President Barack Obama, during his Nov. 7 victory speech, said, “Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual.”
It’s hard to credit that here in Lucas County or in Ohio, especially when it came to Issue 2, a proposal to change the process for redrawing state legislative and congressional maps and Issue 1, a proposal to revisit the state’s constitution.
Can it all be blamed on Democrats blindly voting a D-slate card?
Issue 2 throws a wrench in that theory given how hard the Democratic Party pushed for Issue 2. It failed in Lucas County and failed across the entire state.
The same goes for Democratic Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown— she lost in Lucas County and in Ohio to Republican Sharon L. Kennedy. Angela Zimmann could not muster a victory when it came to challenging Rep. Bob Latta.
It makes it almost hypocritical to thank those who voted the way we hoped on some issues, like TARTA staying in Spencer and Sylvania townships, when some of those same voters likely doomed our state to politics as usual when it comes to redistricting.
Lucas County voters approved levies for Metroparks, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Lucas County Children Services and Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Lucas County.
I will point out, admittedly with self-interest, that despite the politicians’ emphasis on a cascade of TV and radio ads, every levy and candidate that utilized Toledo Free Press advertising as a venue to reach voters triumphed, something for political types to keep in mind for future election cycles.
It’s difficult to understand voters’ motivation this year, but it’s hard to deem the results a “call to action.” It appears to be a call to confusion.
I’m sure the political analysts will try to come up with some scenario to explain all of this, but it’s hard to celebrate the overall outcome of what took place in our county and our state during the election. It is a mixed bag of successes and some epic failures.
Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star.
