Today Kenneth Blackwell's morning did not get off to the best start.
Ted Strickland and his campaign have made sure that he has a mountain to climb to win a promotion to Governor.
Jennifer Brunner's campaign is doing better than ever, thanks to your help (we beat our goal by over $4,256 - raising $24,256 for her campaign).
And today Chad McVeigh and other College Democrats in Ohio delivered our VOTES Declaration to Kenneth Blackwell's Secretary of State's office as a challenge to fix this system or get out of the way for people who can.
A little more than a month ago Heartland PAC began circulating the VOTES Declaration on our website:
www.heartlandpac.org. Since then it has garnered attention from concerned citizens -- over 10,000 in all.
From reading the comments we received, it is clear that we hit a nerve, as many people made strong statements about how voting is a right and not a privilege. Francille, a resident of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, put it best: "this should not be necessary, but unfortunately it is."
And, unfortunately, because Kenneth Blackwell and the Republican nominee for secretary of state don't seem to think these basic principles are important, we made sure it was delivered to their doorstep.
My staff helped me include some pictures from the delivery and our communications staff is making sure the press know about the event. But here are a few words from Chad McVeigh who coordinated the delivery in Ohio today:
"College Dems from Ohio University (2 hrs away!) and the Ohio State University met outside the office with the media before going inside to make our voices heard. Turns out, Mr. Blackwell's office didn't much care for what we had to say. We asked to speak with anyone from the communications department or public relations, but we were ultimately made to wait nearly an hour only to be told nobody could see us today. After all, we're just voters.."
Election officials in your state will be receiving the same declaration, because we believe these principles are something we can all adopt -Republican, Democrat and Independent - and they are needed in every state to protect every vote.
If you are inclined, and you think it is important for Democrats to win in Ohio this year, spread the word about today's delivery or just make today the day you remind people how much we need to elect Ted Strickland, Jennifer Brunner, and 22 other secretaries of state in November.
I hope you enjoyed this report as much as I have enjoyed my posts here since I have joined the community. And despite some in the media trying to pit Democrats against each other - I know better. As Democrats, we will stand together as a community when stand up for our values - like the right to vote.
I have witnessed first hand what this community can do at YearlyKos. I have seen this community engage in thoughtful discussions together and it certainly helped me generate ideas on education and health care.
Down ballot races struggle to gain visibility and resources. Working together we can change the dynamic. Last week you helped raise $24,256 for Jennifer Brunner's campaign. Your financial contributions can make the difference on Election Day in Ohio. We also endorsed three other critical races for secretary of state: Mike Mauro, Iowa; Ross Miller, Nevada; and Ken Gordon, Colorado.
So thank you, again, for all your hard work on behalf of the party and for candidates for secretary of state nationwide. I hope we can continue to work together to elect candidates who share our belief that voting is a right not a privilege.
Together we've made a good start but we must keep the drumbeat going if we want open, honest, and fair elections.
Thank you again for all your help, and I hope that you will continue to join us in helping elect Democratic secretaries of state across the country in 2006.
PS - I cannot stay to answer questions right now, but Kevin will be monitoring your comments and he will help me answer as many questions as I can via my Blackberry.