Tonight's Bridget McCafferty Fundraiser Postponed, Dems Poised to Lose Seat
Submitted by Anthony Fossaceca on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 11:25am.
Yeah, we know. We were all looking forward to having a few pints at The Harp tonight, but it just isn't a good event when your guest of honor is in federal custody.
Based on our early understanding of the crisis Democrats are now facing in regards to the seat on the county bench currently held by Bridget McCafferty, it now appears that the Judge cannot be replaced in time for the November race against Republican Mike Astrab. This (probably) means Democrats are faced with either letting McCafferty twist in the wind, or quietly hold their noses and vote for McCafferty with the hope that they can have her removed sometime after the election.
Anyone else feeling a little nauseous?
Unless Astrab works for Bill Mason,
I'm not all that alarmed. Republicans, particularly ones not heavily invested in party politics, can be good judges. Everyone I've talked to respects Dick Ambrose. Former judge Jeff Hastings, now chairman of the board of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, earned a lot of praise during his stint.
Nauseous? Not really. The thought of John Kasich being governor makes me nauseous.
Also, I'm hearing that Cuyahoga County Republicans, such as they are, are just as corrupt as the Democrats — they just have less power. I'm going to follow up on this. This doesn't implicate Astrab in any way though.
Innocent until proven
guilty? She's been indicted for lying to the FBI which is aggregious but I don't see that she has done anything illegal ie. taking bribes for something in return. Dimora and Russo haven't helped her get elected in the past - haven't you seen her everywhere in the county for years and years? I don't know. It sounds to me like she is guilty of being nice to people "I'll keep an eye on that for you" and "I tried my best..." but I don't see the evidence that she is a corrupt judge.