My Election Reactions

(Yes, I know it's several days tardy. So sue me.)

Governor: I'm happy Mr. Blackwell was defeated. I'm not expecting anything great from Mr. Strickland.

District 1: I'll admit that I wouldn't have minded very much if old Chabby had lost, because I wanted to see the control of the House flip. But I'm somewhat glad he didn't have to lose and I still got my wish.

District 2: It is preposterous that so many people continue to vote for Jean Schmidt. I don't know what to think.

Senate: Again, I'm not strongly for or against Mr. DeWine or Mr. Brown, but I do like the flip of the Senate to the Democrats because I like the idea of an opposition Congress. My theory is that with the Executive and Legislative branches opposed, it will be harder for the crazies to get their laws passed and their secret/illegal actions done. I want the Congress to quit having blind faith in the President, and I trust the President not to let them pass anything too extreme.

County Commissioner: I haven't heard anything much that I don't like about this Pepper character, and I've heard a number of things I don't like about Heimlich. Yes, I regularly read the Beacon, but I do take it with a grain of salt. My biggest hope is for some progress to be made on the Banks. Also, maybe some mass transit?

Minimum Wage: I'm happy that the populace decided that it needed to go up. I'm not happy that it had to be accomplish by constitutional amendment. I'm one of those "constitution should be for core principles" guys.

Smoking Bans: I voted against both. One for being a constitutional amendment. The other because I'm against smoking bans. Right now my thought on smoking bans is that bar proprietors ought to be free to decide whether they want to allow smoking or not. I think arguments about the health of the patrons are totally irrelevant. I am willing to entertain those arguments about the health of the workers, yet I still have not been convinced by them.

Slot Machines: I say again, I rather oppose constitutional amendments. Also, I was somewhat persuaded by those that said the law was poorly designed and would not really lead to as much funds for schools as its supporters implied.

Voting Machines: I had a very unremarkable experience. I used the fill in the bubble and send through the scantron type ballot. I still have a strong mistrust of computerized voting, but I'm satisfied with what happened on Tuesday. I'm looking for more improvement on the open-and-transparent front.