At the Dayton rally announcing her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio — as the running mate of Ed FitzGerald — Democrat Sharen Neuhardt said that the election will come down to who voters believe will protect the middle class, and that she and FitzGerald are ready to make that case.

Neuhardt said that she has complete confidence in FitzGerald and that she and FitzGerald are both staunch supporters of women. She said women’s issues are issues that impact the whole state — not just women. She said, “When women are making 23 cents less for every dollar earned by a man for a comparable job, that is not just a woman’s issue. That is a family issue, that is an economic issue.”

She said, “When 100,000 women in need can/t get access to basic pap smears and mammogram and birth control they need simply because Republicans want to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, that is wrong.” She said, “Memo to Jonh Kasich: You are going to be really sorry that you messed with women, come November.”  

Excerpts From Sharen Neuhardt’s Speech

I believe in Ed FitzGerald. You are going to love him, a former prosecutor and former FBI man. He came into Cuyohoga County after its largest scandal. He’s done an amazing job. He is going to do great things when elected. He is the reason I am here. So Thank you Ed.

Election will boil down to one question: Who do you trust to protest the middle class in Ohio? I think when we make our case to the voters, the votes will say that it is the Democrats. … In Ohio we are 46 out of 50 states in job growth. Thousands more Ohioans out of work today than were a year ago. Things are not good — not good for the middle class. …

Just this week, I was at the grocery store and heard complaints about the high cost of groceries. … My sister Cheryl lost her job last week — after being with a Dayton company for 26 years — regardless she is the best person in her department….  Too many Ohio jobs are going oversee. I have a vested interest in this fight — I’m going to do it for you, Cheryl.

John Kasich and other Republicans say Ed picked me, basically, because I have ovaries. You and I both know that is not the case. Ed FitzGerald picked me because I have a brain. Kasich and his Republic led legislature thinks we cannot have both. Ed and I are starch supporters of women’s rights. The Republicans want to say that Democrats want to make this all about abortion but the truth is women’s issues are much broader than that.

When women are making 23 cents less for every dollar earned by a man for a comparable job,  that is not just a woman’s issue. That is a family issue. It is an economic issue and it is holding Ohio back. And when 100,000 women in need can’t get access to basic pap smears and mammograms and the birth control they need — simply because Republicans want to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood — that is wrong.  It’s not just a women’s issue, men care about women’s issues too. They care about their family budget, they care about their wives, daughters, family members and friends. Men know that relegating women to second class citizens is bad business for Ohio.

Here is what I say to Governor Kasich and the Republican legislature: I am happy to be a champion for women’s rights …  Women have a memory and we vote. So memo to Joh Kasich: You are going to be really sorry that you messed with women, come November.  …

I know I can count on you.… This is what I need you do: You can’t go home and sit on your hands. We are within seven points of Kasich. Right thinking people across the state are ready to stand up and tell the truth and elect somebody new to our state governorship. And that person is going to be Ed FitzGerald.

Saturday, Ed FitzGerald — the Democratic candidate seeking to replace Republican John Kasich as Governor of Ohio — spoke in Dayton and introduced his running make, Green County resident, Sharen Neuhardt. Over 200 people were in attendance and gave Fitzgerald and Neuhardt enthusiastic encouragement.

FitzGerald said that Kasich has created an inside group that has gained a lot of money and advantages from his policies — and that the poor and middle class Ohioans have been left with the bill. He said that Kasich represents a very small group of people — “And that is not what a democratic form of government should be doing.”

Excerpts From Ed FitzGerald’s Speech

I’ve visited all 88 counties in last year. Ive learned a lot. I’ve heard the same concerns in every county. There’s a lot of people, in a state of more than 11 million people, there’s a lot of people that are really struggling to make it and this is what Sharen and I both understand. We have a governor that does not represent them. He represents a very small group of people.

If you look at all the big issues, what they all have in common, and if you try to diagnose why the governor takes positions on issues that he does, it becomes apparent: the governor is representing a very small group of people. And that is not what a democratic form of government should be doing.

State government has been hijacked for a narrow agenda on all kinds of issues. There is an inside group and an outside group looking in. If you don’t know what group you are in, you’re in the outside group. The people on the inside know it. They love it. You can go through all of the major issues:

• Jobs Ohio — some people benefit, but if you are a small business, an average person, you’re not going to get any help from Jobs Ohio.
• If you are a looking at your tax bill, if you are a wealthy person, congratulations, you got a tax cut. But if you are a working person, or one of the poor, your taxes probably went up. For a small group of persons tax cuts were a great deal but all the other people in this state got stuck with the bill.
• If you care about local government services — police, fire, garbage pick-up or social services —your services got cut. They took those proceeds and used them to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the state.
• If you believe in public education you saw the number of teachers cut dramatically and once again local schools were stuck with the bill.

Over and over in all these issues, you see state government on the side of a very small group of people. And yes it also applies to women’s rights. Republicans get tired of our talking about women’s rights but here is my deal with Kasich: I will stop talking about women’s rights when he stops limiting women’s rights.…

Let’s talk about something real practical. (Republicans) have a big advantage. When you take government and you put it on the side of a very small group of people and when you do some very big favors for a small group of powerful people, they re-pay those favors. They have an enormous about of money. But we have advantages also. We are right on all the issues. We have the people behind us. …

Kasich is representing someone — it’s just not you. It’s not the people that are working and struggling in this state.

The most powerful thing in politics is a conversation between two people about what is really going on. We need millions of conversation. We only lost the last election by 77,000 votes. We have the issues on our side. For all of those people who have not been represented in the last three years, we need to have conversations. Can you help us to that?

Every four years, according to state law, the Montgomery County Democratic Party (MCDP) is required to  “reorganize.” This is the year: a “Reorganization Meeting” is scheduled to be held in June. The deadline to register to become a delegate is February 5.

At a “Reorganization Meeting,” changes to the MCDP constitution and changes to its leadership are determined by the majority of delegates voting. Historically, a majority of delegates simply reaffirms the MCDP constitution and the MCDP leadership.

If delegates at the Reorganization Meeting fairly represented county Democrats, certainly there would consensus at the meeting that the MCDP needs major changes. The MCDP constitution, for example, empowers a small “selection committee” to make endorsements — invariably rubber stamped by the “Central Committee.”  Last year, in the contest for Mayor of Dayton, the “selection committee” endorsed one popular Democrat, Nan Whaley, over another popular Democrat, A.J. Wagner. Whaley had more friends on the “selection committee.” This endorsement was a display of illogical favoritism — needlessly dividing and weakening the party — and is only one example of many that could be cited.

The Whaley endorsement aptly illustrated that the MCDP is operating under a “political boss” organization structure — written into the constitution — that gives insiders a lot of authority. These insiders like this authority and can be counted on to resist any change to the constitution that would diminish their power. The problems is, “political boss” structure has failed to create a vitalized grass-roots party. To be effective, the MCDP needs to create an organization structure that will empower all county Democrats to fully participate in an active small-d democratic community.

At the Reorganization Meeting, the MCDP could transform its “political boss” organization structure, but shamefully, by deliberate strategy, the June Reorganization Meeting has been kept a big secret from rank and file county Democrats. Every precinct in the county can be represented by a delegate. In 2010, almost half of the county precincts had zero candidates. Anyone interested in being a delegate can contact me at mcbock@me.com. Include your name and address and I will send you the forms and information that you need.