Ohio's Blogs: Have Election Results From Across The State

The link is here at Writes Like She Talks (updated)and it will take you to reports from all corners of Ohio, including OH-05 where State. Rep. Bob Latta appears to have won the GOP nomination to succeed the late Paul Gillmor in Congress. The Republican will face Democratic nominee Robin Weirauch on Dec. 11 in a special election that is going to be a world beater. Why? Because it will be the only game in town. The two national parties are going to punch it out in the NW corner of Ohio, a region that is traditionally Republican. The door may be slightly ajar to a Dem after Gillmor's sudden death in September.

OH-05 GOP: JMZ Creates Timeline Of Gay Candidate 'Outing' Via Ohio Blogs

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Was it the politics of personal destruction? Or merely an open -- but not widely known -- lifestyle fact spread like a prairie wildfire across the Ohio blogosphere? And the biggest unanswered question of all: Who wrote the "anonymous" comment about Wood County Commissioner Tim Brown's sexual orientation? Who unleashed the Furies? Any half-wit can surmise the motivation: Anonymous intended to destroy Brown's OH-05 candidacy some 24 hours after his initial public comment about running for the vacant NW Ohio congressional district. And anonymous was incredibly successful. The poison pen comment led Brown to say he was a gay man holding elected office as an Ohio Republican, an office he still hopes to keep. Brown won't be running for OH-05.

Jill Miller Zimon has constructed a timeline that traces some of the more significant twists in the episode from its start to the place where it is now currently stalled in the Ohio blogosphere. She says the outing of Tim Brown of Bowling Green shows the powerful influence that blogs can exercise in Ohio politics. Others might be thinking toxic influence. Still others might be thinking his candidacy for Congress and his personal privacy were swallowed whole by the vast storage space now available on computer chips and the explosion of information tossed hither and yon by search engines. She does not speak of the responsibility that comes with yoking influence to search engines --or used to come with influence before the age of search engines.

And she does not attempt to answer the uber question -- who started the rumor? (People are working on that, and Jill at Writes Like She Talks is probably tapping into her political sources, too.) Soon, she and others must address the current status of the Ohio political universe, an edgy universe where anonymous rumor has the gravity of fact. This is not criticism of Jill, nor of any blogger, including yours truly. It is simply meant to note that events unfolded so quickly amid the hyperlinks, so damn quickly amid the hyperlinks, that nobody has yet been able to comprehend their roles or the greater meaning of the episode.

According to JMZ, lawyer Scott Pullins who publishes The Pullins Report first noticed the comment some two hours after it was posted Friday morning. There is no suggestion Pullins is "anonymous" -- he was observant and picked up on the Tim Brown comment first. From there it metastasized. It was a drama, a mystery, a whodunit. Now it needs a super sleuth, a Sherlock Holmes to find who unleashed the hounds.

Ohio's Right-Leaning Bloggers: For Now, None Make The Top 40

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Ohio's hardworking bloggers who plug GOP politics or conservative issues deserve better. None in the Top 40, not even an honorable mention. Surely, somebody on the Ohiosphere's right is a .300 hitter.

Compiled by RightWingNews, the list tries to measure influence and reach. RWN is an important national blog that is one of only 14 linked on the Republican National Committee's official Website. Two Minnesota blogs, Captain's Quarters and Powerline, are ranked Top 40 material. But that state is hardly a key political battleground -- at least, not when measured against Ohio which decides who wins the White House.

RWN says August is a slow month and somebody different could be in the Top 40 when a new list is compiled later this year.

"Additionally, it's worth noting that there are more than a few blogs, even what are normally very good blogs, that would make the list (or rank higher), that seem to have a case of the 'summer blahs.' August in a non-election year, could fairly be said to be the absolute low point of the political cycle. Congress isn't in session, traffic drops, and there usually isn't comparatively, that much going on. So, perhaps, it's not surprising that so many bloggers are catching up on some much needed rest and foregoing their normal level of posting this month."

So, Ohio's righties are drowsy. Or nodding during the Dog Days. Somehow can't believe that.

Ohio's New MSM Blogs: List of Names Leaks Out

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- With the debut of a new Ohio.com blog under its belt, insiders say the MSM is planning several other additions and editions to cover Buckeye State matters. These operations will begin rolling out in the days and weeks ahead. A list of the nameplates likely to be trademarks for the new blogs headed to the Ohiosphere is as follows:

Writes Like A Hawk
RightAngleFog
PschyoBellyDebutante
Thunderplumb
DailyBeltStretcher
Phlo'sNorkaRages
OhioKnave
Kixguy
Ohio Bailey
Crass City Jingle
Creative Mink
Conservative Vulture
Opiners
Cincy Newssnake
Cincinnati Deacon
MuckeyeStateGrog
BluedFishDaily
DizzyBlog
FrogNetOoze
AsOhioSnows
Pro-grassOhio
LargeBellVacates
BearingGiftsOhio
KingsHindSight
Callahan'sClevelandDiatribe
HaveTeaWillSpill
TheNookieLeerOpton
TheCheeseSource
Columfusser