Prepared Remarks of
RONALD C. ALEXANDER
OCSEA President

2006 OCSEA Presidents’ Conference
Holiday Inn Worthingtons-Columbus, OH
Saturday, September 16, 2006

Sister and Brothers;

Welcome to the 2006 Take Back Ohio conference.

Normally, I’d start off a welcoming speech like this by thanking you for attending.

I’d thank you for giving up a Saturday.

I’d thank you for taking time away from you family.

I’d thank you for missing a round of golf or a football game on TV.

This year – I don’t think I have to thank you.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate that you are here.

But I know that you’re here today not for my thanks.

You’re not here for OCSEA’s thanks . . . or for AFSCME’s thanks.

I doubt you’d even be here just because your chapter or assembly or district council asked you to be.

I think each and every one of us is here today for one reason only. You’re here and I’m here because it’s 53 days until we Take Back Ohio and we’ve still got a hell of a lot of work to do.

We have epic battles going on in Ohio today, and I am not talking about Ohio State versus Cincinnati.

The battle, of course, is the fight for Ohio’s future.

We have outstanding candidates this year. Excellent people. First rate campaigners.

There is not a finer man or a more dedicated public servant than Ted Strickland. We could not have ever invented a more pro-Ohio, pro-family, pro-education, pro-health care, pro-jobs than Ted Strickland.

We have other great statewide candidates. Rich Cordray for Treasurer. Jennifer Brunner for Secretary of State. Barbara Sykes for Auditor. And some – if not all – are going to win.

We’ve got Sherrod Brown running for Senate – and he is going to win.

We’ve also got Charlie Wilson, Zack Space, Betty Sutton, John Cranley, Victoria Wulsin and Mary Jo Kilroy running for Congress. And, again, some – if not all – are going to win.

And, let’s not forget Ben Espy and William O’Neill for the Supreme Court.

Like I said, these are epic battles, but I think there is a tidal wave of change coming.

This year, the election is not going to be decided on what is or isn’t in Ted Strickland’s health care platform versus what’s in Kenny Blackwell’s. Our members are not going to finally make up their mind because of what Jennifer Brunner says about fair elections versus what the Republican candidate says. And our members are not going to pick their candidate based on what Mary Jo Kilroy says about Social Security compared to her opponent.

Our members – and the public in Ohio – have already made up their minds. They are ready for a change.

Don’t believe me? You better had!

A poll we commissioned around the Fourth of July showed that 81% believe that state government needs a change. 81%! It’s not just our research that showing this. Poll after poll shows that on overwhelming number of Ohioans feels that way.

There is plenty of evidence that shows that Ohioans think that the political leaders of this state – 16 years of Republican control – have been an utter failure.

Two out of three of our members think the Republicans have been utter failures on health care.

Two out of three of our members think the Republicans have been utter failures on primary and secondary education.

Two out of three of our members think the Republicans have been utter failures in regard to jobs and the state’s economy.

Now, there is one thing – the only thing ­– that ALL of our members give the Republicans credit for. They do credit them for bringing corruption to every level of our political process.

And don’t let me forget to mention their failures with security, energy, transportation and tax fairness.

The reigns of power have been held by one group for 16 years, and they have betrayed us – they have betrayed the public - on the issues Ohioans care about the most. Never has our great state been neglected for so long. As one commentator recently put it, “We have lived in depressing times, ruled by fools who care not for the consequences of their actions.”

But I know a big change is coming, because Ken Blackwell and his cronies are with the majority of Ohioans.

Kenny and his slate think corporations are more important than community.

They think ideology is more important than ideas.

They think no-bid contracts are more important than the constitution.

And they think their Party is more important than the people of this great state.

The time has come when we are beyond arguing with our members over every fact about where this candidate stands versus that candidate. Simply put, either they think 16 years of failure is enough – or they don’t.

If they think Ohio is on the right course, then they should vote for Kenny Blackwell and the rest of his slate.

If they’ve had enough and think it’s time for a change, then they should vote for Ted Strickland and his slate.

Now, I’ve got to warn you about something. Between now and election day, our opponents are going to try to distract us with the most negative, filthy, personal and false attacks on the candidates we support.

There is no limit to how low they are willing to stoop. They have already hired and brought into Ohio people who are experts at lying, sending out phony campaign material, forging documents, spreading rumors, creating fake internet sites and setting up bogus organizations.

We cannot be diverted into responding to all of their attacks and falsehoods.

We are going to have to learn to ignore these falsehoods and phoniness. We are going to have to ignore them and stay on the offensive.

We have to keep focused.

We have to keep reminding our co-workers and family members about the failures.

We have to keep demanding accountability.

Like the TV show where the hosts ask,  “Deal? . . . Or no deal?” the main work we have to do is to keep asking our members is, “Change? . . . Or no change?”

Much of the discussion today and hereafter will be about Getting Out the Vote.

We still have to make sure our members vote. As Ohioans should know better than any other voters in the nation, all it takes is bad weather or long lines to let victory slip through our fingers.

The other problem with getting out the vote is that we cannot send Strickland to the Statehouse alone. The governor does not make the laws or the budget, nor does he administer all of the functions of state government.

Neither does Strickland’s election give us the majority needed for change on the Apportionment Board that draws the state’s political districts.

So, for the first time in a long, long time, we have be thinking about who else is can we get elected ALONG with Ted?

How long can we make his coat tails?

Who else are we going to send to Columbus and to Washington to fight for change? Who are we going to put in the courts?

Along these lines, we may be smack in the middle of three or four of the most-watched congressional races in the nation.

And later on this morning we will be hearing from our friends Sherrod Brown and Rich Cordray who are in two of the most exciting statewide races.

Let me close by saying that I know that the people in this room understand the need for change. You really do get it.

With programs like our Take 10 – Ask 5 project, we have groups that have already finished identifying all of the voters in their chapter and recruited new captains for their internal network.

I want to also note that we have chapters that have done a sensational job rounding up our members’ email addresses so we can expand our internal communications system, and we will be announcing the winners of the email competition later today.

Perhaps the thing that shows most clearly how much you understand the need for political change is the dedication you have shown to expanding the PEOPLE program. For the first time that I can remember, we have some of you turning in 20, 30 and even 40 PEOPLE cards at a time, and I think it’s because the activists in this room are challenging their members to walk the talk about political action.

It’s really tremendous to see the enthusiasm around PEOPLE and to know that the fundraising is going making a difference in Ohio. Thanks to all of you for making OCSEA a national leader in the PEOPLE effort.

Now, lets move into the meat of our agenda.

[Introduction to Sherrod].