The 10th congressional district is much more compact than other Ohio distrists. It contains all of Montgomery County and all of Greene County and part of Fayette County.

Six individuals are on the March 6 Democratic Primary ballot seeking to be the Democratic Party’s candidate to represent Ohio’s new 10th Congressional District. The winner of this Democratic Primary will challenge the five term incumbent, Republican Mike Turner.

Shown below are you-tube videos, produced by David Esrati, showing each of the candidates speaking to the Greene County Democratic Party on January 22.  Here are the six candidates, in alphabetical order, with links to their web-sites:

1. David Esrati — retired from the military, an active blogger in Dayton, runs his own business, has campaigned for other offices and has had many public encounters with Mike Turner.
2. Olivia Freeman — a very personable and energetic black business woman, retired from the military, speaks with a lot of confidence in her capacity to do the hard work needed to win the 10th district.
3. Tom McMasters — a retired captain says he is an “Independent.” He is registered as a Republican and in 2010 opposed John Boehner in the Republican Primary for the Republican nomination to represent the 8th District. He received 10% of the primary vote.
4. Sharen Neuhardt — a successful attorney, she grew up in Dayton and now lives in Greene County. In 2008, after the retirement of long time congressman, Republican Dave Hobson, Neuhardt spent over $800,000 as the Democratic candidate seeking election to the 7th Congressional District. She received 42% of the vote but lost to Steve Austria.
5. Ryan Steele — a 28 year old is now working as a pizza deliverer. He has a college degree in religious studies and philosophy. Steele says his temperament and his training in philosophy equips him with the analytical and people skills needed to be an excellent congressman.
6. Mack Van Allen — a retired Centerville High School government teacher with a Master’s degree in economics, Van Allen is centering his campaign on his commitment to provide leadership to solve the country’s fiscal crisis and to make the hard choices needed to bring a prosperous future.

I’m thinking that Esrati, Freeman and Van Allen will each make a good showing, but, because of her capacity to raise money and because of her efforts in the 2008 campaign, I’m predicting that the winner of the nomination will be Sharen Neuhardt.

Here is a schedule of public “Meet the Candidates” meetings that, so far, have been announced:

• Monday, February 6th, at 7pm; The Montgomery County Democratic Party; 131 South Wilkinson, Dayton OH
• Tuesday, February 7th, at 7 pm; Fairborn Senior Center; 325 North Third Street; Fairborn, OH 45324
• Thursday Feb 9th from 7:00 pm – 8:00 Pm; Trotwood United Church of Christ; 18 N Broadway; Trotwood, OH 45426
• Tuesday, February 14, 5:30 PM; Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce Candidates night; Main Elementary, Auditorium; 2942 Dayton Xenia Rd.
• Thursday, March 1st, 6:00 pm – 8:00 Pm; The League of Women Voters; Stivers School for the Performing Arts; 1313 East Fifth St. Dayton

David Esrati has pages outlining his thoughts on many issues. He says, “I’m a candidate of substance and ideas – not sound bites.” He says, “I want to be the candidate of the Democratic party to take on Mike Turner in OH-10. I believe my skills, both as a special operations soldier, a small business owner, a blogger and community activist and last but not least, an advertising pro, can make me the best choice to face the incredible money-raising skills of our current corporately owned congressman.”

Olivia Freeman says she is a “workhorse,” not a “show horse,” and that she knows how to defeat Mike Turner.  Freeman has an extensive web-site. She warns, “If we don’t get the right person in congress, we are about ready to go over a cliff.”  She writes, “Kill the wars, tax the rich. This is not rocket science.”

Tom McMasters says he is an Independent but says, “I certainly will caucus with the Democratic party if I should get elected but I won’t feel obligated to vote party line on each and every issue.”   McMasters says that he thinks Republican background will help him get elected, that the 10th district will not elect a person strongly identified with the Democratic Party.

Sharen Neuhardt says she has deep roots in Dayton. Her father was a Dayton policeman and her grandfather was a Dayton fireman.  She attended Fairview High School.  Neuhardt spent $832,329 in her 2008 campaign against Steve Austria and says she is back seeking election to congress in 2012 because, “This is finally a race that Democrats can win.”

Ryan Steele, 28 years old, says that a job with DP&L that often required him to disconnect electricity from those unable to pay their bill made him reconsider his Libertarianism. He says he is now a conservative Democrat and believes that he has the outlook that will appeal to many voters in this district who are looking for an alternative to Turner, but who would never vote for a Liberal.

Mack Van Allen says he is appalled at the current congress’ refusal to “act as adults” and deal realistically with the debt crisis. A headline on his web-site says, “A voice of reason.” He says he believes voters are looking for a representative who will be willing to do the hard work needed to find an acceptable compromise on a “grand bargain” dealing with debt, taxes, and entitlements.

One of the windows in the Boston Trinity Church, built by Phillip Brooks, show the three wise seekers of truth offering gifts to the baby Jesus.

Phillips Brooks was 30 years old in 1865 when he delivered his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln saying,  “The more we see of events, the less we come to believe in any fate or destiny except the destiny of character. …”

Brooks went on to an illustrious career in the Episcopal church and is remembered in this season for writing the words of a Christmas meditation, the words of the hymn, “Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem”:

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The Everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.”

In this Christmas time, it is obvious that it is “Light,” more than anything, that humanity now needs. Brooks in his writing and sermons frequently quoted this saying of Jesus: “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

This theme of bringing truth and freedom to those in darkness was a central part of Jesus’s teaching. At the end, Pilate, a clever politician, asked the profound question: “What is truth?”

What is the truth, the light, that brings freedom? Much of what passed for “truth” in the first century we now see as superstition and irrational speculations. Humanity now knows more — scientific truth, rational truth — than what in first century was possible to know. Jesus said he, himself, was truth and light. His life revealed the truth of the power of love. The challenge is to grasp the great truths revealed in Jesus’ character.

The book I read this year that most inspired me was “The Singularity Is Near,” which predicts that, by the year 2045, machines will be billions of times more intelligent than humans. What? It’s impossible to conceive what a ten fold increase in human intelligence would mean — a billion increase is beyond every level of imagination. The fascinating question is: With this enormous intelligence will these future machines also exhibit a depth of personality that we now define as “character”?

It was the character of Lincoln and the character of Jesus, that mattered.  They were both intellectuals with high IQs, but it was their character, not the power of their intellect, that was the foundation of their gift to humanity.  It was the expression of truth in their character that made them singular individuals. Character and intelligence seem to go hand in hand, but, it seems, in the highest functioning humans, it is character that forms intelligence, not vice versa. An interesting essay on Einstein, which I need to re-find, makes the interesting point that it was Einstein’s powerful integrity that was the secret of his genius, not his mathematical prowess. It is commitment to truth and integrity that reveals the “Everlasting Light.”

My last attempt to write a Christmas eve web log meditation was three years ago: “A 21st Century Understanding: The Christmas Story Tells That In Every Baby The Human Race Can Start Anew.” I wrote, “Thoughtful Christians need to find an understanding of their Christian faith that is worthy of a 21st Century understanding, one that does not promote irrational thinking and religious radicalism.”

Here in the 21st century religious fanaticism threatens to enslave and destroy us. Christmas eve reminds us that character is destiny and reveals that in the canyons, the dark streets of humanity, there can shine a force much greater than irrational fanaticism — “The Everlasting Light”–  a light revealed in the highest expression of human character, a light, a truth, that we must work to help develop in this new generation, a light that inspires the resolve and outlook expressed by Robert Kennedy: “Some look at the world and ask why? I dream of things and ask why not?”

• When Computers Are Billions Of Times More Intelligent Than Humans — What Should Be The Aims Of Education? By Mike Bock, on April 12th, 2011

The Ohio House has passed legislation, SB-165, making it a new requirement that all Ohio schools teach the “original texts” of “the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, the United States Constitution and its amendments, with emphasis on the Bill of Rights, and the Ohio Constitution.” The bill calls for state’s testing system to be modified so that end of course examinations in history and government will be required and that 25% of these tests will focus on these original documents.

The bill passed 62 to 31. I can’t find the breakdown of how the vote divided by party, but it appears that the 31 nay votes were all Democratic. In Montgomery County, the three Republican representatives — Mike Henne, Terry Blair, Jim Butler — all voted “Yes.” The two Democratic representatives — Roland Winburn and Clayton Luckie — voted “No.”

Thanks to Eric for giving me the link to watching part of the debate on this bill in the Ohio House.  This video clip starts with one of the bill’s sponsors, Representative John Adams, quoting from the Fordham study I wrote about in September:  Schools Create “Dunderheads” — A Generation Of Students Ignorant Of U.S. History — Says Fordham

The debate shows that some Democrats opposed this bill because they charged that this bill amounts to an “unfunded mandate,” at a time when state funding to local schools is being diminished, one that further diminishes the authority of local school board control. Republican response is that there will be little additional cost required. And some Democrats opposed the bill because the emphasis of the bill is on the “original texts,” and ignores other important “historical texts” that would give a more complete context giving more in-depth understanding.

The bill requires the State Board of Education, no later than July 1, 2012, to incorporate into the state social studies standards for grades 4 through 12 academic content regarding these original texts and requires the State Board to revise the state model curriculum for social studies to reflect the additional academic content.   It requires the State Board to revise the fifth and eighth grade social studies achievement assessments and the social studies portion of the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT).

To quality for high school graduation, students currently must earn one-half unit of American history and one-half unit of American government, including a study of the constitutions of the United States and Ohio. The bill requires, for students entering the ninth grade on or after July 1, 2012, that the one-half unit of American history and one- half unit of American government include the study of the historical documents mentioned above.

The bill requires each school district board of education, no later than July 1, 2013, to adopt an interim end-of-course examination in American history and government to be used until the State Board adopts the end-of-course examination described above. As with the examination adopted by the State Board, 25% of the interim examination must address the historical documents mentioned above.