It was a fun time yesterday at the annual picnic sponsored by the Montgomery County Democratic Party.

One special guest that spoke to the group was Mike Skindell, candidate seeking election to the Ohio Supreme Court. Mr. Skindell is currently serving in the Ohio Senate, representing District 23 which includes Cleveland.

In his speech, Mr. Skindell said the Ohio Supreme Court lacks balance, that no Democrat has been elected to the court since 2000 when Alice Robie Resnick was elected. He said the voice of big business and corporations is well represented on the court, but there is no balance in hearing the voice of average people. (See transcript below.)

Skindell says that the Chairmen of the Republican Party has railed against him, calling him, among other epithets, an “extremist,” because of his votes against SB-5, against the Kasich budget, and because he brought a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Gov. John Kasich’s creation of a private, economic development entity, JobsOhio.

I asked Mr. Skindell his prediction about the next Kasich budget which will be presented to the Assembly next January and Skindell said it will be more of the same — cuts to K-12 education, cuts to higher education, cuts to local governments. Skindell said it that Governor Kasich has a goal to “strangle” local communities.

Mike Skindell’s Speech At MCDP Picnic

It’s great being here. My name is Mike Skindell. It’s great being here in Montgomery County. I am your Democratic candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court.

At the end of June when the Ohio Democratic Party nominated me to run for the Supreme Court, the chairman of the Ohio Republican Party had something to say about it. Understand that the state chairman generally does not weigh in on the Supreme Court races, but the Republican chairman, Bob Bennett said about me, “Trial attorney, Mike Skindell, with his left wing ideology is unfit to serve on Ohio’s highest court.”

Bob Bennett, the chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, has been getting his way for over a dozen years because there is not an elected Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court. And with your help, we can change that.

Bennett took it a little bit further. When I was given a recommended rating from the Ohio Bar Association, which is not a liberal organization whatsoever. When the Ohio Bar Association gave me a recommended rating, Bennett said, “Extremist Mike Skindell is nothing more than a partisan legislator in Columbus,” and he said the Bar Association was biased in giving me that recommended rating.

Why does Bob Bennett think I am an extremist?

Bennet thinks I am an extremist because I voted against Senate Bill 5, and I worked to see it was repealed by Issue Two. Bennett thinks I am extremist because I voted against the Kasich budget, because it defunded primary and secondary education. It defunded higher education. It took money away from social services like our programs that help our disabled. It was a budget that broke our county and local governments. I voted against that budget and that’s why Bennet thinks I am an extremist.

Bennett thinks I am an extremist because I voted against John Kasich’s House Bill 1 — because it creates a corporation to privatize our department of development. And this corporation is unconstitutional and I brought a lawsuit against John Kasich and Jobs Ohio because it is an unconstitutional government run corporation and that’s why Bennett thinks I am an extremist.

Bennet thinks I am an extremist because I’ve supported labor, supported collective bargaining. I supported prevailing wage, because collective bargaining and our prevuing wage laws in this state has not only lifted up union members, it has lifted up all Ohioans.

Bob Bennett likes a Supreme Court made up of Republicans. Not only does he like that, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Manufacturing Association likes a Supreme Court made up of all Republicans. when the justices sit at that conference table and decide what cases will be heard by the Supreme Court and when they make their decisions about those cases, your voice is not being heard. But the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturing Association is being heard. Why? Because we, as Democrats, have not elected a member to the Supreme Court, since 2000 with Alice Robie Resnick.

We need to get more people to vote by mail, because we know that in Supreme Court races, when people vote for a president, there is a 35% drop off of those who vote for a Supreme Court justice. 35% drop off, because Supreme Court candidates do not have a D or an R next to our names. I need your help. Yvette McGee Brown needs your help — to tell voters who the Democrats are.

It’s been a pleasure to be with you this evening. Thank you for your support and help.

The short video, produced by the House Democrats, shown prior to Nancy Pelosi’s convention speech — Reigniting the American Dream: Building Ladders of Opportunity — communicated a thought provoking POV.

The video uses interesting symbology that suggests the American Dream can be reached by climbing straight upwards — about 15 stories. To reach the top, a person must overcome gravity and pull her or himself up on a swaying rope ladder. Very scary. To attempt such a feat would require an amazing act of courage and strength, and only the fit would survive.

The visual message of the video is that the American Dream is out of reach for most people, but, this visual message contradicts the words of the video: “Our nation’s ideal is the American Dream that if you’re willing to work hard, play by the rules and take responsibility, everyone should have the opportunity to succeed.”

The notion that we need more ladders so that more people can have the opportunity to scale a 15 story precipice is pretty funny. The lack of ladders is not the problem. The problem is that for some crazy reason, the American Dream is 15 stories up. Who put it there and how do we move it to a place that is more accessible? More ladders will not matter, because most citizens are unable to make the climb. Sure, some individuals, like Michele and Barack, have the strength and courage, and luck, to make it to the top. But, for the average Joe, the “opportunity” the Democrats offer is pretty meaningless.

The premise of this Democratic Party video is that the American Dream is about the individual pulling him or herself up. But, the party of the people needs a bigger and better vision of what the American Dream actually means.

The American Dream is that we live in a fair society where every citizen is valued, a society, yes, with no ceilings — where every citizen has the opportunity to climb socially and economically — but one with a strong floor, giving security and stability to our weakest or least successful citizens. It is shameful that in our rich country we have citizens who, regardless they work hard and play by the rules, live in poverty and insecurity. To suggest that these oppressed citizens simply need more opportunity is an insult. They need more money. They need health care. They need a fair deal.

The American Dream the Democratic Party should advance is not a dream about an individual climbing to the heights of personal success — it is a dream about a nation where there is liberty and justice for all.

Paul Ryan, Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, didn’t write his speech to the RNC — anymore than Sarah Palin wrote hers. A national political convention is like a movie production. It is all scripted. The Ryan speech was written and rewritten and sets the strategy for the Romney campaign. What stands out in the Ryan script  is the boldness and the extent of its lies, lies, and lies.

Most everyone at the convention, I’m thinking, realized that Ryan was telling whopper lies — yet they cheered his every word. The maintenance of a big lie requires a big conspiracy, and, the Republican machinery, with Fox News, and with tons of money for marketing, is gearing up for the task.

Romney is going after the votes of Americans who are persuadable via emotion, anger, and resentment — not by logic, nor, amazingly, their own self interest. Big lies give such voters an emotional push, a reason to believe what they want to believe.

It would seem a daring strategy for a presidential campaign to advance blatant and bold lies. It could backfire. But, evidently, Romney has come to the conclusion that his route to victory is via bold lies. The fact that a major political party should seek to control the White House by conducting such a strategy is a strong warning that our republic is in real danger.

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