Snollygoster is the new Ohio politics podcast from WOSU Public Media. Every week, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown dive into the week’s biggest stories in Columbus and around the state.
This week, Democratic candidate for governor Dennis Kucinich is under fire for accepting $20,000 to speak at a conference hosted by a group supporting the regime of Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad. And yet Republicans are still giving Democrats a run for their money when it comes to negative campaigns.
Listen to Snollygoster on theWOSU Public Media mobile app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this week's episode:
Kucinich’s Syria Ties
In the latest twist in the Democratic governor primary, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich disclosed this week that he earned money last year speaking at a conference hosted by an organization with close ties to the Syrian Solidarity Movement—a group that supports Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad and denies the 9/11 terror attacks.
Kucinich maintains he spoke in an effort to bring peace to Syria, but he's met with Assad in the past. His fellow Democrats, including former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, denounced Kucinich for the ties.
Republicans Stay Negative
Polls say Mike DeWine holds a big lead over Mary Taylor in the Repubican primary for governor, but that doesn’t mean he’s backing off when it comes to negative campaign ads. So why spend all this money now when he might really need it in November?
Rosenberger Scandal Doesn’t Stop Payday Lending Bill
The Ohio House is still looking for its next Speaker after Cliff Rosenberger resigned, following an FBI probe into his travel with lobbyists for the payday lending industry. But that didn’t stop a House committee from signing off on a billto bring more regulation to the payday lending industry. Possible changes to the bill proposed by Rep. Bill Seitz, which reform advocates say would have "watered down" the effort, were rejected by the committee.
John Kasich GPS
This week we follow our Governor to Texas, where he’s speaking at a conference hosted by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. The conference comes the same week the former First Lady died at the age of 92.
