Ohio Notes: Lamont, Kerry, DeWine

Lieberman-Lamont

In the report I submitted yesterday, I refer to some similarities between Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Ned Lamont of Connecticut: "Like Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman's rival in Connecticut, Brown has given no sign or clue that he plans to target Israeli policy for change. Nonetheless, Israel supporters in Washington furrow their brows at the polls predicting his victory. Even if he does no harm, someone said, he will certainly not help." I felt the need to go back to this comparison after reading a JTA story and getting some reactions from people who follow my election tour.

A Jewish Republican wrote to me this morning that The National Jewish Democratic Council told JTA that Lamont would be just as firm a supporter of Israel as is Lieberman. "I think this pretty much wipes out what little credibility NJDC (the National Jewish Democratic Coalition) had left as a pro-Israel and pro-Jewish organization," he wrote.

This ignited some interest, and after getting to the Columbus motel in the evening I looked for the story. Surprisingly, I thought it said the exact opposite. Look at the quote of Ira Forman, NJDC's executive director: "Lamont has put out good pro-Israel position papers, which is what you would ask for from a candidate, but it doesn't equate to Joe Lieberman's record of 18 years of sterling service." Not exactly an endorsement - and one could read this as a call of support for Lieberman's independent campaign.

But it gets even more interesting. I have a copy of the story as was published earlier, and the wording reflects a pro-Lamont sentiment by the NJDC: "The National Jewish Democratic Council, which has not endorsed either candidate, says Lamont would be just as firm a supporter of Israel as is Lieberman." No "18 years of sterling service," no "doesn't equate," no Ira Forman quote. Obviously, a story was submitted, published and then changed.

Forman confirmed in a conversation we had this morning that the second story is the one reflecting his position.

Iraq

And by the way: the NYT has a story on Lamont this morning. The most surprising detail I found in it: "And though he based much of his primary campaign on opposition to the Iraq war, when asked over dinner in Washington in September how many soldiers from his state had died, Mr. Lamont said he did not know."

Kerry

I'm writing from Ohio and have no special knowledge of the new John Kerry controversy. Kerry - for those of you who didn't hear the news yet - was accused of insulting American military men as he said yesterday that "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

He says it was "a botched joke" about the President and his people, and reading his words carefully suggests that he is telling the truth. More proof that some people are just incapable of telling jokes, and would be wise to avoid attempting do so.

DeWine

Since we are here, just take a look at the numbers for the Ohio Senate race. It seems as if CNN's pollsters put another nail in the political coffin of incumbent Mike DeWine.