We head into the final two weeks before the November 8 election in Ohio that focuses on the repeal of the anti-union, anti-worker, regressive Senate Bill 5 that was passed by the Ohio Republican legislature and signed by Gov. John Kaisch. Vote No On Issue 2 is the next national spotlight as “We the People” continue the good fight to reclaim our democracy.
A recent Quinnipiac poll shows overwhelming support for repeal of the measure. The findings indicate that Ohio voters support 57-32 percent the repeal of SB 5 as the margin against the governor’s measure has almost doubled in the last month, from 51-38 percent for repeal September 27, a 13-point margin, to a 25-point margin.
The other good news from the poll: Gov. Kasich’s standing is in the same negative neighborhood as SB 5, with Ohio voters disapproving of his job performance 52-36 percent, down from 49-40 percent disapproval in September’s survey.
Early voting continues and our hope is that with these wide margins of disapproval for the measure, there will be little or no shenanigans with electronic voting machines that we’ve seen with Ohio voting in recent national elections. And we hope that there is no one of the caliber of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nicholaus who will be on point to tally votes. Voter fraud? Nonsense. Manipulation of electronic voting? Enough to scare anyone.
We caught up recently with We Are Ohio spokesperson Melissa Fazekas, whose enthusiasm for the final two-week push could hardly be contained. “With just 14 days until the election, we are urging our supporters and volunteers to push toward election day by voting early and volunteering. Now is the time to finish the job which was started when they collected 1.3 million signatures to place Issue 2 on the ballot.”
The flood of outside money continues to be another story line, much as it was in the Wisconsin State Senate recall elections last August. The insanity developing from the U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United ruling has only begun to rear its ugly head. Its impact on the 2012 national elections is something that seems almost impossible to imagine.
But for now…a tip of the hat to all in Ohio who are working so diligently to hand Gov. Kasich exactly what he deserves: a resounding repeal of his horrific bill.