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Uncle Tom Puppetician Served as Bush Campaign Co-Chair for Ohio

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell boasted of helping "deliver" Ohio for President Bush and said he was "truly pleased" to announce Bush had won Ohio even before all of the state's votes had been counted in his own fundraising letter. The letter, which was received by a Butler County resident Dec. 31, is a plea to support Blackwell's campaign for governor. The resident has asked to remain anonymous. In apparent disregard for his nonpartisan role as Ohio's chief election official, the Republican Secretary and chairman of Bush's Ohio reelection campaign slammed Senator Kerry as a "disaster" who would have reaped "terrible" and "horrible" results on both Ohio and the United States. Further, Blackwell's use of the word "deliver" finds striking resonance with another controversial fundraising letter sent by the CEO of voting machine manufacturer Diebold Walden O'Dell in the summer of 2003 when he said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Blackwell's campaign office confirmed that they that sent the letter but offered no further comment. "Without your enthusiasm, generous support and vote, I'm afraid the President would have lost," Blackwell wrote, "And an unapologetic liberal Democrat named John Kerry would have won." "Thankfully," he adds, "you and I stopped that disaster from happening." Blackwell also noted that he was "truly pleased" to announce President Bush the victor in Ohio even before all the votes had been counted. Even in the wake of a House Judiciary Committee investigation by Democrats into voting irregularities in Ohio, Blackwell goes so far as to say that he was proud to prevent voting fraud. [more]

See the letter and the envelope [more]
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell: "there's no reason to prolong the election. 'Jesse Jackson can complain, grand stand, whine, stamp his feet all he wants,' said Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo. 'It's not going to change the results of Ohio's election or how voters cast their ballots on Nov. 2.'" The AP 1/4/2004