I think Opal Covey should be in the debates just so we have some excitement. After all, we know that Ford will suck the life out of these things.
posted by fequalsma73 at 02:32 P.M. EST on Thu Jul 14, 2005 #
You've never seen/heard Opal in action before have you?
As I remember Opal, she tends to fluster easily and tends to ramble too.
Her simplistic approach to city government along with her extremely loose grip on reality could provide for some comic relief though ;-)
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 06:37 P.M. EST on Thu Jul 14, 2005 #
Ladeeze and gentlemen, may I have your attention pleeze...
On tonight’s card we have four combatants:
Carleton “the short fuse” Finkbeiner
Keith “the Polish kid” Wilkowski
Rob “the invisible man” Ludeman
-And- last, but... (I WON’T go there):
“Sleepy” Jack Ford
Will the contestants please retire to neutral corners?
Hey, Polish Kid, will you give JFo a nudge, wake him up, and point him in the right direction for me, pleeze?
Thank Yew!
At the sound of the bell, the ringmaster announces, “Let the games begin…”
The ringmaster cues “Opal the Clown,” the calliope music, the rotten fruit peddlers, and rings the bell :-)
And, they’re off!
Gawd…
If televised, I'd watch, out of morbid curiosity. I watch a train wreck too :-)
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 07:03 P.M. EST on Thu Jul 14, 2005 #
I personally think it should include all candidates, just like the Presidential Debates seemed to forget the third party/independent candidates, Toledo is too.
It's no wonder we are always stuck in the never ending D or R as a choice when the media doesn't support anyone else nor does anyone seem to be demanding it.
If we ever want to get away from the two main parties it's going to take us demanding that all candidates should be included. Even Opal if she got the signatures necessary.
posted by psyche777 at 11:24 P.M. EST on Thu Jul 14, 2005 #
Pretty funny stuff Hooda Thunkit! And I agree with you psyche777. If you're in the Primary, you're in the debates - simple. I was at the last Mayoral debates, pretty good. I did feel bad for Mr. Kest though, he had a large group of supporters present - lots of Teamsters, but he seemed to really flounder or at least get quite flustered. And, I think he is an itelligent man, just made some poor decisions. What made it worse was everything he did made the press. Everything. I know we say when you're a public official that's the price you pay, but, come on. Pounce,pounce pounce. These upcoming debates are going to be great, can't wait. I think we have a good group of contenders. I'm also going to say I'm voting for Jack Ford. I voted for Carty when he ran, but not this time. And not because he said some rather inappropriate things, I'm sure in retrospect, he wishes he would have just thought it, not said it. Honestly, we all do the same thing. I think Ford has done good well as mayor (put those tomatoes down). Tough stuff to run a city after a terrorist attack and an economy that goes in the toilet. But, the Mayor has done it. In closing, I'll say it again, I was present when Ford officially threw his hat in the ring and the campaign promises he made he has kept. I think he is indeed a quiet, intelligent, thoughtful, honest man who has kept his word and integrety intact.
posted by louie1961 at 01:55 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
For the third time in the past week, I've had to delete a topic that was nearly identical or related to the topic that immediately preceded it.
So louie1961, it's nothing personal. It's just that I believe your front page posting is better as a comment here in the topic about the mayoral debates. And I fixed your typo in the opening word. I too was wondering about the strange times for one or two of the debates.
---------
July 15, 2005
That's exactly what I'm talking about... - Just read the article in the Toledo Blade about the upcoming debates and so forth. Read Carty's statement about the Mayor coordinating a debate at 2:30 in the afternoon, on a workday. How dare he! Come on, tell us how you really feel, don't hold back now. Same old, same old. And what exactly was the point of the statement? Was it necessary?.. Thoughtful?.. Meaningless?.. Reflective?..Honestly, what was the point? I don't have my read between the lines glasses on so please, let someone enlighten me.
posted by louie1961 to politics at 3:34 A.M. EST
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posted by jr at 11:23 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
I did enlighten or at least try to but guess my response got lost when the post move happened.
:-)
It was very good too, so guess you'll just have to wait - lol
posted by psyche777 at 02:17 P.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
Sorry about that, pshyce777. Here are the two comments for the topic I moved here.
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"I think Jack's [news] conference is exactly why a lot of Toledo's voters have lost confidence in Mr. Ford. The mayor - at 2:30 during a work day - is coordinating a debate effort.? He should be tackling Toledo's problems," Mr. Finkbeiner said.
Playing the role of the reluctant Carty defender once again, it means...Jack, you are supposed to be the Mayor of Toledo, maybe you should schedule news conferences after the end of the work day rather than when you are supposed to be "Mayor" not "candidate for re-election".
It's something most incumbents do, use the office to campaign, and it's nothing new. Kerry was slammed for not doing his job as Senator, Bush was slammed for it, it's a part of politics.
I suppose someone could go back and see if when Carty was running for re-election if he declared news conferences to address his election during the work day.
:-)
posted by psyche777 at 09:09 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
Ford is a bum. End of story.
posted by fequalsma73 at 10:34 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
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posted by jr at 02:47 P.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
jr, that was okay, I was just being incorrigible - and teasing you just a bit
but thank you -- I hesitated in commenting because it was similar to what was below so see? I should have gone with my first instinct.
:-)
posted by psyche777 at 03:16 P.M. EST on Fri Jul 15, 2005 #
Sorry about the front page post and thanks for the correction. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have written anything as I was up quite early and had very little sleep. I actually thought about it later on that day, knew there were some errors. I'll be more careful in the future. Thanks again.
posted by louie1961 at 05:44 A.M. EST on Sat Jul 16, 2005 #
louie1961, your posting was a good one. I was also bit curious at the odd times for a couple of the debates, so thanks for bringing it up. And don't worry about spalling and grammur errors. We all make them.
posted by jr at 04:49 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 16, 2005 #
Yes louie 1961, misteaks happan ;-)
posted by Hooda_Thunkit at 05:10 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 16, 2005 #
Thank ewe aul
posted by louie1961 at 04:56 A.M. EST on Sun Jul 17, 2005 #
A TJ story about the debates:
"But the election-cycle “debates,” unfortunately, will once again be anything but actual engagement of the candidates in thoughtful, back-and-forth discussion on issues of public importance. Rather, most will be glamorized Q&A sessions during which Mayor Jack Ford, challengers Carty Finkbeiner and Keith Wilkowski and the lesser candidates, all under severe speaking time constraints, will be forced to try to go for “sound bites” that they hope will appeal to their audiences and television viewers."
Mayor Ford said:
"I usually work from seven in the morning till 10 at night, so it’s not an eight-hour job and it’s seven days a week. So I think I know how to manage my time."
Carty's comments about Ford's press conference where Ford said he would participate in the debates:
"When a man is paid $137,000 by the taxpayers to solve the major problems in Toledo, Ohio, for Mr. Ford to be wasting his time giving speeches and holding press conferences on the debates ... is a classic example for why his numbers are so low. It seems to me he should have been solving how we are going to be putting men and women back to work in Toledo, Ohio. This press conference, to me, speaks to why a lot of voters in Toledo have lost confidence in Jack Ford. We have a whole lot of very significant projects that basically have remained dormant under Mr. Ford’s leadership."
Ford responded with a question for Carty that I've been wondering about:
"If he really wants to get in front of the public, I would only ask the question: ‘Why is he ducking some of the debates?’"
The TJ story continued with:
"The Blade, in its next-day report on the press conference, did not mention Mayor Ford’s comments on street paving, crime statistics or job creation. Anticipating that absence of coverage, The Journal asked Mayor Ford if he believes he’s gotten fair treatment from the majority-owned media in Toledo. “Well, I don’t think it’s gotten out as much as I would like or else I’d be higher in the polls,” he said. “But that’s what a campaign is for. And that’s why we sometimes resort to paid media to get our message out.” He added, “The message will be out before this is all over with. Trust me on that." "
"The most significant debate likely will be the Aug. 18 forum to be held at Indiana Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, beginning at 7 p.m. It is co-sponsored by the Greater Toledo Urban League’s Young Professionals affiliate and the League of Women Voters."
"Joe McNamara, an Urban League board member, said GTUL questions will focus on issues of importance to residents of the central city. It will be “more of a symposium” than an actual debate, he said, but the absence of distractions associated with televised election forums will allow the candidates more time to fully explain their views."
posted by jr at 11:20 P.M. EST on Wed Jul 20, 2005 #
First debate in the books.
"Incumbent Toledo Mayor Jack Ford and two of his challengers, Keith Wilkowski and city Councilman Rob Ludeman, traded verbal jabs yesterday during a forum on housing and neighborhoods. About 25 people attended. Carty Finkbeiner missed the 9:30 a.m. event, citing a previously scheduled deposition in a lawsuit."
9:30 a.m., 25 people attending. A connection? I'm assuming the Collingwood Presbyterian Church holds more than 25 people.
"Mr. Wilkowski charged that Mr. Ford's administration has responded sluggishly to the problem of the city's declining population."
What a waste-of-time argument by Wilkowski. He'll have to do better than that. Does Keith know that Toledo's population has been declining for the last 30 years? One mayoral term by anyone is not going to change that.
Keith's plan is to give city income tax breaks to new people moving into downtown Toledo. Hey Keith and any other politician pretending to care, what about giving a tax break to ALL the citzens of Toledo, especially those who have lived in the city for many years. You know, some of these people are thinking about moving out of the city. Keith's idea won't stop Toledo's population decline. Some of the new townhomes and condos downtown already offer 10-15 year property tax abatements to attract people.
Ford took shots at Keith:
"[Ford] aimed several barbs at Mr. Wilkowski, suggesting Mr. Wilkowski had abandoned the North Toledo neighborhoods he now says he wants to revitalize. And bringing up one of Mr. Wilkowski's part-time legal jobs, he said he had worked to help neighboring Rossford develop an arena and amphitheater at Toledo's expense."
And I think that was about it from the debate. Ludeman worked the soundboard.
posted by jr at 09:38 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 22, 2005 #
...so, in other words, my notion that this wasn't worth skipping work to attend was right. Same prattle, same hare-brained simple fixes to complex problems, same pander-and-attack stances typical of today's politicians..
YAAAWWWWWN.
posted by timault at 11:21 A.M. EST on Fri Jul 22, 2005 #
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