A/V: Trump Holds Raucous Republican Rally

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally held at Wright Brothers Aero in Vandalia, Ohio on Saturday morning.

With Ohio's Republican primary election less than four days away, another high profile politician paid a visit to the Miami Valley to garner support from the region's electorate. On Saturday morning, billionaire businessman Donald Trump flew in to the Dayton International Airport to appear at an rally held at the adjacent Wright Brothers Aero facility in Vandalia, Ohio. An overflow crowd of several thousand people greeted the current Republican delegate leader in his attempt to boost his totals and to clear an easier path to securing the party's nomination at their June convention in Cleveland.

A/V: Buckeye Boss Buoyed by Balloting Bounce

Ohio governor John Kasich begins his town hall event in support of his recently surging presidential campaign at the Fuyao Glass America plant in Moraine, Ohio on Friday evening.

Encouraged by improving polling data that indicates a tightening of Ohio's Republican presidential primary race, Governor John Kasich started a 4-day, 10-event trek across the Buckeye State in a bid to continue his White House bid past next Tuesday's elections. After a visit to Lima earlier in the day, the candidate made a stop in the Miami Valley on Friday evening to conduct a town hall meeting attended by over 800 people at the Fuyao Glass America plant located in the Dayton suburb of Moraine.

Soap Box: The Fall Race We Deserve (But Probably Won't See)

While Clinton and Kasich are their respective parties' most qualified candidates this campaign season, their capabilities are being eclipsed by voters' preference for style over substance.

Our copy of The New York Times arrived on the driveway early yesterday morning and, because of the  current internet-based paradigm of "pushing" news before it's seen in print, I already knew what it contained regarding today's Iowa caucuses. On the eve of this long-awaited start to the 2016 presidential primary process, the paper's editorial board announced its choices for endorsements--the time-honored political practice of publicly bestowing support to or approval of a person or position. With a long history of endorsing presidential candidates that goes back to Abraham Lincoln's first run for the White House in 1860 (and an overall 61 percent--24  out of 39 times backing the winner--accuracy rating for those general elections), the receipt of  "The Gray Lady's" auspicious sanction was seen by many politicians as a needed boost to a flagging campaign or as yet another example of the inevitability of their cause or candidacy to the voting public. In today's social media-dominated world where everyone can have a platform and express an opinion, newspaper endorsements have diminished in importance but are still seen as "bellwethers" to gauge support within the media "establishment".

A/V: Ohio Governor Throws Hat into Very Crowded GOP Presidential Ring

Ohio governor John Kasich addresses the crowd attending his "special announcement" event at the Ohio Union building on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus last Tuesday morning.

In a 45-minute speech last Tuesday teasingly advertised as a "special announcement", Ohio governor John Kasich became the latest candidate to announce their bid for the Republican nomination for president in the upcoming 2016 cycle. Ending all suspense for the gathering's reason near the 18-minute mark, he said, "I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support, for your efforts because I have decided to run for president of the United States." He made this declaration from the atrium of the Ohio Union on the campus of the Ohio State University, his collegiate alma mater and the location where he first expressed his desires for pursuing a political future.

A/V: FitzGerald, Neuhardt Host Dayton Town Hall Meeting

Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald talks to attendees at the Dayton town hall event on Thursday evening.

Although running far behind his opponent in the polls and in campaign funds, Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald stopped in Dayton on Thursday evening to a small but supportive gathering just 12 days before next month's general election. Introduced by his lieutenant governor running mate, Sharen Neuhardt, he spoke extemporaneously for approximately 50 minutes on a variety of issues to a crowd of about 70 people at the Dayton Cultural & RTA Center, just east of the main downtown area. This event was one of eight scheduled earlier this month by the campaign to counter the lack of debates between FitzGerald and his Republican opponent, the incumbent governor John Kasich.

A/V: Kasich Visits London During "Get Out the Vote" Swing

Ohio governor John Kasich poses for a photograph with supporters at a London, Ohio "Get Out the Vote" appearance Friday afternoon.

Although enjoying significant statewide polling leads over his Democratic opponent, Ohio governor John Kasich visited three locations on Friday afternoon in a whirlwind "Get Out the Vote" offensive for his own as well as other Republican candidates on the ballot in preparation for next month's general election. His first stop was in London, Ohio where he visited the Madison County Republican Party headquarters at around 12:30pm and addressed a friendly crowd of around 80 people. About a third of those in attendance were 4th and 8th grade students from the city's St. Patrick's Elementary School and Kasich spent about 10 of the 15 minutes he reserved for remarks to talk with them directly and provide guidance to help each navigate through their young lives.

Soap Box: Turn Out the Lights, This Race is Over

An open letter to Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald:

Ed FitzGerald (center) meets with supporters at a Dayton campaign rally this past January.

Dear Mr. FitzGerald Ed,

Let me try to put this as delicately as I can--what in the wide, wide world of sports were you thinking? How could a former FBI agent believe that in the current age of bulk data storage and instantaneous access to public records that those potentially embarrassing issues from your past would not become known? And you thought that this would simply be ignored in a political climate where style—and its associated “political games”—trumps substance? In the hands of a wily opposition research operation, rather innocuous events could be spun so far out of proportion so quickly that even the most firmly established, textbook-perfect political campaigns would be vulnerable to such shenanigans (and as we have seen since you announced your desire to be Ohio's next governor, yours does not fall into that category).

The "Abdicator" Returns

Northeast Ohio native LeBron James announced on July 8th that he will bring his talents back to Cleveland for at least the next two years. (uncredited photo)

I've avoided opining about sports-related subjects here because, much like politics, saying the wrong words or professing incorrect allegiances can alienate a wide segment of your audience. However, recent news is so huge that it transcends that athletic world and touches upon economics, popular culture and quite possibly a upcoming political event.

A little background information is in order before I go on. I lost my "fanatic" standing many years ago when serving at overseas military locations in the early and mid-1980s. In the days before commercially feasible satellite television service, armed forces television audiences were at the mercy of videotaped offerings shipped in from stateside locations or tape-delayed at dispersed ground stations. At many Far East bases, the Monday Night Football program was telecast on Tuesday evenings and since the radio service had no such technical challenges with live events, you would already know the outcome. This was an improvement over not having any radio or television service and relying upon the delivery of the Stars and Stripes newspaper and its days-old results and standings to keep up on down-to-the-wire pennant chases. Due to military travel commitments, I missed two Super Bowls in the 1990s (XVII & XXIX) so even that unofficial American "holiday" no longer has a choke hold on me. In fact, I find fantasy football to be much more entertaining than some of the regular season NFL matchups seen in my local media market (Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns).