Sun Shines on Cuyahoga Dems
24 April 2011
– by Mike Murray
For the record, I am not a Democrat. Neither am I a Republican. I am an independent. A “lower-case-i” one. (That means that I don’t belong to any third party, either.) At times, I have leaned politically left of center. At other times — such as now — I have leaned decidedly right.
In Berea, Ohio, my lack of affiliation means that I seldom have a say in local elections — since many races are contested solely between members of the same party (often, Democrats). In such cases, winners of primary contests coast, unopposed, to general-election victory.
If I had my druthers, all primaries would be “open and non-partisan,” meaning that they would permit participation by all registered voters, regardless of party affiliation (or lack thereof). In such systems — when no candidate garners more than 50% of the primary vote — the top two vote-getters square off in a general-election contest. Again, irrespective of party affiliation.
Although such systems do exist, political party honchos typically oppose them. Open, non-partisan primaries dilute party power. So I’m not holding my breath that such a system will be implemented anytime soon in Cuyahoga County.
Neither am I willing to declare for either the Dems or GOPers, simply to gain a primary vote. Saying (attesting to, in point of fact, by signed statement) that I am either a Democrat or a Republican — when I am not — is dishonest. It is also illegal. I know, I know: No one ever seems to be prosecuted over such an infraction. But I choose not to commit one, nonetheless.
That means that I am often unable to participate in primary elections in Berea. But I accept, however reluctantly, the limitation that my independence imposes.
Still, I have to say it: If I were, say, a Democrat, I’d think there was something very “rotten in Denmark” (pardon the obscure, dated reference). Having observed Berea elections for the better part of the last quarter century, one thing comes very clear to me: The local Sun newspaper affiliate ALMOST ALWAYS endorses candidates favored by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.
Not just liberals. Not just Democrats. But candidates specifically anointed by county bigwigs. Editors come and editors go. But the News Sun seems to faithfully carry water for downtown Dems.
Consider this: When even the Plain Dealer (a Democrat-friendly publication, if ever there was one) wrote that incumbent Dennis Kucinich should be defeated (in the last congressional election) — and that Berea’s current mayor, Cyril Kleem, should be jettisoned — the News Sun, nevertheless, endorsed both.
Mind you, the Plain Dealer didn’t favor a Republican or an independent to replace either Kucinich or Kleem; it endorsed competing Democrats in both cases. But not the News Sun. It stuck by the county-backed incumbents, enthusiastically supporting both.
Why, it’s almost as if representatives of Kucinich’s and Kleem’s campaign teams wrote their own News Sun endorsements — so glowing, were they. (Wink, wink.)
Bear in mind, too, that the News Sun’s “editorial board” is, itself, suspect. Who, exactly, comprises the royal “we” to which they refer? An editor, for sure. But who else? A staff writer (or two)? A columnist, perhaps? Not many people, in any case.
Unless, of course, Sun endorsements aren’t determined at the local level at all. Hard to say. But one thing is clear: News Sun endorsements are typically awarded — in near lock-step fashion — to candidates favored by the Democratic Party of Cuyahoga County.
If you are a Berea voter, I suggest you keep that in mind when deciding how much credibility to attribute to News Sun recommendations. Caveat emptor, people.
Copyright © 2011 Michael F. Murray — All rights reserved.
Update: For anyone still harboring doubts about the existence of a cozy relationship between Berea’s incumbent mayor and the News Sun, a visit to bereaohio.com (“official website for the city of Berea, Ohio”) just might prove instructive.
At the bottom of the home page, a javascript widget has been inserted — one that scrolls blurbs from the “Berea [sic] News Sun.”
Not uncoincidentally, it seems to me, most of the electronic posts that were streaming this morning (4/26/11) were written in support of the mayor’s reelection bid.
At the time I first examined the site, there were, also, a couple of other posts: one of them a letter in support of a former political adversary of the mayor (a person who is now running for a different office).
The inclusion of that post, possibly, amounted to an attempt to demonstrate “fairness” — and shield the mayor against potential charges of impropriety.
I am not familiar enough with Ohio laws to opine about the legality of this latest act by a politician currently in the midst of — if the distribution of lawn signs around town is any indication — an uphill fight for reelection.
But it sure looks bad.
Recall that the News Sun recently endorsed Berea’s sitting mayor for reelection (and that, during the last election cycle, not only endorsed his candidacy — it sold him FRONT PAGE ad space, as well). So giving that same publication (one very friendly to him) space at the city’s website seems suspect.
The mayor can claim, I suppose, that including content from the local newspaper constitutes a form of “public service.” But I wonder: If the News Sun had endorsed his political opponent — and if the majority of blurbs now streaming electronically from the newspaper argued against his reelection — would he be singing the same tune?
(Note: As I was composing this addendum to my original post, new content was inserted into the News Sun’s feed at the City of Berea’s website. A post supportive of the mayor’s reelection bid remained. But several others were replaced by routine news items.)
