Crossposted at DKos

Pat Tiberi's grown so desperate that he's stooped to outright lies in an attempt to smear Bob Shamansky. In a last ditch effort to cement his uber-conservative base and/or scare off marginal voters, Tiberi's mailings have taken a nasty edge in the final days of the campaign.

One mailing falsely claims that Bob "voted to allow experimentation on live fetuses" saying "Bob Shamansky has shown no respect for the value of human life."

Another piece claims Bob is under investigation for fraud - citing a bogus Board of Elections complaint the chair of the local Republican party made regarding Bob's voting address. The same piece even claims that Bob faces "felony allegations."

Both pieces, as well as Pat's last ditch nasty Television, depict Bob walking with an awkward gait. One angry constituent who wrote the campaign called it a "flamboyant stride." The implication - of course - is the same that desperate Republican smears have made agains other Democratic candidates here in Ohio this year. The fact is Bob's gait is unusual. He shattered both legs while serving in the Army during the Korean War, and spent more than a year in military hospitals recovering from his injuries. He's considered 50% disabled by the V.A. Bob was severely injured in the service of his country, and Pat is trying to use that to imply that he's gay?

Pat's accusations are baseless, and despicable. They're one final sign of Pat's desperation, and Central Ohio voters see through it. Along with the rest of Ohio's "can't shoot straight gang" Pat's getting sent home Tuesday night.

Late night funnies, jerome

Last night, Bob Shamansky (OH-12) launched his newest television spot, a hilarious animated spot calling Rep. Pat Tiberi (R) to task for his loyalty to George W. Bush.

Just how big is "The Bush Factor"? Well, with his approval ratings still hovering in the 30's We think it's pretty big, and there's just no excuse for being a yes man.

Bob's a former congressman who's hoping to return to the people's house some 24 years after being redistricted out. For more on Bob, and on the race, visit http://www.ShamanskyForCongress.com

House Spearker Denis Hastert's "Prayer"
With apologies to King David
by former Congressman Bob Shamansky (D-OH) - Candidate for Ohio's 12th Congressional District

DeLay is my bagman:  I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in still more money.
He leadeth me beside big donors.
He restoreth  my cash.
He leadeth me in paths of self-rightousness for his own sake.

Yeah, though I walk though the valley of grand juries,
I will fear not evil, for Tom is with me.
His hammer and his staff, they comfort me.
He preparest a defense for me in the presence of mine prosecutors.
My bank account runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow all my votes as Tom directs,
And I will dwell in the House of Representatives forever.

Bob Shamansky is a lifelong Central Ohio resident, lawyer, and local businessman. He served as a Special Agent in the United States Army's Counter Intelligence Corp during the Korean War, and as a Member of Congress representing Ohio's 12th Congressional District from 1981-1983.  He is seeking the Democratic nomination as a candidate in the 12th Congressional District.

California's Nov. 8 special election is more than just a referendum on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's incredible ineptitude - and while it's important that those of us who value good government, and public service work to defeat the governor's initiatives - it's also important that progressives both here in California and elsewhere in the country support two of the initiatives.  

Proposition 80 offers community power regulation that will ensure that California doesn't get trapped in the same cycle of corruption and price fixing that led to the 2000 brownouts, and (some might say) to the recall election that brought Arnold to power. Not surprisingly, it's opposed by the same large energy companies that drove the state to near bankruptcy just a few years ago.

Proposition 79 is a prescription drugs discount plan that would allow the state to negotiate bulk discounts with large pharmaceutical manufacturers, would save the state millions each year, and make life saving drugs available to more Californians.    The PhaMA industry has countered with the most expensive ballot campaign in history - planning to spend more than $80 million to defeat it.

Today, the Prop 79 campaign and The Alliance for a Better California launched a grassroots media campaign to fight the drug companies media saturation bombing attempts.  Without access to the same obscene pools of cash that the drug companies have, the  Prop 79 campaign has toss it's lot in with the everyday guy.  They're asking the online community to craft and submit ads for a contest entitled "Better Ads for Cheaper Drugs."  The winning ad will be shown in the final weeks of the campaign.

This is a real netroots response to the huge special interest money that's pouring into California. The drug companies are afraid, and are already running huge negative ad buys.  Prop 79 needs our help.

Dick "Crashcart" Cheney has been hospitalized with shortness of breath - and since he has the cardiac health of C. Montgomery Burns, they thought it would be good to keep him around for observation.

This leads me to wonder if the GOP really expects, or wants, Cheney to make it through his second term as VP.  After all, if he resigned for health reasons, it would save the GOP quite a few future headaches.

1. With Cheney out of the picture, Haliburton is once again just a handy method to pay off your friends, and not so much a liability to the administration.
2. We all know that Cheney won't be running for the top spot in 4 years, so the chance to nominate someone to fill the VP spot, and potentially later ascend to the top spot - well it would be a great opportunity for the GOP to groom Bush's successor.

Sure, I sound like a wackjob conspiracy theorist.  I'm a liberal, what do you expect?  But this is a possibility we need to face.  A Democratic candidate in 2008 may not be running against an inexperienced Governor, or a Senator with a dubious record - they may be running against a sitting VP, with all the power of the White Hose behind him.

The Wrap:

Well, tonight is round two of the ongoing verbal assault the two major campaigns are waging on the American public, and this rematch of last Thursday's blowout is likely to be something to see.  After faltering badly last week, we can expect Bush to take a new tact, but keep up the pressure on Kerry.   Sure, just like last time it'll be all talking points and no substance, but don't expect Bush to look the simian fool a second time around.

From the Kerry side, I expect another strong performance - but not a repeat of last weeks trouncing.  Kerry's truly a skillful debater, and in a tie and tailored suit, standing behind a podium, he's got all the rhetorical power he needs.  Facing a chubby 68 year old grandmother of 12 with a question about her medicare benefits - he's in a different world.   The format tonight favors Bush - and by that I mean the President's handicap should make them about even to start.

The Odds: 5:3 - in Kerry's favor.  He's got the polls going in, and it's been a bad week for W and the Dickster.

The Predictions:

• There will be tough questions for both candidates, but the questions for Bush will be tougher for him to field since they'll address things that are already his problems, and because he has a record to run away from.
• We'll hear Kerry press this morning's dismal employment numbers as evidence that the current administration (and make no mistake, he'll use the presidents name) is responsible for putting us all in the soup lines. Bush will claim the same evidence shows that we're "moving forward", and that the situation is improving.  Neither will use the economists' phrase:  Jobless Recovery.
• We'll hear more about L. Paul Bremmer - this time starting with the President. He'll trot out Bremmer's statements refuting earlier quotes claiming that the invasion was under-manned and under-planned.  Kerry will "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" him right back.
• Charlie Gibson will throw more softballs than a Texas church picnic.

Watch and learn folks. Either these people are your future . . .or this is.

So this is my first entry of this sort - in general, I keep my political ramblings to the pages of the politics blog I run with a handful of friends scattered about the country - i'm just waiting for the robot invasion but maybe I'll dump this here first.

Why does everyone claim to hate politics so much?

My likely to be brother in law claims never to have voted, and is proud of it.  A co-worker of my wife recently explained that while she was a naturalized citizen, she had never voted, mostly because she didn't see the point.  

Politics is something that I think has been massively misrepresented in this country in the past few years.  It's actually hard to even define what we mean when we say "Politics" but for the sake of this argument, lets assume that it's government, policy, and the issues that surround political campaigns.  Of course we can throw the courts in there to, but I'm already rambling, so I'll stick with that initial bundle.