Last-minute push in governor's race - Cincinnati.com

When the votes are counted on Tuesday night, some races might be blowouts, over and done with not long after the sun has set, but the Ohio governor's race is not likely to be one of those.

That was evident by the frenetic pace of campaigning Saturday by both candidates - Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland and Republican challenger John Kasich.

Every poll in the past two weeks - and the sense among party leaders on both sides - is that the race is too close to call and will come down Tuesday to one thing and one thing only - which candidate and his party organizations can push the most voters out to the polls.

That is why, on Saturday, both candidates raced around like men whose hair was on fire, targeting key areas where they hope to fire up the masses, Republican and Democrat.

• Quiz: Election oddities
• Best, worst political ads

For Strickland, that meant a swing through the Youngstown suburb of Boardman, the northeast Ohio city of Canton and a rally in Columbus, with the one Democrat many believe is most likely to light a fire under Democratic voters - former President Bill Clinton.

And, Sunday, in Cleveland, Strickland will campaign with President Obama; and later in the day, with Vice President Biden, in a further effort to gin up excitement among Democrats.

In Columbus late Saturday afternoon, at a Teamsters local hall, Clinton outlasted a group of college Republicans who heckled him and Strickland, waiving signs saying "Failure".

"That's a metaphor for what's wrong with this election,'' Clinton said, gesturing toward a protestor with a megaphone. "If I didn't have anything to say, I'd scream too."

Clinton told the Columbus crowd of about 600 that, during Strickland's term, Ohio increased its higher education rating from 27th to 5th in the nation, and now boasts the lowest business taxes in the Midwest.

"This man is a great governor, and you have to re-elect him,'' Clinton said. "He is a great governor and a great man."

For his part, Strickland said his GOP opponent wants to get rid of renewable energy standards - an example, the Democratic governor said, of the choice between moving "into the future or retreat back into the past."

While Clinton and Strickland were stumping for Democratic votes, Kasich - the former Columbus-area congressman and House Budget chairman - spent his entire day in the southwest corner of the state, the one area that any Republican running statewide must win and win big to seal a victory on election night.

Kasich - with his wife Karen and their 10-year-old twin daughters, Reese and Emma in tow - raced around southwest Ohio in an SUV, stopping at Republican Party get-out-the-vote centers in Butler County's Fairfield Township, Kenwood in Hamilton County, and in Lebanon, the seat of Warren County.

And, in the middle of the day, the Kasich SUV roared down I-71 to Cincinnati's riverfront park at Sawyer Point, to make a previously unscheduled stop at a tea party "Remember in November" rally.

Each one of those areas will be critical for Kasich on Tuesday.

Six years ago, it was those very areas that saw a pumped-up GOP turnout at the polls. That gave President George W. Bush the edge to win Ohio's electoral votes and a second term in the White House.

"When people come and tell you have to keep working, that's kind of insulting to you,'' Kasich told a group of about 60 volunteers at the Fairfield Township office, most of whom have been working for weeks calling thousands of like-minded voters.

"I know you have been working,'' Kasich said. "I am as grateful as a person can be for the faith and trust you have placed in me."

David Kern, the Liberty Township resident who became Butler County GOP chairman earlier this year, said he has seen "literally hundreds of people who have never been involved in politics before come forward. These people have a fire in their belly."

At all of his get-out-the-vote center stops Saturday, Kasich spoke only briefly and then lingered for a while posing for pictures with GOP volunteers before hopping in the SUV to be driven to the next stop.

At the Hamilton County GOP Victory office behind the Kenwood Towne Center on Galbraith Road, Kasich struck briefly on what has become a theme lately of his campaign - that he has been the victim of unfair attacks by Strickland and his Democratic allies.

"They are running a campaign of fear; we are running a campaign of hope,'' Kasich told the GOP volunteers at Kenwood.

The one stop Saturday that was not on the Kasich campaign's announced schedule was the trip to Sawyer Point for a short speech that closed the Cincinnati Tea Party's "Remember in November" rally, which drew about 200 people.

"I love the tea party!" he proclaimed to the applauding crowd, saying the movement "gets a rap because we don't take cues from the elite."

While Strickland is campaigning in Cleveland and Toledo Sunday with Obama and Biden, Kasich will be in the Columbus area, going door-to-door with local Republican candidates in strong GOP suburbs like Worthington and New Albany.

Monday, Kasich will return to Cincinnati for an election-eve rally at a Lunken Airport hangar with U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman and House Minority Leader John Boehner, who will become House speaker if the GOP takes control of the House Tuesday.

Reporter Quan Truong contributed.

• Blog: Politics Extra
• Elections 2010 coverage
• Voters Guide

View the original article here

Apple iPhone Leapfrogs RIM BlackBerry in Smartphone Rankings - eWeek

Apple, Research In Motion and Android phone producers such as Samsung put in strong performances during a third quarter that showed smartphone sales to be very much dictating the global handset market. The handset market also seems to be rewarding phone vendors that are constantly innovating and producing the strongest possible portfolio of smartphones.  

The launch of the iPhone 4 helped Apple, according to Oct. 28 reports from research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics, join the list of top-five performers for the first time. Apple, such as competitor RIM, only contributes smartphones to the handheld market, and both vendors posted highest-growth rates among the top five vendors during the quarter.  

?The mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest-growing firms,? Kevin Restivo, an IDC senior research analyst, said in a statement. ?Vendors that aren?t developing a strong portfolio of smartphones will be challenged to maintain and grow market share in the future.?  

Nokia has learned this lesson well. While the long-time market leader, Nokia saw its volumes grow below the market average for the ninth consecutive quarter, despite posting ?record smartphone shipments of 26 million units,? according to Strategy Analytics. Looking to again be a serious smartphone contender, Nokia has introduced four high-end models, the N8, C7, C6-01 and E7, which it hopes will significantly impact its fourth quarter.  

?The N8, C7 and C6-01 will be attacking Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung, while the E7 will set its sights on RIM, HTC and others,? wrote Analyst Neil Mawston, author of the Strategy Analytics report.  

LG Electronics, Mawston points out, saw shipments shrink 10 percent compared to a year ago, and ?like Motorola and Sony Ericsson before it, has missed much of the boom in premium 3G smartphones,? causing it ?financial pain.? As competitors such as Samsung begin releasing 3G tablets, Mawston warned, ?LG must be careful not to repeat this error.?  

Samsung, with its line of Galaxy S smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablet, was quick to jump on the Android craze, and consequently shipped 71.4 million units during the quarter?an all-time high for the company. It also more than doubled the number of converged mobile devices, or smartphones, it shipped. During the fourth quarter, it will bring still more smartphones to market, though its Wave 2 will launch with Bada, its in-house OS.  

IDC estimated that the global handset market grew 14.6 percent during the quarter, with a total of 340.5 million shipments, which Strategy Analytics put the figure slightly lower, at 327 million.  

Again, according to IDC, market leader Nokia shipped 110.4 million handsets, to claim 32.4 percent market share and was followed by Samsung, with shipments of 71.4 million units for 21 percent market share. Third-place LG shipped 28.4 million units, for 8.3 percent of the market, and Apple, jumping ahead of RIM to claim fourth position, shipped 14.1 million units to claim 4.1 percent market share?and post a remarkable 90.5 percent year-on-year growth.  

Fifth-place RIM, with 3.6 percent of the market, shipped 12.4 million units, for a year-on-year growth of 45.9 percent. While IDC reports that RIM shipped a record number of units during the quarter, and showed particular growth in Latin America, in the U.S., Strategy Analytics highlighted that its ?relatively weak touchphone portfolio for consumer users? has challenged the company, particularly following a lukewarm response to the Torch. 

With its fellow top vendors, RIM will need to proceed smartly though the fourth quarter, or risk being chucked off the list.  

?There is a long tail of second-tier players emerging who are knocking on the doors of the top five players,? Strategy Analytics? Mawston warned. ?ZTE, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Huawei and Alcatel are all shipping volumes that are within touch distance of the leading group.?  

ZTE in particular is growing at an above-average rate, Mawston noted, and ?stands a good chance of entering the top five in coming quarters.?   

View the original article here

Obama returns to home turf to rally party spirits - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;Campaign 2010 | HEADLONG DASH TO FINISH

CHICAGO — President Obama embarked on a last-ditch campaign marathon yesterday in a bid to blunt the political rebuke expected to be delivered by voters in Tuesday’s midterm elections, urging dispirited Americans to give Democrats more time to deliver on the promise of change the president made two years ago.

“For those of you who were so excited two years ago, I just want to remind you this: Two years ago was not about me,’’ the president said to volunteers at a get-out-the-vote canvassing event in Philadelphia yesterday morning. “It was about you and it was about this country. And I said then that change was going to be hard . . . We can’t move backwards now. We’ve got to keep moving forward.’’

Democrats are hoping they can avoid the widely forecasted anti-incumbent wave that could overturn the party’s majority in the US House and seriously erode its advantage in the Senate.

But Obama’s choice of locations to deliver his closing argument was telling: He made stops in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, places where he enjoyed broad support in 2008, before wrapping up last night in Illinois, where his party is struggling to prevent his former Senate seat from falling into the hands of Republicans. Obama was scheduled to visit Cleveland today.

The Illinois Senate race, between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk, is at best a toss-up for Democrats, who need a strong turnout among their base to prevent the GOP from snatching a highly symbolic victory in Obama’s backyard.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey are in a close Senate race, though most pollsters give Toomey the edge. The Connecticut Senate race is faring better for Democrats; polls show Richard Blumenthal leading Republican Linda McMahon.

Obama supporters who are sticking with the president and backing Democrats this fall foresee difficult times ahead for the party after Tuesday’s vote.

“Absolutely — I’m worried,’’ said Jarrod Ayme, 23, of Chicago, who works for a nonprofit agency. “I’m worried that [the Democrats’] power is going to dwindle considerably.’’

The president last night revved up Democrats at a rally just a few blocks from Lake Michigan and a few miles from Grant Park, where two years ago he celebrated an overwhelming Democratic victory with 240,000 ecstatic supporters.

The euphoria of that 2008 night has faded, as the nation’s slow economic recovery has undermined the president’s campaign themes of hope and change, and hurt his popularity. He also has come under fire in some quarters for pushing through a health care insurance overhaul that Republicans are promising to roll back if they seize power.

“I was gone overseas for the first six months of his presidency, and when I got back the perception of him seemed to have totally changed. . . . So many people were pessimistic,’’ said Matti Scannell, 19, of Chicago, who traveled to Spain in 2009.

Democrats are fighting to hold onto threatened Senate seats in California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, Washington, and West Virginia. In Nevada, the majority leader of the US Senate, Harry Reid, is fighting to save his career against Republican Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle. Democratic seats in North Dakota, Arkansas, and Indiana have already been all but written off as lost.

The Republican House minority leader, John Boehner, who would likely become speaker if his party takes a US House majority on Tuesday, said yesterday that Republicans stand ready to bring more transparency to government and cut federal spending if voters entrust them with the reins of power. “We’ve tried it President Obama’s way,’’ said Boehner, in the weekly Republican address. “We’ve tried it Washington’s way. It hasn’t worked. It’s time to put the people back in charge.’’

Obama has been trying for weeks to build a firewall against Democratic losses by rallying supporters in states with close races, a strategy that led him back to his hometown.

The contest between Giannoulias, the state treasurer, and Kirk, a five-term congressman from the northern Chicago suburbs, is one of the closest Senate races in the country. Most of the polls suggest the race is a statistical tie, within the typical margin of error for opinion surveys.

The tight race “is a good metaphor for what’s going on nationally,’’ said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “You’ve got the president trying to bring the Democratic base — women, African-Americans, Hispanics — back to their candidates, trying to generate enthusiasm in a state the Democrats have dominated.’’

The seat Obama gave up when he won the presidency is open this fall; Roland Burris, who was appointed by then-governor Rod Blagojevich to serve out Obama’s unfinished term, declined to run again.

The campaign to replace Burris is between two men who are considered rising stars of their parties.

Giannoulias, (pronounced jeh-NOO-lee-us) a Boston University graduate, entered politics four years ago after helping manage Broadway Bank, a Chicago community lender founded by his father. In 2006, with support from then-senator Obama, Giannoulias, then just 30, became the nation’s youngest state treasurer.

But the private banking experience that was so helpful in his last race has been a liability this year. Broadway Bank failed in April and was taken over by the FDIC. And Giannoulias has been dogged by revelations that Broadway loaned $20 million to two Chicago felons, sometimes more colorfully described as “mob figures’’ in the local media, while Giannoulias was a senior loan officer.

Those embarrassments might have crushed Giannoulias’ campaign months ago if Kirk hadn’t evened the playing field by exaggerating his résumé.

Kirk, 51, apologized in the spring for making false statements about his 21-year Navy Reserve career, including the untrue claim that he had served in the Gulf War. He speaks contritely about learning “a painful lesson’’ from the episode, though he has resisted explaining why he overstated his record. He is the type of centrist Republican that typically has the best chance of winning in Democratic-leaning Illinois, specialists said.

“Mark Kirk is not a hyper-partisan,’’ said Gabe Rubin, 18, of Skokie, who stood for hours in an eye-watering cold wind demonstrating for the Kirk campaign outside a debate last week. “I want someone who votes what he believes is best for his constituents, not what his party tells him to vote.’’

Kirk’s campaign office did not respond to several messages for an interview.

Throughout the hard-fought campaign, the candidates have eagerly exploited each other’s missteps.

“All the campaign ads begin with smears,’’ said John Brehm, a University of Chicago political science professor. “It’s been pretty dirty. Though perhaps I shouldn’t use the word ‘dirty,’ because what they’re saying about each other is true.’’

The tone of the race has been so relentlessly negative that Giannoulias surprised campaign watchers last week by promising to run only positive ads in the final days. His prohibition on attacks did not extend to debates — the two candidates exchanged unpleasantries in person last Wednesday in their final televised forum.

On Friday, Giannoulias and his mother canvassed on the busy streets of Boystown, a Chicago district with a large gay population. A jovial Giannoulias said his campaign’s field operation was ready. “Turnout in this city is going to be through the roof,’’ he predicted.

He will need a large turnout from the city’s Democratic base to win, and to save the president from an embarrassing rejection by the people who know him best.

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.Waiting for Twitter to feed in the latest...

View the original article here