Notes from the Democratic State bus tour...

I thought what I would do is share some of the quotes of interest that I wrote down or taped today while we were at UAW Local 12. I've been covering some of these events for quite a few months now so it was nice to see some of the people who have become friends during this time. Miguel was with me as my photographer, as most of you know he considers himself a conservative yet he commented to me that he liked Barbara Sykes speech, she was very exuberant. I have to compliment Mr. Shanahan on the excellent job he did in leading the singing of the National Anthem.

Now on to the selected quotes:


Bruce Baumhower - "The UAW supports the entire Democratic Slate from the top down".

Chris Redfern pointed out something that other parts of Ohio seem to forget, "One Mayor stood up early and said I have to help because our communities need it." (That mayor is of course our Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.)

As an aside, Ron Garcia appeared to have gotten the largest round of applause when his name was read in the list of union representation that was present.

Robin Weirauch stated she was the "dark horse candidate" in Ohio. She also as a former cheerleader created a cheer, "We can't wait for 08 We have to set the fix in 06".

Jeanine Perry said, "Nothing is more important than what we are doing here today".

Barbara Sykes started with, "Show me some love!", she then continued with "A change is coming and we aren't going to be investing in Beanie Babies". Her speech about "why do I rise" got a great deal of response from the crowd.

Ben Konop who joked when the microphone was acting up that "I think the Republicans are controlling this microphone", got a laugh from the crowd followed by an even larger one when someone from the audience responded, "Not in this house".

Rich Cordray stated, "I appreciate that they had a rising star like Ben introduce me because it makes me look little older". He also stated that we as Ohioans "deserve to know that our money is safe".

Teresa Fedor stated that "Sherrod Brown says the October surprise is Mark Foley" and she also pointed out how she had worked with Marc Dann on some of the corruption issues.

Marc Dann pointed to the statement that was on the wall of the UAW hall, "The purpose of the union is to seek truth and obtain justice," he then stated that "the purpose of the Attorney General was to seek truth and obtain justice and that hasn't happened here in Ohio since Lee Fisher was Attorney General".

Anita Lopez said "We need to stay focused on the prize, we have an opportunity to send the message that you can't avoid the truth".

Sherrod Brown stayed on his message of the differences between himself and Mike DeWine, he stated that "Mike DeWine voted for a tax cut for 800 of the wealthiest Ohioans yet turned his back on 132,000 middle class tax payers who wanted tuition tax credits". He asked for each person present to talk to five people about the candidates and the issues. He got a large amount of applause when he stated, "Every headline in Ohio will read"...Ted Strickland got up and came to the microphone, "Ohio turns blue!".

Linda Chavez Thompson - Executive Director of AFL-CIO wanted people present to talk to ten potential voters. She added, "it's not about red turning blue, it's about doing the right thing".

Carty Finkbeiner then stated that "John Irish wanted me to mention that Judge Osowik couldn't be here today, he's involved in an important case".

Lee Fisher said, "The eyes of the Nation are on us today". He also continued on his earlier suggestion that people write a diary and put in it, "I was a part of American History, 21 days before the political earthquake that shook the Nation". He further suggested that people write, "Sherrod told me to talk to 5 people, Linda told me to call 10, I ignored them, I called 25." He suggested that the last entry of the diary as an epitah for Ken Blackwell, Mike DeWine and Betty Montgomery, "Never have so many done so much for so few who needed it so little".

Ted Strickland said, "Ohioans have been wandering in the wilderness for a long, long time. We have put up with a leadership that has been incompetant, often times corrupt, sometimes criminal in their behavior. They have failed the people of our state, and the people of Ohio, not just Democrats but Independents and increasing numbers of Republicans are crying out for change and in 21 days we will give them change in Ohio." Ted then stated later, "One of the things that has pleased me most about this campaign is the fact that I sense a spirit out there that we need. A spirit of people coming together, willing to work in common purpose for the common good for all of us. That's the spirit that built America, that's the spirit that built Ohio, that's the spirit that will bring about change in 21 days." Ted promised, "promised that if those present help elect the Democratic ticket that, "every day we are in those offices that we will understand they don't belong to us, they belong to you the people, and that we will have been given the awesome responsibility to live up to the confidence that you have placed in us".

This is of course a rough transcript, some of the tape was hard to transcribe because of the moments of overwhelming applause.