Cleveland Tea Party Patriots Candidate Forum (Video)

Below are the videos of the CTPP Candidates Forum held on April 7th, 2010 at Bedford Rec Center.

Candidates attending were:

State Auditor Race

Rep. Seth Morgan
(Opponent Dave Yost refused to participate)

Secretary of State

Sandra O'Brien
(Opponent John Husted refused to participate)

Congressional District 10

Peter Corrigan
Benjiman Franklin

OH House District 95

State Senator Tim Grendell
Walter (Skip) Claypool

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We want to thank the candidates for coming. We ask you best decide who represents your values and who will best represent our core values of, Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and the Free Markets.

We also want to thank Kat Palmer & Steve Christopher for doing a great jon at moderating the event and, Cynthea, Dave, Jason, Dan & everyone else that helped out. A special thanks goes to those who served in formulating the questions for the first part of the event and Grant McCallum of Cuyahoga County for Liberty for video taping the event.

State Auditor candidate Dave Yost proposes taking away Independence of State Auditors Office

The Ohio Republican Party hand-picked & endorsed candidate for State Auditor, Dave "I was for being Attorney General before I was against it" Yost, in an over reaching attmept to politicize an office that MUST maintain its' independence is proposing a State Budget Commission to be made up of the State Treasurer, the State Auditor & State Attorney General.....

Republican State Auditor candidate Dave Yost today proposed creation of a State Budget Commission of the Auditor, Treasurer and Attorney General to improve state fiscal planning and increase accountability.

“Ohio counties have been well-served by county budget commissions made up of the county auditor, treasurer and prosecuting attorney, which designate a revenue total and then make regular updates,” Yost continued.

“A budget commission works for counties, it can work for the State, too,” Yost concluded. “By making these important calculations the responsibility of specific statewide elected officials, voters will know exactly where to look when the numbers are wrong or slow in coming.” (Dave Yost for Auditor)

With this proposed partisan move and as reflected in the above statement, Yost clearly affirms a lack of knowledge on the vastly different roles of a County Auditor and a State Auditor.

His opponent in the State Auditors race, Seth Morgan, counters Yost's proposal with this statement....

“This is a great example of the difference between having a CPA as Auditor of State and someone who served as auditor of county. A CPA like the Ohio Auditor both work to ensure independence and objectivity whenever issuing audit reports. A county auditor has no responsibility to issue such reports,” said Seth Morgan, CPA.

“To have the Auditor of State who is tasked with issuing an objective and independent financial audit report being involved with placing their credibility on the estimates of the revenue itself creates the appearance of a lack of independence in issuing that financial audit report. How does the Auditor of State first tell the citizens of Ohio what the revenues will be and then issue a report on the revenues themselves without being tainted by the fact that their credibility is already on the line?” said Morgan.

Additionally, the Governor’s role and the legislature’s role are to debate and enact the state budget. Seth Morgan has expressed major concerns in the past about the reliability of having the Governor issue the revenue estimates through his Office of Budget Management (OBM). (Friends of Seth Morgan Campaign)

Putting aside the comments from the candidates, Mary Taylor (current State Auditor and candidate for Lt. Governor), who has taken the State Auditors office to level of fiscal competency not seen in years, has some concerns about Yost's attempt at politicizing the office....

State Auditor Mary Taylor says an Ohio Budget Commission proposal unveiled this week by auditor candidate Dave Yost could create a conflict-of-interest problem for the office.

“We would be concerned that their might be an independence issue if the legislature were to approve legislation…that required the auditor of state to participate in any budgeting process, and then after the fact would be required to go in and audit,” Taylor said Friday during a taping of ONN’s Capitol Square, which will air Sunday at 10 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m. (Columbus Dispatch)

For more insightful comments on Yost's proposed Budget Commission here are a couple other posts made by two of the more competent and accurate bloggers in OH at Right Ohio (click here) and Bizzy Blog (click here).

Cleveland Tea Party Patriots Candidate Forum; After-Action Report

We had an awesome turnout for the CTPP Candidates Forum with about 65 people attending. The questions posed to the participating candidates were far from the usual softball type questions and settings most typically seen.

The candidates that participated were given no "open book" type questions prior to the event and were told they would be coming into an unknown setting. Other than the most basic description of the format and that their opponents would be invited, the candidates were completely kept in the dark about what they would be facing.

The reasoning behind this was twofold -- one, the Tea Parties should not exist for the candidates & their campaign but for our members & our core values. The other being -- if a candidate must study or prepare for a Candidates Forum, they have no business running for office. They should already know what they stand for and why they are running for office. The candidates were informed that the days of softball type questions and cookie-cutter type formats are a thing of the past with the Tea Party Patriot groups in OH.

Here is a break down on the candidates that attended & those that didn't;

Secretary of State

Sandra O'Brien, who is running for Secretary of State was in attendance, her opponent, John Husted refused to attend.

After first giving a verbal commitment that they would attend the series of candidate forums being hosted by the Tea Party Patriot groups in OH, the Husted campaign played games and wanted to just come and talk to the groups alone. They were told we do not exist for candidates to bloviate pie in the sky promises -- after this the Husted campaign did not respond to several requests for confirmation of their attendance.

State Auditor

Seth Morgan, who is running for State Auditor was in attendance. His opponent, Dave "I was for being Attorney General before I was against it" Yost.... well we don't know what happened to Dave.

When Dave was going to be the Tea Party darling and run against Mike DeWine for Attorney General he was all gung-ho on coming to the events. After he decided to do the bidding for ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine ( and John "CAT Tax" Husted) by abandoning the AG race (and the Tea Parties & 9.12 Groups) for the State Auditor race, Yost refused to schlep in for any of the TPP candidate forums. This brings us to the conclusion Yost would much rather drink Ohio GOP kool-aid than "Tea" with you & me.

For the record, when Dave Yost, who can now be referred to as the AG candidate of yosterday, dropped out of the AG race, he claimed it was the grass roots organizations that asked him to do so. We don't want to say he is not telling the truth, but he has been unable to provide any proof of these requests.

10th Congressional District & OH House 98th District

Peter Corrigan & Ben Franklin running in the District 10 primary were in attendance and both performed very well.

Tim Grendell & Skip Claypool running for OH House 98th District were also in attendance and both of these candidates rose to the occasion also.

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Overall, the candidates all performed very well and should be applauded for their willingness to wade into an unknown format, something rarely done by candidates. We wish them all the best of luck in the May primary races.

We want to thank Steve Christopher (former AG candidate) and Kat Palmer for moderating the event. We also want to thank the Cuyahoga for Liberty group for taping the event for us. The video will be up soon and you can judge the candidates performance for yourself.

Buckeye Firearms gives out 2010 Endorsements & Grades

For our members interested in what candidates running for office believe in and support the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution, Buckeye Firearms has released their grades and endorsements in the upcoming May Primary races. (Click here to read)

We've noticed some new candidates have been endorsed in the State Central Committee races over the longtime GOP favored incumbents. Namely in Senate District 25 where Ron Lisy was endorsed over long time incumbent Dave Bailey and Mike Griffith was endorsed over former OH Republican Party Chairman and incumbent Bob Bennett in Senate District 23.

On the Democrat side, challenging Rep. Betty Sutton in Congressional District 13, Justin Wooden was given the endorsement.

These BFA endorsements are being listed strictly as educational material and not as endorsements from the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine now Threatening Candidates

I guess with smear campaigns not being enough, it appears ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine, still trying to manipulate the integrity of the election process and the will of the voters, is now resorting to veiled threats directed at State Auditor candidate Seth Morgan.

Via Right Ohio from the Dayton Daily News.....

“I think Seth could have a bright future in our party if he makes the right decisions,” Kevin DeWine said in an e-mail. “He’s a politically ambitious young man and sometimes that desire to climb the political ladder can make you do things you end up regretting.” More.....

It sounds as if ORP Chairman DeWine is saying.... "if a candidate for office doesn't adhere and subscribe to the backroon deals we make -- they will regret the day they challenged us."

No Chairman DeWine.... the safe bet would be -- you will regret the day you thumbed your elephant clan trunk at the Tea Party & 9.12 Groups in OH.

OH Republican Party Starts Lie-Filled Smear Campaign

The following lie-filled email from Belmont County GOP Chairman Kent Moore has been sent to the other GOP County Chairman in OH.

From our Tea Leaf filled email bag -- (Emphasis Added)

Dear Republican County Chairman,

Having served as a County Chairman in two very different county's in my life time, it never ceases to amaze me on how some folks ego's can cloud their judgment.

Rarely in politics have I come across a candidate who is at once so openly disdainful of our party and our process, yet still brazen enough to ask for your support. Seth Morgan is currently trying to have it both ways with you, and I thought you should know the truth about this young man.

Recently, we needed to fill a void on the statewide ticket left when Mary Taylor decided to join John Kasich’s campaign and not seek re-election. You may recall that I immediately sent you an email requesting your consideration of Dave Yost for that spot. Dave had been all over Ohio during the previous year, and had built a statewide network that was truly impressive. Dave’s been in my county, and undoubtedly in many of yours. He is a former County Auditor, and is ready to fill Mary’s shoes right away. Polling has already shown that voters want an Auditor to be Auditor, which neither Seth Morgan, nor David Pepper is or has ever been.

I for one, not even knowing Seth Morgan's interest at the time, did reach out to Dave and ask him if he, given his Auditor background, would consider running for State Auditor. Given the importance of this office and with his proven track record, he would give us the best opportunity to retain it. I along with others I am sure, suggested for him to consider it, knowing he would be the one who would have to make that decision. My decision to urge you to consider Dave’s candidacy was decried by Seth’s campaign as a “backroom deal” and he accused Dave of “bending to political pressure” when he made his decision to step up and bring his considerable skills to the Auditor’s race. But Seth saw fit to judge my decision as political expediency –even though he does not know me. His campaign’s barrage of negative attacks on the party and our traditions and processes did not end there.

About two weeks ago, the Ohio Republican State Central Committee met in Columbus to consider an endorsement in this race. Dave Yost won the endorsement easily, joining the other slate of endorsed candidates we had already chosen to win back Ohio for us in 2010. Seth Morgan’s name was not placed into nomination by anyone on the Committee.

Seth had spent several days leading up to the meeting, apparently asking his small group of vocal supporters to call and harass voting members. Many were told they would draw challengers for their seats when their re-elections came up. They were bombarded with scripted emails and angry phone calls from individuals accusing them of playing old politics and calling them “RINOs” among other things.

Instead of vying for the nomination and respecting our party, Seth created a spectacle outside of party headquarters with people holding signs, yelling at committee members as they walked into the building, and chanting angry slogans – all for the media to see – based on fallacies about our party and our chairman, assumed to be true by Seth. One Committee member was physically threatened by a misguided individual who was sent to Columbus.

The whole thing was shameful, orchestrated by a guy who thought attacking them would scare them into supporting his candidacy. They are volunteers, elected by the members of their party in their districts – and I for one, don't respond well to threats or scare tactics when doing what I believe to be best for my party.

Now Seth has sent around the email below, asking you at the county level to consider supporting his candidacy. For one, he’s asking you to ignore the State Central Committee, who has already endorsed, in another attempt to divide allegiances and draw attention to himself.

He’s also asking you to pay no attention to the pitiful tactics he’s already employed when criticizing party leaders, many who are volunteer's like you and me, following their conscience and doing their jobs on behalf of a well qualified candidate who has out-worked Seth.

Seth may in fact have a future in our party, but he has a lot to learn about working with and for people. I suggest, that as a newly elected official, he work harder at doing the job of which people in his district elected him to do. I’ll be happy to explain to Seth that the reason he will not receive the support of this chairman at this time is not because I believe in “waiting your turn” as Seth again assumes to be the case – but because he needs to learn to respect the GOP and it's elected leaders, before he can expect to earn our support. I hope you’ll join me in delivering this message to him.

Sincerely,

Kent Moore
Belmont County Chairman

Though the Tea Party Patriots do not endorse candidates, we do and will continue doing our best to educate our members and the general public -- which is why the above lies cannot go unanswered.

The peaceful protest at the ORP HQ against the personal vendetta's over good politics and political musical chairs being played by the lemon-like leadership in the ORP & the State Central Committee in the State Auditor & Attorney General race was NOT orchestrated by the Morgan campaign, it was -- in the truest sense -- a grass roots effort by a majority of the Tea Parties, 9.12 groups and other conservative groups throughout OH.

On a side note.... I have also been informed that in his interview with the City Club of Cleveland, ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine described this protest as a small handful of angry protesters that has been blown out of proportion. Oh Really?!?

Shocked that anyone would dare challenge the entitlement mindset of the ORP and their process, just like some of the Democrats did in our visits with them, the goose-stepping goons of the OH GOP even called the police on the Tea Partiers that came to visit.

(Click here for an accurate overview of the disgusting backroom politics behind the OH GOP endorsement in the State Auditor race. )

Patriots.... it is clear from the above email and the previous comments of Columbiana County Chairman Dave Johnson that -- "the Tea Parties & 9.12 Groups are nothing without the GOP" -- it is the Ohio Republican Party, under the lemon-like leadership of Chairman Kevin DeWine and the current State Central Committee, that they still don't get it and a message must be delivered to them!

This message should reflect their leadership! Join us in sending Leadership Lemons to ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine & the ORP State Central Committee...

Tea Party Protests at the Ohio Republican Party HQ

Again failing to hear our phone calls, faxes, emails & protests, the lemon heads runnings the Ohio Republican Party move on in a closed door & teleconferenced endorsement meeting for Dave Yost as Auditor.

Here is the You Tube Video of the Tea Party protest at the ORP HQ we found at Bizzy Blog....

Here is part of a post Tom at Bizzy Blog did for Pajamas Media....

Just two weeks ago, the situation was at least tolerable. Though what I have been calling ORPINO (the Ohio Republican Party in Name Only) was backing a residency-challenged candidate for secretary of state (more on that in a bit), it at least had the sense not to get in the way of proven fiscal conservative John Kasich’s outsider-framed effort. On January 14, Kasich selected current state auditor and rising star Mary Taylor as his running mate. This move justifiably led ORPINO chair Kevin DeWine to declare Kasich-Taylor “as strong a gubernatorial ticket as you will see on any ballot in any state.”

Then Kevin DeWine proceeded to complete his ruination of most of the rest of the ticket in the name of money and nepotism.

Until he decided he wanted to be Ohio’s next attorney general, Kevin’s relative, former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine, was last seen being repudiated twice by Buckeye State voters in a 17-month span in 2005-2006. First, despite spending $1 million, his son Pat finished a distant fourth in a June 2005 GOP primary race to fill an open congressional seat.

That thrashing was accurately seen as a proxy repudiation of Mike over his participation in the Gang of 14 and other conservative-betraying votes. After yet another vote in November 2005 to stop drilling for oil in Alaska and a 2006 GOP primary where two completely underfunded challengers blockaded by ORPINO nonetheless took 28% of the vote, Mike DeWine lost his U.S. Senate reelection race against far-left Cleveland-area Congressman Sherrod Brown by a stunning 12 points.

Second-cousin Kevin and the ORPINO gang decided that this awful track record justified clearing the AG field for Mike, even though DeWine’s primary opponent Dave Yost had already racked up a 5-0 record in December and January GOP county endorsement meetings and had earned an intense level of tea party and other grassroots enthusiasm. More....

The only way we can stop this nonsense is by getting involved!

Ohio Republican Party kicks OH Conservatives in the Buckeyes

If you have ever walked into a voting booth and felt you are continually forced to choose between the lesser of two evils -- you will want to continue reading this post. This post will highlight the backroom deals made this year by the Ohio Republican Party regarding the State offices in this upcoming election.

Prior to the political version of musical chairs, the GOP primary races for state offices were pretty much set as;

• Governor's Office: John Kasich

• State Treasurer: Josh Mandel

• State Auditor: Mary Taylor (incumbent)

• Secretary of State: Sandy O'Brien vs. John Husted

• State Attorney General: Dave Yost vs. Mike DeWine

With two very strong conservatives challenging life time politicians in the Secretary of State & Attorney Generals race, and with the all-important apportionment board being at stake this was shaping up to be a very strong ticket -- but then, as usual and at the expense of the Ohio voters, partisan politics & personal vendetta's of Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine & State Senator John Husted came into play.

First we will start with the Auditors race before the political musical chair game began....

Mary Taylor was truly a God send for the State of OH. This women saved untold millions of dollars for our state. But Mary was quite contrary during her time as a State Rep in the OH House and refused to go along State Rep John Husted, the water boy for carrying former Governor Taft's failed policies and tax increases.

Refusing to be a party hack, Taylor earned the ire of Husted. It was made clear to Taylor after she was the only Republican elected for a State office in the 2006 elections -- that the party (ORP) would not help her with fundraising or campaigning for reelection this year.

Taylor was given the OH GOP endorsement for this uncontested primary at the infamous OH GOP endorsement meeting that HAD to be held on 9/11/09. The Republican primary winner will face off against the Democrat candidate Hamilton County Commissioner David "Deep Pockets" Pepper in the General Election.

The fact that Taylor was a true conservative, a rabid watchdog of our money, and the BEST damn State Auditor we have had in a very long time came in second to Husted & Kevin DeWine's vendetta against her and the plotted agenda of consolidating their power for their ultimate quest of eventually having John Husted become Governor. Taylor, besides not wanting to help Husted carry Taft's water, would also be considered a threat for Husted if she ever decided to run for Governor.

Now we will move to the State Attorney General race.....

Facing off in the GOP primary for this race was former Senator Mike DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Dave Yost.

This primary between Yost and the global warming-loving, gun-hating, lifetime politician, former Senator Mike DeWine appeared to be an easy pick for many conservatives in OH. Why? Because Mike DeWine is a part-time conservative.... meaning he "becomes" conservative just prior to election time.

With his racking up of endorsements from many of the Republican County Prosecutors in OH, his easily starting to win endorsements over Mike DeWine from county GOP parties (5-0) and having the support by all the gun-groups in OH over Mike DeWine, the conservatives and grass roots groups in this state were clearly sending a message to the supposed leadership in the Ohio Republican Party as to who they wanted as their candidate for Attorney General -- Dave Yost.

In the "Tea Parties & 9.12 Groups are nothing without the GOP" meeting held on 9/11/09 in which State GOP endorsements were given out -- Chairman Dewine & the OH GOP State Central Committee refused to give out an endorsement in this race. Even with endorsements strangely given out for uncontested primaries in State races, this was the only State office that an endorsement was not given.

Now this is where you get a headache and will have your already high level of disgust for the political system & the lemon of a state political party -- the Ohio Republican Party -- will shoot through the roof....

Mary Taylor, because of her own lack of fund raising ability and her being locked out of party money due to the Kevin DeWine/John Husted vendetta target on her back, was woefully behind in raising campaign funds for her reelection against eventual run against the Democrat candidate in the General Election -- Hamilton County Commissioner David "Deep Pockets" Pepper. The fact that Pepper's father was a big shot with Proctor & Gamble also contributed to the big money Republicans from the Cincy area that he is friends with of not wanting to cross him and refused to financially support Taylor.

Much to the dismay of Kevin DeWine & Husted, seeing that Mary Taylor was being left out to dry & knowing DeWine & Husted were all giggly over Taylor's imminent political demise, John Kasich threw Taylor a political life-line and asked her to run as his Lt. Governor -- thus creating a vacancy on the GOP primary ticket for the State Auditors race.

When Taylor abandoned her reelection bid for State Auditor, Ohio State Representative Seth Morgan announced his candidacy for this seat. Though Taylor was a superstar and had the power of running as an incumbent going for her, Morgan had the same drive and qualifications Taylor and the Ohio Republican Party stated was needed for being a State Auditor when she successfully ran for this office -- that a person running for State Auditor should be a CPA. Morgan, like Taylor, is a C.P.A.

So.... everything in Elephant Clan land was all good now - right? Nope! Even though he was a qualified candidate by being a CPA & had shown he was a fiscal watchdog as a Huber Hts. Councilman & OH House member, during this time Seth Morgan also ran a foul of the lemon-like leadership of ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine & his trusted tax-loving sidekick John Husted.

Putting personal vendetta's above good leadership & promoting good conservatives like they are supposed too, ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine & John Husted set out on a search for a sap to get in the State Auditors race for a run against Seth Morgan.

Were they looking for a better candidate? Nope, any warm bodied sucker would do.

After shopping around and offering a guaranteed endorsement from the GOP State Central Committee but no financial support for getting in State Auditor primary to several people and being laughed at, Kevin DeWine & John Husted finally found their sucker in Dave Yost.

Yost, who is NOT a CPA, in a major lapse of good judgement and integrity, and knowing he was also being blocked in fund raising by the GOP money bags not wanting to donate against the friend of John Kasich & well-funded -- Mike DeWine, dropped out of the Attorney General primary and will run in the State Auditor primary against Seth Morgan. In a fit of fantasy land thinking, Yost feels that since he is now the handpicked candidate of Kevin DeWine & John Husted, the same GOP money men who refused donating to Mary Taylor in the Auditors race against Pepper -- will now open their check books for him.

For the record.... there is no love lost between cousins Kevin DeWine & Mike DeWine. ORP Chair Kevin DeWine would love nothing more than seeing Mike DeWine get beat in the primary, but he knows his lemon-like leadership was too weak to help Yost beat his cousin and settling the score against Morgan was more important.

So because of the above, the make Sen. George Voinovich look conservative, gun-hating, lover of global warming lifetime politician Mike DeWine will get a free pass in the Republican primary for State Attorney General and the ORP is pushing a candidate in the Auditor primary, Yost, that just wants to get elected to a state office and is according to their own words in Taylor's race for Auditor four (4) years ago unfit to be State Auditor because he is NOT a CPA.

I bet you thought our fight in pushing public policy consistent with our three core values was going to only be against the progressive liberals. So for the party hacks out there saying the leadership of the Ohio Republican Party promotes good conservative candidates and hears the voices of the grass roots groups is equal to agreeing that the science behind global warming is accurate.

Equally disturbing as the above is the fact that the people serving on the governing body of the Ohio Republican Party, the State Central Committee, have ALL sat silent as the future of OH is being frittered away over elementary school type vendetta's from the lemon-like leadership at the ORP.