other way while a faculty member advocated slaughtering Americans. Rightwingers are disseminating the story at the speed of light, and even some liberals and centrists are wondering what was going on in Portage County.

[UPDATE: The latest from The Plain Dealer's Jesse Tinsley says Pino's comments about suicide bombers earlier this decade triggered a flap. He also writes that KSU is issuing "cease and desist" orders to blog and other sources to stop them from linking the school to the jihadist news service. That wording indicates some kind of legal action may be in the works.]

[UPDATE 2: Pho's Akron Pages delves into the hubbub and says the incident leaves many questions to be answered. He's level headed.]

The school said it investigated and has so far found "no evidence that this Web site is authored by Pino -- that is NOT [original emphasis] his picture on the site, and it contains no reference to him or to Kent State. In any case, there is no connection between this site and the university."

It also said no school servers were used to create or maintain the site, and that hate mail and threats are coming in against Pino and Kent State. It did not say if any disciplinary action will be taken against the professor, who was described as a competent teacher who converted to Islam.

A link to the jihadist site that is at the root of the tumult is HERE , and it definitely seems to cheer when Americans are killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Matt Naugle at RightAngleBlog was first to break this story in the Ohio blogosphere, and he got the scoop from Townhall.com, a conservative operation that brought the issue to light in the first place.