Here is a sample ballot of our endorsed candidates.

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*Note: Solicitation of funds is for the Clermont Republican Party. Congressman Jordan is not soliciting funds from any business or
individual from this event.

Mad, sad, depressed, disgusted – if those describe your reaction to the disclosure of the alleged crimes committed by former commissioner Archie Wilson, well join the club. Mad at how someone abused the trust placed in him. Sad for the tragedy forced upon his family. Depressed, well that goes along with the first two. I am personally disgusted with both the details of the crime and with some who approach this tragedy with gleefulness in order to exploit it for their own political gain.

Former commissioner Wilson was endorsed for election over incumbent Scott Croswell in 2010 based upon the issue of economic development and the proper role of county government.

• In 2006, Croswell voted to expend approximately $8.2 million of general fund money, over 15% of county normal operating funds and over 37% of the beginning fund balance to intervene in the private market for economic development without any voter input.
• Such expenditure reminded many of President Obama’s failed economic stimulus of picking winners and losers.
• After the endorsement Croswell bolted the party while making false personal allegations and subsequently filed to run as an Independent in the 2010 general election.
• Croswell would even get reprimanded by Governor Kasich for using a picture of Kasich on campaign literature without permission.

Wilson, who was serving his third term Batavia Township trustee, promised to bring fiscal conservatism to the board of commissioners. Wilson openly admitted to being a recovering alcoholic who at times could lose his temper. Hardly the current alleged crimes of trafficking and soliciting. Before the endorsement I spoke with people who worked with Wilson at Batavia Township, business leaders, and other acquaintances. I received overwhelmingly positive reviews. I am sure that all were subsequently shocked by the current events.

The only way to have known about former commissioner Wilsons perverted proclivities would have been to have followed him 24 hours a day. To suggest that the Republican Party, its leadership, and the voters of Clermont County would put someone in office openly knowing that he participated in the activities alleged to have been committed by Wilson is sheer lunacy. I ask you who would risk their own good name and reputation over what gain?

As much as the alleged crimes of former commissioner Wilson disgust and sicken me so does the fact that some are trying to exploit this tragedy for their own political reasons. Some have even tried to question the timing of a properly handled investigation in order to sow confusion.

Why try to sow all the confusion and mistrust?

Easy, we are in primary season and the timing of this tragedy could not have been better for anyone to exploit in order to raise doubts about the party and their endorsed candidates. We endorse based on issues. When you can’t argue the issues you use personal attacks, distortions, half truths and lies.  Sounds like the tactics of a former commissioner and prominent criminal defense attorney currently attempting to distort the primary debate.

Pray for the family.

One of the most important duties imposed on a party central committee by the Ohio Revised code is the appointment of a successor to count y elective office upon the occurrence of a vacancy.

Under section 305.02 the central committee must meet no sooner than 5 days and no later than 45 days to appoint a successor. The same section requires that if the vacancy occurs more than 56 days before the next general election for county officers then the successor shall be elected at such election. The board of county commissioners is empowered to name an acting officer to serve until the central committee has a chance to meet and appoint a successor. Section 3513.31 empowers the central committee of each political party to select a candidate for such unexpired term for the general election.

Basically the process will follow this outline:

1). The Board of County Commissioners will meet and appoint an acting commissioner. They will appoint someone with no interest in filling the vacancy or being a candidate as to avoid any appearance of preferential treatment or improper advantage.

2). I am asking that anyone with an interest contact me in writing at the following party address: Tim Rudd, Chairman, P.O. Box 431, Batavia, Ohio 45103. Calls can be made to my cell: 515-7353.

3). Candidates will be contacting the central committee through various means seeking support, just like we recently went through with the endorsement process.

4). A meeting of the Clermont County Republican Central Committee for the purpose of  appointing to the vacancy,305.02(C), and selecting a candidate for the general election, 3513.31(I), will be held on March 14, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Holiday Inn Eastgate. We will do both functions in one vote (i.e. we will appoint and select a candidate at the same time by proper motion).

5). The meeting will be conducted similar to the endorsement meeting. The executive committee will meet at 5:30pm to “screen” per the party constitution, which does not impair anything at the central committee meeting just as in an endorsement. Roll call for central committee will be called promptly at 7:00 to determine the quorum present.  Appointment to the vacancy and selection of a candidate for the general election require a majority vote of the quorum present per the aforementioned sections of the Ohio Revised Code.

6). Candidates will address the committee and we will try to allow questions. I will state a caveat; we are probably looking at the number of candidates being in the high single digits if not double digits according to the phone calls that I am receiving. Time allowed to candidates speaking and for questions will be dictated by the number of candidates. Once again stress must be placed upon communication to and from prospective candidates prior to the meeting.

7). Ballots will be cast until a majority is obtained by one candidate who will then be appointed to the vacancy and selected as the candidate for the general election. If multiple ballots are necessary, then the person receiving the lowest number of votes cast will be dropped from each successive ballot.

8). Upon conclusion of the meeting the Board of Elections and Secretary shall be notified of the selection of the committee by the appropriate form. The appointee will serve as commissioner until the general election is certified, a commission is received from the Governor, bond is posted, and the winner of the general election is sworn into office.

List of candidates as of 2-22-12:

179 committee members out of a possible 197 were present, an historic 91% attendance.  A 60% vote of the quorum present was necessary for a candidate to receive the party endorsement ensuring that an endorsed candidate is not one simply supported by a plurality or majority but overwhelmingly by the committee.

The following 2012 candidates received the endorsement of the Clermont County Republican Party:

Races where candidates requested endorsement but where none was granted were the following:

2^nd Congressional District
65^th Ohio House
66^th Ohio House
Clerk of Common Pleas
State Central Committee Man.

Any questions can be directed to the candidates or party Chairman Tim Rudd at ruddtim2@aol.com or 513-515-7353.

View/Download as PDF (click here).

In 2009 we celebrated the 2ooth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and this year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. It seems that you could postulate a political theorem that approximately every 1oo years a great president is born.

Both of their lives had noteworthy similarities.

• Both were born into modest families. Lincoln was born in Kentucky to a hardscrabble farmer. Reagan was the son of a shoe salesman who came of age during the Great Depression.
• Both men had ties to Illinois where they were taught what we like to consider Mid-Western values of hard work and thrift. Lincoln’s family moved from Kentucky, after losing a farm to deed problems, first to Indiana and then to Illinois. It was in Illinois where Lincoln, the autodidact, would teach himself the law, and become a very successful attorney before going into politics. Reagan was born in Tampico, schooled in Dixon, and attended Eureka College, all in Illinois before striking out west.
• Both learned the art of statecraft from being an elected official at the state level. Lincoln served four terms as a member of the Illinois state legislature. Reagan was Governor of California. Both learned the value of forming coalitions, the art of give and take, the value of timing, in short, the art of governance at the state level.
  Both lost major elections that were in the national spotlight prior to being elected President. Lincoln’s lost to Douglas was for the soul of the nation which would be rectified by a bloody civil war. Reagan’s lost was for the soul of our party which would be rectified by his own election in 1980.
• Both Presidents inherited from their failed predecessors national nightmares. Buchanan handed Lincoln a nation already split in two and on the brink of civil war. Carter handed Reagan a nation he self diagnosed as in malaise along with stagflation, the infamous misery index ,the Iranian Revolution, gas lines, and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with proxies in Central America.
• Both men invited into their presidential cabinets men who thought that they were better qualified to be President. For Lincoln, it was Seward, Cameron and Chase. The names of Haig, Stockman, and Regan should ring a familiar bell for Reagan.
• Both men were great communicators who could speak bluntly when necessary. “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong”. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
• Both men believed that the United States was indeed exceptional. Lincoln spoke of “the last best hope of earth”. Reagan spoke of “a shining city on the hill”. Lincoln stated that he never had a political thought which did not emanate from the Declaration of independence. He cited that the most important sentence was the one that read, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…”
• Both, oddly enough, are trying to be claimed by liberals. I guess that another possible political theorem might be that for liberals the only good conservative is a dead conservative.

Many lessons can be gleaned from their respective lives but I would like to highlight two.

First is leadership. Leadership is an art not a science, it cannot be taught but can be learned. Leadership, sometimes necessarily loud, is more often quiet but firm. Leadership is not proud and does not give way or heed the vanity or petty jealousies of others. Leadership can always see the destination, if just a glimpse, regardless if the road is as wide as a modern interstate, or narrow as a country gravel lane, or as crooked and hilly as State Route 133. Leadership is steady and keeps its head when everyone else around them is losing their own. Finally leadership recognizes and embraces the Christian charities of love, faith, and hope. The Apostle Paul teaches us that the greatest among these are love but from a leadership perspective faith with an almost equal measure of hope are indispensible.

The second is greatness. Greatness is not self-anointed nor bequeathed by the mass media or talking head elites. Greatness is not about looks, the ability to speak, the college one attended, or one of many criteria that liberalism wants to triumph. Greatness rests in the minds, hearts, and souls of the American people. Greatness for Presidents rests on two things. In order to be great, Presidents must pursue policies that increase the freedom of their citizenry and increase the security of the nation.

I don’t mean freedom in some ethereal sense but in the real terms of a limited government which pursues policies that allow Americans to pursue and realize their full potentials without increasing the burden on others. The best quote on limited government belongs to Lincoln: “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot do so well for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities. “ Reagan, who in order to tame the federal beast cut both taxes and the federal budget leading to a new era of prosperity, understood that cutting defense was foolhardy because of its importance to our nation and the free world. Reagan stated, ‘The top priority of the federal government is the safety of the country” and ”we have no choice but to maintain ready defense forces that are second to none. Yes the cost is high, but the price of neglect would be infinitely higher”.

Finally both of these men believed that the best days of America lie not in its past but in our collective future. If we can look to them and meet their standard I have no doubt that they are right. The last word on that subject belongs to Reagan who said “why shouldn’t we believe that, we’re Americans.”

Some sanity used to prevail regarding eligibility to vote on Election Day. Prior Ohio law stated that a person had to correct any changes, deficiencies, or discrepancies in his voter registration thirty days before an election to be eligible to vote, a clear hard fast easy to enforce rule to which we should return.

Motor Voter and HAVA instituted some laudable but shortsighted, with unforeseen consequences, changes to increase “voter participation” on Election Day. A person who is currently registered in Ohio but has moved is allowed to vote at their new poll without having to change their address prior to the election. Hence was born the “provisional ballot” to allow a registered Ohio voter to vote in their “new” precinct.

• Ohio law is also clear that a citizen must vote in their precinct, where they currently reside, in order for their vote to count.
• Numerous directives have flowed from the last two Secretaries of State to reinforce that code to local board of elections. (Prior to the provisional, there was a challenged ballot where if a citizen’s registration was successfully challenged at the poll then they would have to vote a ballot treated like the modern provisional to later be determined as to its eligibility by the local board of elections).
• Some election outcomes have been solely decided on the count of provisional ballots during the final canvas conducted by a board of elections. These aren’t necessarily elections where a handful of votes determined the outcome as provisionals can number in the thousands.
• Federal courts have also ruled that boards of elections are to ignore the legal requirement that someone must vote in their own precinct if someone can claim but not necessarily prove “poll worker error.”

It seems almost incredible to me that thousands of voters within a county - let alone one polling place - can be “directed” to a wrong precinct, be told that their vote will not count if they vote in the wrong precinct, vote and then expect their vote to count.

What happens when a truly local issue is caught in the middle of a provisional vote fight? For example, imagine a local school levy fails by four votes where we have a polling place with four precincts, two of which are in the school district. Ten provisional votes are cast at the polling place. The local board determines that half of the provisionals should have had the chance to vote on the school issue but didn’t because they voted in the wrong precinct. Would a court then step in and order a local board to allow these voters a second chance after the outcome has been announced?

The lesson once again is that a government should not try to be a super nanny but let some responsibility reside with an informed citizenry. We need to return to a hard fast easy to enforce court proof rule that places some of the burden and responsibility where it should rest – the voter.

From a liberal viewpoint no president should have been more in favor of government programs than our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was born onto a relatively poor family and his father hired him out as field laborer for wages at a young age. This led to an aversion for manual labor for Abe who would seek his life ambitions by using his head.

An autodidact he became a lawyer by studying under older attorneys and became a successful corporate attorney, then congressmen, then a failed candidate for United States Senate and eventually President of the United States. He did all of this basically by himself along with the aid of friends and supporters but not with the aid of some large government agency.

In fact Lincoln’s view of government was simple and conservative: “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot do so well for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities”.

2010 stands to be a pivotal year for the conservative voters supporting the Republican Party. All statewide offices, the apportionment board, the Ohio General Assembly, the U.S. Congress and various local races are up for grabs. As the Republican Party moves forward into 2010 we should keep in mind the above quoted maxim of Lincoln.

Lincoln believed that the fundamental document of our nation’s founding was the Declaration of Independence and the following statement: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…

The fundamental belief inherent in that beautiful sentence is that man is a fallen creature or if you rather that man is not perfectible. We must recognize that there are immutable laws that not only regulate nature but also human behavior. We recognize that the greatness of our country lies in the decisions made daily by a free people interacting with one another freely in a free market.

Therefore any solutions that government proposes should be limited, should enhance the liberty and freedom of its citizens, and should enhance our free market economy. We totally reject the notion that a few elites know better the solutions that effect millions than the millions themselves. We also totally reject the notion that a few should pick the winners and losers in our free market economy.

Last summer saw a revolution begin on the streets of our nation, a revolution that became known as “The Tea Party Movement”. Much hand wringing and consternation has been done in party circles regarding the movement. Let me be plain, if the intentions of the movement is to hold the Republican Party to core conservative values then you are welcome. You will find that the vast majority of party members, central committee members, and elected Republican office holders in Clermont County are true red conservatives.