Politics

Donald Trump, impeached twice and soon to be gone from the White House, will likely always have his corps of MAGA hat-wearing fans who believe he can do no wrong, that he is the be-all and end-all of their world. But there are signs that Trump's grip on Republican voters who are less fanatical in their devotion to him is starting to slip.

Cincinnati Council Member Betsy Sundermann's social media activity is causing a stir after an old tweet resurfaced on Twitter this week.

In many circles, Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was a lock for the 2021 mayoral race. That all changed Nov. 19.

A week ago, in the aftermath of a violent, destructive and deadly rampage of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters – a rampage that could have been much worse – we were inundated by tweets and press releases from Republicans in the Ohio congressional delegation decrying what had happened in their workplace, the very center of American democracy.

But barely a word about who inspired a frenzied mob of thugs to scale the walls and cause chaos in the halls of Congress – the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Kentucky’s Republican House Speaker David Osborne says a committee will be formed to determine whether Gov. Andy Beshear should be impeached, after four citizens submitted a petition asking for it.

As members of Congress gathered at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday to tally Electoral College votes to formally name Joe Biden as president of the United States, violent supporters of President Trump breached the building leading Capitol Police to lock it down. 

Documents made available last week show how House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, championed gutting Ohio's clean energy standards in the state's 2019 coal and nuclear bailout law. He has since served as a force against repeal.

Rarely is there anything that happens in the Ohio Democratic Party that takes place as smooth as silk.

Take the choice of a new state party chair, which is scheduled to take place when the party's executive committee meets in Columbus on Jan. 14.

This column is a look-ahead at politics in this corner of the world. It is not by any means a prediction of the future.

I am not Carnac the Magnificent. (Younger readers, just Google it.)

You really don't need me to tell you what a stinking mess 2020 was.

We will all, I'm sure, be glad to the see the backside of the year 2020 as it disappears from view in a week or so.

And we will all, I'm equally sure, hope and pray for a return to normalcy – or something approaching normalcy – in the year 2021.

Cincinnati native Liz Keating is the newest interim Cincinnati City Council member. She was appointed to the position Friday morning by Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler, who said her high energy and the strongly rooted care she has for the community made her stand out from others he considered. 

It usually starts around Thanksgiving.

My Facebook page and Twitter account light up with friends, near and far, demanding an answer to a single question.

The older I get, the more likely it is that I wake up in the morning with aches and pains. I guess that's part of the deal.

I don't know if David Pepper, who will leave his six-year stint as Ohio Democratic Party chairman at the end of the month, will run for Cincinnati mayor in 2021.

I do know that he is thinking about it, because he told me he is. But he is nowhere near committing to a race.

Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld on Monday announced he is "temporarily" stepping down as he fights federal charges of bribery. Last month, Sittenfeld became the third City Council member arrested on bribery charges in less than a year. 

The ever-dwindling band of Republicans in the city of Cincinnati haven't had much reason for hope in city politics for two generations now.

But the turmoil and "culture of corruption" at City Hall that has landed three council members in some very hot water – federal charges of bribery and abusing their offices – somehow is giving them a feeling there may be better days to come.

It seems like forever since Democrat Tim Ryan of Trumbull County was first elected to the U.S. House in 2002, and ever since politics reporters around the state (me included) have written more than our fair share of stories and tweets speculating about Ryan's political future.

After returning to private life, former Cincinnati Council Member Kevin Flynn will run again for City Council in 2021.

At the Cincinnati Firefighters Union Hall on Tuesday, Flynn said that restoring trust in City Hall is what inspired him to seek reelection, on top of recent events, most notably the indictment of three city council members.