There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.

Will McCain stand up for Ohio jobs?:

John McCain will visit Ohio today amid new revelations about his role in a deal that will cost Ohio more than 8,000 jobs. Yesterday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer revealed that while Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, McCain, and former DHL lobbyist and current campaign manager Rick Davis, played instrumental roles in helping DHL and its German parent company take over operations in Wilmington, Ohio in 2003, despite concerns about the local impact of the deal. Both companies hired Davis' firm to push the deal through Congress, with DHL-Airborne Express paying Davis and his business partner $185,000 in 2003 and $405,000 from the German company Deutsche Post for other work in 2004 and 2005. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/6/08]

Read more.

I'm sure most kossacks have heard about the McCain, Rick Davis (campaign manager that lost it on A.Mitchell's show)DHL, OHio, lobbying/layoff  scandal (if not see the story below, after the video).

But now the Ohio DNC/Dems have responded with a crushing anti-McCain/Hypocrite indictment, video slam.

This is exactly what we needed folks. McCain needs to be hit hard; and hit hard often with the truth. It seems the DNC went for the kill!

We don't have to lie. Just ask questions. This is what Obama needs to do till the election. He needs to show voters McCain is a lying, slimy, greedy, corporate, misogynist shill, shell of a former "Maverick" Senator. If he can't, then 527 or DNC groups such as this needs to make the case.

But somebody has to. Let's hope the Obama campaign does the same.

The video is below.

New Web Video Highlights McCain's Deep Involvement in Deal with Foreign Shipping Company as 8,000 Ohio Jobs Hang in the Balance

The Ohio Democratic Party released a new web ad today contrasting John McCain's aggressive personal intervention in the Senate on behalf of a foreign shipping company with his unwillingness to intervene just as aggressively with DHL as 8,000 Ohio jobs hang in the balance in the wake of the deal he helped broker.  

The ad features video of McCain's recent exchange with a woman at a town hall in Portsmouth, Ohio and reporting from The Plain Dealer.  On the eve of his visit to DHL in Wilmington, The Plain Dealer reported that McCain's campaign manager and longtime friend Rick Davis lobbied on behalf of DHL to overcome Congressional opposition to allowing a foreign company to take over Airborne, and that McCain himself intervened to ensure that the deal went through.  According to The Plain Dealer, Rick Davis earned $185,000 lobbying for foreign ownership, and $405,000 after the deal passed Congress.

Watch the video after the break. The Plain Dealer story is available here.  

21st Century Democrats is excited about the extraordinary amount of enthusiasm Barack Obama’s nomination has generated. The Pew Research Center is suggesting increased voter turnout in the general election bodes well for Democrats. However, some stats from the primary season show that increased turnout for the presidential election doesn't always help down-ballot races.

In fact, assuming a strong Presidential ticket will pull Democratic candidates in the House, the Senate, and local offices to victory is dangerous. This assumption is not in line with electoral empirics or America’s personality. Splitting tickets will always occur in our nation which prides itself on having a "maverick spirit" and values competence over loyalty. More importantly, many Americans will rightfully not vote for candidates they are unfamiliar with. Why would anyone put someone they know nothing about in a tremendous position of power? In the midst of all the excitement generated by the Obama campaign, we cannot forget that voters need to have face to face contact with canvassers for all our candidates, not just our candidate for President.

John McCain never could have anticipated that a deal pushed through in 2003, with his support and the lobbying efforts of his current campaign advisor Rick Davis, might cost the people of Wilmington, Ohio, 8,000 jobs.

In a private meeting Thursday, Wilmington residents will ask McCain for help in stopping DHL's proposal to quit using the airport as a hub, which could cost more than 8,000 jobs. DHL says that it wants to stay in the freight business but that it can stem financial losses if it can put its packages aboard the planes of a rival - United Parcel Service - before delivering them in DHL trucks. UPS flies out of Louisville, Ky., so the proposed change would render the Wilmington airport unnecessary.

In 2003, over the objections of members of Congress who "cited concerns about a subsidiary of a foreign company controlling a segment of air commerce in the United States," John McCain and Trent "Happy Birthday, Strom" Lott prevailed in allowing the German-owned DHL to buy Airborne Express, and now, with 8,000 jobs at risk in Wilmington, the McCain camapaign says:

At the time of the merger, no one anticipated an impact on jobs in Wilmington.

Good answer. Just as George Bush couldn't have anticipated planes flying into buildings or the levees failing in New Orleans, John McCain couldn't anticipate that the merger he helped push through may now cost thousands of Ohions their job. On the bright side, McCain's senior advisor Rick Davis made a mint on the deal.

Update: Today  Last month in Wilmington Portsmouth, Ohio:

Mary Houghtaling, who runs a hospice in Wilmington, Ohio, choked up as she told McCain of DHL's plans to close its domestic air hub in her town, a move that could throw 8,600 people out of work. "This is a terrible blow," McCain told her. "I don't know if I can stop it. That's some straight talk. Some more straight talk? I doubt it."

Straight talk? I doubt it too. Watch it:

Crossposted at Strategy08.

When will these idiot hecklers at Obama town-halls realize that they are only doing him a favor. After getting disrupted by hecklers last week for not focusing on Black issues (even though he has repeatedly), the hecklers were at it again today. Too bad for this moron, Obama thoroughly owned his disruptive ass, and gets a favorable headline in the process.

Over the weekend I learned that Obama was coming to give a townhall speech at my college (Baldwin-Wallace College) here in Berea, OH. I was excited to get a ticket and went. All in all it was about what I expected.

After reading the newspaper this morning, I'm starting to worry about what going on in Ohio!

    DKOS readers are now familiar with the Obama inevitability argument. If Obama carries the Kerry states plus Iowa and New Mexico, then he only needs one more battleground state to top 270. That can either be Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri, Indiana, or Florida. Therefore, Obama can't lose. Yada, yada, yada.

    The problem with this line of thought is that it treats the election as a machine running by statistical dynamics. What are the compounded odds of Obama losing all those independent contests? Pretty damned slim.

    But the election is not a machine, it's a chess game. Each side employs strategy, and that strategy includes elements of psychological warfare and tactical surprise. McCain is not going to just stand still while all the applesauce falls around him, if you can imagine that. No, he's going to make his moves, and he's already pulled dead even in the national tracking polls. So what is McCain's winning move?

Something my grandfather always said, which my father has carried down throughout his life - we've even turned it into a verb...Whenever we want something done, and done NOW we say "LSMS" which means "less shit, more sugar". To this day I still have no idea what fecal material has to do with sugar, but when I hear the call I move - and fast!

I was genuinely saddened today to hear of the passing of Rep. John Seiberling of Ohio.

Some major developments this week involving corruption and domestic terrorism. Shootings, anthrax, and indictments. I have been talking for quite some time about Republican corruption and Ted Stevens of Alaska is somoene I declared as the most corrupt politician in America. Well, this week he was indicted. I have also been writing for some time about right wing fanatics in government and on talk shows inciting intolerance and violence. Well, we had another example of right wing terrorism in Knoxville, TN, quite possibly inspired by right wing talk shows.

Meanwhile, speculation about who Obama and McCain will pick for the VP spot is is the current rage. Everyone has tips, inside info and rumors to share. Well, I have no idea who either will choose, but one possibility for McCain was mentioned to me that would be interesting: Eric Cantor, Congressman from Virginia who makes Joe Lieberman look liberal. I discuss him this week. I also review my past coverage of Republican election fraud in Florida and Georgia. I am sure we will see the same kind of fraud in both states again this year. Plus I have been trying to flesh out my state-by-state coverage.

While far-off pundits pontificate and spinmeisters spin, there's a quiet campaign going on in the Ohio countryside: The Barack's Barns project.

A volunteer artist looks on.

"I’ll be on your side forever more..." If you haven’t noticed, President Bush’s call sheet isn’t exactly full these days. With an approval rating in the 20s, this president is finding out who his friends really are.  Good thing for him, Steve LaTourette’s still got him on speed dial.

This is my final diary written from Ohio.  When next I pop up online sometime later this month, it will be as a resident of Illinois.  Though I am looking forward to returning to my home state, I will miss Ohio.  I will especially miss what I have seen unfold over the past couple of years here, as Democrats have made great gains since 2004 (and, as the action item at the end of this diary indicates, are working hard to continue those gains this year).

Dean Martin, arguably more talented than Frank Sinatra, is from Steubenville, Ohio, right in the heart of Appalachia (including WV, PA, etc.)  And according to Dean Martin himself, as he was coming up he tried to imitate the style and grace of the Mills Brothers, trio of black brothers who were instrumental in laying the foundation for many others in entertainment.

Raw Story has posted a pdf of a very curious memo.  

This memo, leaked from someone who worked in Georgia's (then) Sec. of State Cathy Cox's office (more on her below), seems to show that red flags went up in Georgia after it was discovered that the (then) president of Diebold applied patches in only two predominantly-Democratic counties.

This pdf seems to indicate that in Dec. 2002, Cox sent Diebold a fax (see pdf link above) asking Diebold President Bob Urosevich if his patch (which, again, was applied in only two Democratic-dominated counties) necessitated those voting machines to be re-certified.

Apparently, per the date of the pdf, Cox didn't know the patch was applied before the election.

I've seen quite a few claims around here about how this or that potential Vice Presidential candidate will help deliver Ohio for Obama or McCain.  

They won't.

As someone who lived my first 18 years in Ohio, and then lived all over the USA, I need to add my perspective and put these notions to rest.

Follow me beneath the fold for an exploration of this very unique state.