COLUMBUS – Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Nineteenth century journalist Charles Dudley warner could have been talking about the 2020 Democratic National Convention when he said those oft-quoted words.
The Democrats kicked off a national convention like no other Monday night, with speeches from such uneasy allies as a former Congressional budget hawk and Republican governor of Ohio and a self-professed social Democrat from Vermont.
But John Kasich and Bernie Sanders both took turns, along with former First Lady Michelle Obama, in making a case against President Donald Trump and for Joe Biden.
Kasich says America is at a crisis point, so he put country over party in supporting Biden for president.
“I’m a lifelong Republican but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” he said in a videotaped message. “In normal times, something like this would probably never happen but these are not normal times.
Kasich, who mounted an unsuccessful primary challenge to Trump in 2016, says the GOP has taken the wrong path with Trump in the White House.
“It’s a path that’s led to division, dysfunction, irresponsibility and growing vitriol between our citizens,” Kasich said.
Most of the speeches at the convention curtailed by the virus were prerecorded and shown on videotape.
The Republican president made two swing-state campaign appearances Monday, in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
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Ohio Congressional Democrats are calling on Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose to allow county boards of election to establish additional ballot drop boxes for the November 3 election to ease the voting process amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
LaRose last Wednesday forbade county elections officials from opening additional secure ballot drop boxes but Sen. Sherrod Brown, Columbus Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and other Ohio Democrats wrote a letter to LaRose urging him to reconsider his decision.
“Following a chaotic primary season, Ohioans know firsthand that steps must be taken to ensure that they are given a full opportunity to vote in a safe, healthy, and predictable manner. Secure ballot drop boxes can play a key part in such efforts,” the lawmakers said in a joint release Monday.
The Delaware County Commissioners, all Republicans, wrote a letter urging LaRose to stand by his decision, citing current law, which prohibits the establishment of more than one drop-off location for ballots.
The commissioners also say making sure additional drop-off locations for the county’s 146,032 voters are secure would put a strain on the county’s manpower and multiple locations would invite fraud.