Citizen USA News Headlines

COLUMBUS, OH – Be careful what you wish for. Leading Democratic strategists privately – and publicly – rejoiced over polls indicating that the sex scandal involving former GOP congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) was severely damaging Republican candidates nationwide. Now however many of those same Democrat operatives are ashen-faced over the possibility a “Foley-like” revelation will derail Ted Strickland’s bid to become Governor in the battleground state of Ohio.

Recent investigations involving details of a former Strickland campaign staffer’s arrest on sex charges involving minors, Strickland’s vacation get-away with that staffer, and a controversial House vote and statement have created a firestorm of allegations and questions about the former Democratic congressman during the campaign’s final weeks.

The controversy, originally a brush fire Democrats thought long extinguished, has now reignited and, fueled by the blogosphere, now threatens to engulf the Strickland campaign in a backdraft that could torch the Democrat’s bid for the Governor’s Mansion.

Like the John Kerry/Swiftboat Veterans for Truth story and the Dan Rather CBS 60-Minutes “Memo-Gate” saga (where falsified documents were used in an attempt to discredit George W. Bush on the eve of the 2004 presidential Election) the Strickland story is being driven by “the New Media” – political and news oriented Internet bloggers and the widely read online news outlet World Net Dailey(WND).

For the most part mainstream newspapers have been either reluctant to investigate the allegations fully or blast the Blackwell camp for “diving into the gutter” for having dared to broach the subject during the fourth and final gubanatorial debate **. Ohio newspapers such as The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Toledo Blade and the Cincinnati Enquirer have all been harshly critical of Blackwell in the final weeks of the campaign.

“The media’s in (GOP) voter suppression mode now,” 700-WLW radio personality Bill Cunningham said Oct. 17th during his afternoon talk show. “If you’re a conservative, if you’re a Christian, if you believe the homosexual lifestyle is wrong, the media is trying to convince you to stay home Nov. 7th…that it’s a lost cause.” Cunningham’s show is far-and-away the Tri-state’s most listened to radio program according to the latest Arbitron ratings.

But Ohio political watchdog bloggers are not shackled with directives on how to cover a issue by the liberal-favoring editors and publishers that inhabit so many of America’s newsrooms today. At websites such as BizzyBlog, NixGuy.com and the Pullins Report political analysis, news and commentary abounds, most of which is refreshingly agenda-free. For example, BizzyBlog’s host has been critical of Ohio Republicans Bob Taft, Mike DeWine, Jean Schmidt and Bob McEwen as well as Democrats Strickland, Sherrod Brown and Victoria Wulsin.

Pullins especially, along with WND’s Jerome Corsi, have been the driving forces keeping alive an investigation that Ohio Democrats and apparently most Ohio news outlets would rather see die. In a telephone interview with CCN-USA Pullins said he was filing an elections complaint through his lawfirm against Strickland “based upon the fact that he has made false statements in his political campaign about this issue.”

Asked whether he believed Strickland and his staff actively tried to hide Doe’s identity for years, Pullins replied tersely, “Yes I do.” Queried whether he in turn feared legal reprisals from the Strickland camp, Pullins said, “No, you can’t be liable for

anything when you tell the truth. We’re telling the truth. He’s not. Strickland knew for sometime about this person. I believe he either excused his behavior or wasn’t concerned about his behavior. I believe that he used his office to cover up this kind of behavior and I think he’s lying to the voters of Ohio about what he knew and when he knew it.”

Strickland, 65, a congressman from southeast Ohio, has been married for nearly 20 years. He and his wife Frances have no children.

While the Ohio GOP and Blackwell’s camp have been subjected to withering media and public criticism for the questions Blackwell posed to Strickland in the debate, the reality is that the issue of Srickland’s releationship with the man who ran his 1998 congressional re-election campaign was not raised initially by Republicans, but by Democrats. Brian Flannery ran against Strickland this year in the Democrat Governor Primary. Flannery had copies of the Athens Police reports as well, but Strickland’s campaign was able to successfully slough off the charges as a non-issue due to the fact the perpetrator’s name (and other pertinent information) had been redacted (blacked-out.). According to various sources, Flannery informed news outlets of the details of the Athens Police report but when media outlets in Ohio attempted to request the records they were told no police records existed.

According to a December 2005 Athens News account several different anonymous letters were mailed statewide to Ohio Democrat officials and county party chairs suggesting that “Strickland is politically vulnerable because of his 1999 stance on HCR 107, and that therefore Ohio Dems should pick another gubernatorial candidate.” The News article stated, “The unsigned text of the letter claims that Strickland is also "a supporter of gay marriage," and argues that this supposed fact, combined with his vote on HCR 107, will make it "very difficult, if not impossible, for Ted to win the general election next fall, if he should win in the primary. We need to have a candidate for governor unencumbered by these problems if we are to have Democrats win statewide next year."

Strickland told the Dayton Dailey News in March he was unaware of the man's record when he hired him, and he accused Flannery of implying Strickland had something to do with covering up the then missing court documents. "I have not had anything to do with the records, have no knowledge of the records." In that same article Strickland said that late in the 1998 campaign an anonymous letter came to his office accusing (his former campaign chair) of sexual misconduct.

"At that point I asked him about it and he denied that these accusations are true," Strickland said.

In retrospect, Strickland told the Dailey News, "perhaps" he should have pursued the matter more aggressively.

In mid-October an anonymous e-mail from someone who identified themselves only as “Ohio Concerned Citizen” was circulated to several Ohio attorneys and bloggers. As Corsi described in a series of WND articles the anonymous e-mail “was the first time the "mystery" sexual offender associated with the Strickland campaign had been revealed.

Citizen USA has obtained copies of both the unredacted Athens Police report and the anonymous e-mail from Ohio Concerned Citizen. Though the man’s name has now been revealed in various online news accounts of this story concerning Ted Strickland, CCN-USA has decided not to publish the name of Strickland’s former campaign chairman due to the fact that the man, now 33 and a Chicago executive, is today a repentant Christian, as evidenced from a recent post on a blog site run by this individual where he admits: “I…sought forgiveness from God. My life was profoundly changed forever. Through intensive treatment and strong faith I turned my life around. Today I am a healthy father, husband and Christian.” For purposes of this article we will refer to the man simply as “John Doe.”

Corsi continued, “We (WND)compared the police records with (Doe’s)name and identifying information with the redacted documents circulated during the primary by challenger Flannery and found the documents were identical, with the exception of the redacted information.” The Ohio Concerned Citizen message included copies of the original unredacted Athens Police Department records. As Corsi reported, those records showed that Doe “was arrested Sept. 23, 1994. (Doe), then a 21 year-old Ohio University student, was apprehended for several incidents of public indecency that had occurred on four previous days, Sept. 4, 12, 15 and 20, 1994. According to the report, (Doe) was observed disrobing in public areas such as East Side Elementary School. The witnesses were adults as well as minors.

“A separate witness complaint filed with the Athens Police Department Sept. 15, 1994, further documents that (Doe) was in his parked car outside the school. When the two juvenile witnesses passed the car, (Doe) "opened the door and pulled down his pants, and began to masturbate." The police report further indicates Doe pled guilty later that same month and was advised to seek psychological counseling to help combat his unnatural urges. The OCC e-mail asks why Strickland hired an individual "known to have been arrested for public indecency after exposing himself to children on multiple occasions?"

Ohio Concerned Citizen, in the anonymous e-mail revealing (Doe’s) name and producing the un-redacted police documents concerning his sexual offenses with minors, pulls no punches in attacking Strickland over the (Doe)affair, Corsi said. The e-mail from Ohio Concerned Citizen begins, “In a shocking contrast of "do as I say not as I do, " Congressman Ted Strickland, running for governor of Ohio, has a deeply disturbing and suppressed history relating to the same kind of trust issues raised by the recent Mark Foley cyber sex scandal. As the record below details, Congressman Strickland, while espousing personal piety and concern for children,” had engaged in “troubling” behavior. “Whenever questioned about any of the incidents…, Congressman Strickland has dismissed their relevance by calling them "ridiculous" and his protestations have bought him time. Now, however, with the election just weeks away, in the interest of full disclosure, Congressman Strickland must provide a full explanation of the record below, particularly because he is campaigning as a proponent of the values that are best for Ohio.”

Ohio Concerned Citizen said that record demonstrates “Strickland has violated the very principles and statements that he is representing as the reason he should be elected Ohio's governor” and criticized several Strickland Campaign TV ads for misrepresenting his true agenda.

The Athens Police report shows Doe was arrested once in Belpre, Ohio and three times in Athens, Ohio on charges of public indecency after exposing himself to children on multiple occasions. Three of the incidents occurred during the same week in 1994. As Ohio Concerned Citizen said in his e-mail a simple public records request in Ohio would have turned up the case and the conviction had Strickland been inclined to check it out.

Pullins, a Columbus attorney who frequently provides legal and political analysis for network and cable news programs, may have been first to break the story by naming names in several mid-October postings on his “Pullins Report”. After earlier disclosing the name of the former Strickland campaign chair, Pullins decided to also preserve the man’s anonymity. “According to official documents provided to me and others by a confidential source, (name redacted)was also arrested several times for exposing himself and masturbating in front of juveniles in Athens and Washington counties and later hired by Congressman Ted Strickland. Bryan Flannery tried to obtain these records but was rebuffed by Athens County officials. We believe that we now have them and have attached them to this post.”

Somewhat incredulously Pullins asked, “Did they not do any background checks? Did they think that this behavior wasn't a big deal? These are questions that Ted Strickland and many others must answer and answer now.”

The recent discovery of the additional information about Strickland’s onetime campaign manager has also cast new light and focus on a vote Strickland made while in Congress concerning a psychological study that found that sex between adults and children sometimes is beneficial to the child.”

Congressional Vote-The House of Representatives voted unanimously 355-0 to condemn the American Psychological Study. Only Strickland and 12 other representatives, including openly gay congressman Barney Frank, voted "Present," which means he in effect abstained from taking a stand on the vote.

In a Congressional Record entry from the Thomas Library of Congress entitled “DO NOT VOTE TO CONDEMN UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT IT IS” -- (House of Representatives - July 27, 1999) Strickland railed against his contemporaries on both sides of the aisle for overwhelmingly rejecting the ***** study proclaiming consensual sex between adults and children was not necessarily harmful and indeed could be a positive experience for the underage lover.

“Mr. Speaker, it troubles me that sometimes in this Chamber we stand and say things that we ought not to say. We criticize people that we have no right to criticize. We recently voted to condemn a scientific study and an organization, an organization that has done as much as any organization in this country to fight child abuse.”

Titled "A META-ANALYTIC Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples," the report condemned in House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 107 was a survey of existing research on college-age persons who reported that when they were juveniles, they had experienced sexual relationships with adults.

At the website BizzyBlog (which focuses primarily on business related issues) the author gives a detailed analysis of Strickland's 1999 "Present" vote on HCR-107. The BizzyBlog writer notes the research study’s authors’ conclusions echoes that of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) – an organization that has sought to legitimize sex between boys and adult males for years. Almost immediately after the APA study’s release, NAMBLA and similar groups began posting the study on their websites as evidence their deviant views on man/boy sex were normal and acceptable. In 2001 the APA conceded that the Meta-Analytic study was flawed. Several years ago a coalition of Christian groups backed a boycott of Amazon.com for listing a Man/Boy Love book on its website along with a favorable review and comments from a NAMBLA member.

“Research reports like (this)one published by the American Psychological Association were designed to begin the process of normalizing pedophilia,” BizzyBlog wrote.

The Meta-Analytic study inferred that since “previously taboo” sex acts (such as oral and anal sex, homosexuality and sexual promiscuity) are now in their opinion viewed as culturally acceptable it’s only a matter of time before pedophilia likewise attains public acceptance. The authors maintain, “This history of conflating morality and law with science in the area of human sexuality…indicates a strong need for caution in scientific inquiries of sexual behaviors that remain taboo, with child sexual abuse being a prime example.”

“It took a number of months before “Meta” got noticed by anyone outside of the psych community,” BizzyBlog wrote, “But once it did, the consensus was about as instant, overwhelming, and across-the-board as you’ll ever see — pedophilia, contrary to the agenda of the APA study’s authors, would not be allowed to start down the researchers’ desired (and once done, undoable) path to normalization.”

“Especially because he is a professional psychologist, and as such had a special responsibility to take a stand, Ted Strickland’s “Present” vote, and his extraordinary reaction to what his congressional colleagues did, gave aid and comfort to those who hold on to “the dream” that someday society will normalize a behavior it currently abhors,” BizzyBlog observed.. “And it doesn’t matter how many times Strickland shouts “No it didn’t,” the stubborn and immutable fact is that, yes, it, did.”

Analyzing Strickland's H CON RES 107 House vote, The Bizzy Blog under a section entitled: “What It Reveals about How He Might Govern, asked: “So how IS that 1999 “Present” vote... (Strickland’s) reaction to the Resolution ... and his stated reason for opposing it, relevant to how he might govern Ohio? "Do we really want to give the gubernatorial pardon and commutation powers to someone who couldn’t even bring himself to condemn those who put together a study whose longer-term objective was clearly to normalize pedophilia? What other crimes might Ted Strickland be willing to forgive? What kind of people might he be willing to set loose on Ohio’s streets?"

In an online debate with a self-described liberal over the Foley/Strickland comparisons NixGuy made a cogent point. "Ted Strickland’s vote let’s slip his moderate mask and shows him up as a typical elitist liberal. No wonder you guys like him. I don’t believe he’s a supporter of pedophilia. But give him a choice between valueless social scientists who publish in NAMBLA and the religious right, he chooses the NAMBLA guys."

Based on Strickland's 1999 vote on HCR 107 and the recent revelation Strickland’s former campaign chair was arrested for exposing himself to minors Pullins insists the Ohio Democrat’s "Foley problems" need to be scrutinized and addressed.

"There are legitimate issues here. Is Strickland as governor going to surround himself with those individuals who prey on children? Is he going to surround his administration with those type of people? The voters in Ohio deserve answers to these questions," Pullins told World Net Daily. Pullins accused Strickland and his staff of a protracted effort to conceal Doe’s identity, whose arrest records previously had been sealed. Asked by CCN-USA if he believed Strickland and his staff actively tried to hide Doe’s identity for years, Pullins replied tersely, “Yes, I do.” Pullins said his investigation showed that contrary to many newspaper reports that the Strickland “aide” was merely a low-level staffer, the reality is that Doe was a well-known highly regarded political operative who in addition to working for Strickland, had “worked on the Clinton-Gore Presidential Campaign” and had been employed by another congressman and two U.S. Senators. All were Democrats Pullins said.

Strickland told the Dayton Dailey News he and his campaign workers planned to treat themselves to the trip if Strickland won, but as it turned out only Strickland and the man were able to go.

“I think it’s strange when a long time married man, travels alone with another younger man,” Pullins said to CCN-USA. “And I think probably the bigger issue here is, Ted Strickland took a vacation with his young staffer, most likely with campaign funds, which would be illegal.” Drawing a comparison to the Jim McGrevey scandal, Pullins said, “If it comes out later, we may be saying Governor Fisher instead of Governor Strickland.” New Jersey Governor James McGreevey resigned in August 2004 following a sexual harassment suit filed against him by his former aide, Golan Cipel. Flanked by his wife and children, McGreevey admitted he had been living a clandestine homosexual lifestyle.

According to a June 19th Toledo Blade article Strickland has a history of close contact with juveniles. He once headed a Methodist children's home where he drove children to nearby state parks and led a group of teens on a school bus tour to Washington. . The same article also quoted a defensive-sounding Strickland explaining what his wife called their “non-traditional” family. It was that article Pullins said that originally “piqued” his interest and led him to inspect the Democrat candidate further.

In a June 19th post on the Pullins Report blog entitled: "Article Adds Fire to Strickland Gay Rumors"

Pullins speculated Strickland’s words in the Blade article “adds fuel to the fire” rumors that Pullins and other Ohio insiders say have been circulating for years questioning Strickland’s sexual orientation. Pullins said those claims were exacerbated by Strickland’s congressional voting record, a record indicative of someone who is “soft on those that sexually assault our children."

Pullins wrote, "The stories imply that the Stricklands are both gay and lead separate lives, Frances in Kentucky and Ted in Ohio and D.C." According to Pullins, the Stricklands do not own a home in Washington, D.C., or in their Ohio congressional district. They rent an apartment in the nation's capital and own a small condo in Columbus, Ohio.

Frances Smith is Frances Strickland's maiden name, which she uses for her published works, including a children's book titled "The Little Girl Who Grew Up to be Governor.”

“People believe that he and his wife essentially live separate lives,” Pullins told CCN-USA. “At the end of the day, Strickland’s sexual orientation isn’t the most important issue here. I think the most important issue is did he know about the sex offender (who served as his campaign chair)? What did he know and when did he know it? What did his office do to cover it up? What is his campaign continuing to do to cover it up?”

Asked whether he was concerned the Strickland campaign might sue him for his comments, Pullins said that while Strickland had recently acquired new legal representatives “who are threatening to sue anybody that touches this” he was unconcerned. “You can’t be liable for anything when you tell the truth. We’re telling the truth. He’s not. Strickland knew for sometime about this person. I believe he either excused his behavior or wasn’t concerned about his behavior. And I believe that he used his office to cover up this kind of behavior and I think he’s lying to the voters of Ohio about what he knew and when he knew it.”

On the Pullins Report site, readers posted their reactions to the growing scandal. A Strickland sympathizer named “Ann” harshly criticized Pullins for making the arrest records public and revealing the true name of Strickland’s former manager. A post from Patrick said (Doe’s) identity was not the issue. “The real issue is the judgment used by a Congressman not only hiring someone with this charge, but then traveling with him alone to Italy. This young man is not running for Governor of 11 million persons and the awesome responsibility of managing an economy larger than most foreign counties. (Strickland)using this type of poor judgment is very unsettling.”

Apparently fed up with the liberal media’s and Democrats’ obsession with ‘Foley-Gate’ a poster named Ron wrote: “The Democrats continue to use smear, mud, and smokescreens to mask who THEY really are, and we are too timid to give them back their own medicine and shut them up long enough to get (more important) issues in front of the public. We are all flawed, sinful people at heart, but Democratic leadership these days chooses to promote the most wicked liars, cheats, thugs, and scum, who can only suppress their vices long enough to sneak into office and then work to destroy every vestige of traditional value once they get there.” Ron added, ”I say lets give them back punch for punch.”

A message board writer named Consuelo then voiced the question that even the most partisan of Democrats has to be asking right now. ”If this guy (Strickland) is a family guy, with a wife and kiddies, why is he vacationing in Italy with (Doe)? That's just weird.”

The man left Strickland's office in 1999 of his own accord.

While local print media was reluctant to say the least to pursue the burgeoning Strickland scandal, WLW’s Cunningham was not. The story was a hot topic of conversation on 700’s air waves the week of Oct. 16-20 . On Oct. 18th, saying, “The media has to apply the ‘Foley Standard’ to Strickland” Cunningham then blasted democrats for their hypocrisy in the Strickland scandal. “If Democrats are going to castigate Republicans for merely knowing Mark Foley isn’t it fair to question Strickland who employed a known sex abuser as his campaign manager?” The next day a caller named Nan asked: “Why is it okay to swarm around Foley like a shark feeding frenzy, but it’s not okay for Ken Blackwell to confront Strickland on the same sort of stuff?” Cunningham replied, “The reason is the Mainstream Media has chosen sides and wants Democrats to win, so they criticize Blackwell while at the same time slamming Republicans on Foley.”

On Oct. 17th WND’s Corsi discussed the situation live with Cunningham from the station’s Kenwood studios. Referring to the Athens Police report detailing Strickland’s former campaign chair’s earlier offenses, Cunningham told his listeners, “This affidavit says ‘officers spoke to a 12-year- old … and another six-year- old…both state they were walking and as they passed the vehicle the driver opened the door, pulled down his pants, and began to pleasure himself.” Adding that Doe had four separate charges for such incidents Cunningham exclaimed, “This gentleman was a Congressional employee exposing himself to children and he worked for Ted Strickland!”

Corsi said he also had another document that showed “Strickland was told of these problems his campaign manager had” and that, “Strickland hired him despite these problems.”

“The spin from the Strickland camp was that this was a lower level employee that Ted Strickland knew nothing about. Is that accurate?” Cunningham asked. Corsi said his documentation showed that it was not.

Cunningham then asked Corsi, “Didn’t he know in 1998 this man had been exposing himself to children?”

Corsi said that was indeed the case and that he had been able to document that “Strickland’s campaign was warned by being sent the police reports prior to the campaign ending in 1998.”

Corsi said that rather than dismiss Doe for his sex charge crimes, Strickland instead vacationed with the man. “After he knew all about this he and the campaign manager went on the trip to Italy alone together without Strickland’s wife.”

Corsi said he spoke with both Strickland’s former campaign manager and his attorney and that “none of those factual details were disputed. None of the material details were denied by this sexual offender (who was) exposing himself and pleasuring himself in front of minors in a school yard in Athens, Ohio. It’s all on the police record that I have.”

“Strickland didn’t remove him from the campaign”

Corsi said the man did not leave Strickland’s campaign until 1999 – a full year after the campaign ended.

On WND Corsi said that Doe’s attorney, Marc Mezibov, of the Cincinnati law firm Mezibov & Jenkins did not dispute that (Doe) was properly identified as the perpetrator in the original 1994 criminal records from the Athens Police Department and also acknowledged the man later served on the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign staff. Contrary to some newspaper accounts and comments made by many Strickland apologists, Mezibov told Corsi that Doe’s 1994 criminal records in Athens, Ohio, had been expunged in 2002 at Doe’s request. Others had incorrectly stated that the records had been ordered expunged by a judge’s order and implied that meant the offense was a trivial one. Corsi said Mezibov denied that Doe was involved in any homosexual relationship with Strickland while at the same time admitting that “(Doe) traveled to Italy alone with Strickland in 1998 to celebrate the lawmaker's re-election.”

Corsi informed Cincinnati radio listeners that, “A number of prominent people in Ohio are calling on Strickland to withdraw from the race because of the Foley problems.” Corsi chided Democrats for their hypocrisy in this situation saying, “Democrats called for Speaker (Dennis} Hastert to resign after the accusations on Foley were made clear.”

Corsi said of Strickland: “He hired a sexual abuser who was abusing minors…this campaign manager…and continued to (employ) him after he knew this was the case. What this whole incident reveals is I believe Ted Strickland is soft on the whole issue of pedophilia,” Corsi said.

Cunningham then pointed out that Strickland is against the Defense of Marriage Act, (DOMA) and in favor of gay adoptions. “Every gay or lesbian or transgender organization in Ohio that I can find has endorsed Strickland or is in favor of him,” said Corsi. “He’s clearly the gay (lobby’s) candidate.” Corsi theorized Strickland’s days as a psychologist in the Ohio Prison System desensitized and even fostered an approval of homosexual sex. The following day on his show Cunningham mentioned Strickland’s psychologist work at Lucasville and stated, “(as a voter) If you’re gonna’ impose the gay rights agenda on Ohio when you’re in office, I want to know!”

Turning the discussion to Strickland’s puzzling “Present” vote on HCR-107, Corsi said Strickland’s vote not to reject “this horrible study”…”suggesting that sex between children and adults could be good for children” was cause for grave concern for Ohio voters and provided clues as to how he might govern.

Laughing, Cunningham said that (following the final gubanatorial debate in Columbus) the Cincinnati Enquirer said that when Blackwell brought up the issue at the debate, “that he (Strickland)accused Blackwell of ‘jumping into the gutter.”

“An attack against Ken Blackwell does not answer the question,” Corsi said.

The more relevant and pertinent question Corsi maintained is, “What did he know about the staffer who exposed himself to children and pleasured himself in front of 11-year-old girls in a school yard…what did he know about that? When did he know about it? And why didn’t he do anything about it? The Ohio voters deserve to know the answer to those questions.”

A poster named Patrick stated on the BizzyBlog site,” Something just does not add up with this Strickland/young aide business. Reading the resolution he refused to vote yes on, this young aide convicted of a sex offense, then he and the aide off to Italy, finally last night a fundraiser at a function sponsored by Ohio Equality, which promotes and expects its candidates to support gay, lesbian and transgender persons.”

Following the Oct. 16 Blackwell/Strickland debate in Columbus a press release on the Strickland website accused Blackwell of resorting to “slinging mud” and “negative attacks” on Strickland.

But at the same time Strickland's campaign did not directly address the questions Blackwell, and others previously, raised concerning the sex charges, instead merely citing months-old editorial quotes from predominantly liberal media outlets.

Not a word addressing the substance of what those “negative attacks” or "mud' entailed.

Following several days of what critical observers saw as anti-Blackwell headlines and criticism by the Enquirer, the message board posts on that paper’s online site by community members were by-and-large hostile toward Blackwell for daring to broach the subject mainstream newspapers should have been investigating for months. However, many readers did express the opinion that Strickland was covering up something potentially damaging and that the media was giving the Democrat a pass on an issue Republicans would have been hammered for and hounded on until the truth came out.

“There are just too many questions about Strickland and his character,” wrote J. Hopefield of Wyoming…”Why would you keep someone convicted of exposing themselves to children on staff? Strickland had to have known. Why do you fly to Italy with this man who exposes himself to children? The answer? Strickland had to have known!!! Why is your wife living in a different state?.... It’s amazing to me that when (they) release what is documented information it is an “allegation.” This is more than an allegation…it is the truth and Blackwell should cheered for bring it to the forefront.”

Jeff Clark of Mainville wrote, “Since the mainstream media isn’t going to talk about Ted Strickland’s dirty laundry, some one has too. Strickland may claim its no-ones business, but since he’s selling himself as something he’s not, then yes it is our business…”

An angry Ohio Christian stated, ”I was furious that he would put in his ad last week that he is an ordained minister. That title is much more than the paper he holds,” said Dan Carpenter of the East side. “He votes pro-abortion, against marriage, against the Ten Commandments and (for) having under God removed from our money. If he is a minister of anything it is the church of Satan.”

“Strickland did NOT answer the questions that have been floating through the media -- why was this aide allowed to continue on his staff after being convicted a number of times for exposing himself to children? Why did, after that, Strickland and this twenty-something man head off to Italy together. ...There is more here than meets the eye.”--Richard Carpenter, Springfield Township,

“If Mark Foley's e-mails are an issue, than a guy who exposed himself to young boys, who was on Strickland’s staff, is an issue too. Blackwell is not my favorite guy, but as usual, I'm voting for the guy who will keep my taxes lower and that's always the Republican. --Todd, West Chester

“The whole slant of the presentation of this topic is 180 degrees the opposite of what the coverage would have been if these were allegations against Mr. Blackwell. Just look at the Mark Foley coverage. That is what's disgusting. If it's a Republican involved, the outrage is against the accused and they're demanded to resign. If it's a Democrat, the focus is on who has brought up the issues and that it is “slime” and “ugly.” Give me a break! What hypocrisy.- Tom Steele – Loveland

…A politician's staff members and groups that endorse him reflect that politicians beliefs and policies..”.--Susan Haines, Hyde Park.

“Do we have a person who had exposed themselves to childern? YES. Do we have someone who failed to take action in regards to this person? YES. Should this be exposed (pardon the pun)? YES. Does anyone doubt that if this were a Republican who failed to fire a sexual predator who was on their staff, that they would be forced to resign?”--Danny, Bellbrook

"The only difference between this and the Foley matter is a PROVEN crime was committed against a child, and the criminal committing the act wound up in the employ of a man who at one time defended pedophilia on the house floor -John, Milford

“I think it is very interesting to see the way how Democrats and Republicans are treated when this sort of information comes out. when Foley was "exposed" it was seen as a big huge cover-up by the Republican establishment. Here we have Blackwell stating that Strickland knew something and not being open and up front about it and blackwell is seen as a low life bigot.. . Does anyone else out there see the double standard?? I'm tired of it!”- Leah, Amelia

Leading Ohio conservatives who have demanded that Strickland withdraw from the race because of his repeated refusals to fully address the questions swirling around his campaign include Citizens for Community Values president Phil Burress and National Right to Life pioneer and native Cincinnatian Dr. John C. Wilke . “Ted Strickland stands for values that are exactly opposite those held by bible believing Christians,” Wilke told CCN-USA. “He vigorously supports abortion on demand and homosexual marriage and it goes down from there. Wilke also said that since Strickland’s wife lives not with him in Ohio, but resides near Louisville, the trip to Italy alone with the then 25-year-old Doe was also troubling and indicative of how Strickland might set Ohio policy if elected. “The recent scandal linking him with his pedophile campaign manager and his vacation to Europe with him while leaving his wife in Louisville only compounds the issue.”

The host of NixGuy.com is a suburban Cincinnati blogger named Dave Stacy. Stacy, like all the Ohio watchdog bloggers investigating the Strickland situation was highly critical of the glaring contradiction exhibited by mainstream media reporters relative to the Foley and Strickland scandals. “The mainstream media seems to be upset that we are not getting in line to see the coronation of Ted Strickland,” Stacy told CCN-USA. “I think it's time the MSM did their jobs and thoroughly vetted a candidate on issues and character. Stacy, whose NixGuy writings demonstrate he is no party ideologue, then blasted the Ohio Democratic Party. “What's interesting is that the Democrats don't even try to justify their positions,” Stacy said. “Apparently the standard is (relative to Foley) if you're a Republican, in (the eyes of Democrats and the media) association with an unknown pervert is reason for dismissal and resignation. (But since)Ted Strickland is a Democrat, he’s excused.”