Hillary Clinton talks a little about Ohio vote tampering
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COLUMBUS – U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton took a shot at Secretary of State Ken Blackwell of Cincinnati, the Republican candidate for governor, Monday during her third visit to Ohio this year.
Speaking to more than 3,000 people at a national conference of ACORN – the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – Clinton prompted whoops and hollers by saying, “Let’s make sure that we count every vote in our elections.”
Clinton also called for an increase in the minimum wage. If it makes the Ohio ballot Nov. 7, voters will be asked to approve raising it from $5.15 an hour to $6.85.
Referring to presidential races, Clinton said, “This country deserves to have an electoral system that has integrity. I know there’s been a problem here in Ohio, and I hope everybody from Ohio is watching this election like a hawk. Don’t let them pull anything over your eyes again.”
Without naming Blackwell, Clinton said, “One of the people running for high office is actually running the election. That should not be permitted. It’s a conflict of interest. … We’ve got to take back our democracy.”
Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Blackwell’s gubernatorial campaign, said Clinton is welcome to come to Ohio in November and “make sure everything is handled on the up and up.”
“We’ll even pay for her flight,” LoParo said, as long as Clinton stands right next to the Democratic candidate for governor, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland. Clinton was in Ohio last month to raise money for Strickland and U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Clinton also criticized the government’s hurricane response last year and federal cuts in tuition assistance, and expressed concerns about a rise in lead paint poisoning and asthma in children.
“We need new people in Congress who are unafraid to ask the hard questions and willing to work with us to raise the minimum wage,” she said, and to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency and find out what really happened after Hurricane Katrina.
Clinton was a hit with Yvonne Brown, 59, of Avondale, a delegate to the ACORN convention. The housekeeper said she’d love to see Clinton run for president.
“She’s for the people – low, moderate, everybody,” Brown said.
E-mail jcraig@enquirer.com
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