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, RAW
STORY has discovered. (Read the full
story, including response from a Congressman,
here.)
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.”