House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it quite clear that she has no interest in making health care reform a bipartisan effort. The problem is that the House health care bill has been pushed so far to the left that Pelosi is forced to pull out all the stops just to ensure that enough members of her own caucus vote for the bill.

One major point of contention has been on the issue of abortion funding. Blue Dog Democrats have expressed opposition to any bill that funds abortion. This problem seems to have been solved by the Stupak amendment, which would prevent any federal dollars from funding abortion either through the public option or the insurance exchange. If the Stupak amendment passes, it will likely make it easier for Pelosi to convince enough members of her caucus to vote for her reform bill.

But what if Republicans abstain from voting on the Stupak amendment?

If Republicans abstain, it is extremely unlikely that Blue Dog Democrats will be able to marshal enough Democratic support for the Stupak amendment for it to pass. Speaker Pelosi wants a partisan bill with a robust public option. Republicans will vote against the bill, but their best chance of actually seeing the bill killed might be to let Speaker Pelosi have her abortion funding. She wanted a Democratic bill. Maybe Republicans should let her have what she wants.

It could only happen in Athens County. Yesterday, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern released a statement calling upon indicted Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn to resign. For those arriving late to the game, Gwinn has been indicted for three felonies and three misdemeanors all related to campaign finance. She has also been involved in the Cash for Votes scandal that I have been reporting on over the past few days.

Gwinn’s response? Only one word for it: Delicious. From The Post:

Gwinn said she’s not moving.

“Frankly, I think he should resign,” she said.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The chairwoman of a county party, already under indictment, is telling the chairman of her state party that he should resign. One would think this display of defiance would provoke calls for her resignation from within Athens County, right? If you think that, you don’t know Athens County! On the contrary, Third Ward Councilwoman Nancy Bain (see my coverage of Bain’s earlier antics) is standing up for Gwinn and taking on Redfern.

Bain’s comments and more beneath the fold…

Deeds, Corzine Losses Signal Potentially Heavy Dem Losses in 2010

I was only nine years old when the first winds of a political hurricane swept across America in 1993, and only ten when that category 5 hurricane blew through Congress and wiped out the Democratic majority. I don’t remember those elections, but I would imagine the ‘93 election made conservatives feel very much how they’re feeling tonight.

The first good news for conservatives came from Virginia, where Republican Bob McDonnell led his party to victory not only in the gubernatorial race but in all of the statewide executive races and in a significant number of legislative races as well. There can be no question that this is a significant victory in a state that was key to Barack Obama’s 2008 win and that has elected two consecutive Democratic governors.

The next round of good tidings came surprisingly early from New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie defeated incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine. Christie pulled off this coup even with the added obstacle of independent candidate Chris Daggett, who was widely said to be drawing votes away from the GOP candidate. As I noted before, a Corzine defeat could be the worst sign of things to come for Democrats. Unlike Virginia, which is often called a purple state, Jersey is thoroughly blue. And let’s not forget that Christine Todd Whitman took New Jersey from the Democrats in 1993.

Fahl, Gwinn Triumphant Amid Cash for Votes Scandal

I’ve learned from sources close to the Morris campaign that Republican Randy Morris has lost his election battle with appointed incumbent Democrat Christine Fahl for Athens City Council’s Fourth Ward seat. My sources tell me that Morris lost the election by 30 votes, and that barring any surprises from provisional ballots Christine Fahl is the definitive victor. I will have more on the results as official information becomes available.

My reaction to this is that the Athens County Democratic Party may have won the battle, but they have not yet won the war. We should not stop until indicted party chair Susan Gwinn is off the job and until a full, thorough, transparent investigation of the Cash for Votes scandal has been conducted. We were close to bringing an end to one-party, unaccountable, and irresponsible government here in Athens tonight. Next time we’ll get there.

UPDATE: WOUB confirms my earlier information, that Christine Fahl won tonight’s election by 30 votes.

UPDATE II: The Athens County Board of Elections has posted the unofficial election results. Coverage also provided by the Athens NEWS now.

So here’s a thought. When Democrats were going on and on about “change we can believe in,” did they really mean $5 — you know, in change?

I’m here all week.

Apparently when the Columbus Dispatch comes calling, Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn deigns to answer her phone:

Susan Gwinn, the county party chairwoman, said this morning that such a plan was discussed with members of the OU College Democrats, but that no agreement was reached.

The county party agreed to pay some students for get-out-the-vote efforts, but “this whole idea that somebody was paying people to vote is ridiculous,” she said. . . .

Gwinn said “the whole situation has been blown out of proportion. I have no idea why (Galan) wrote that e-mail. There’s really nothing going on here.”

This is truly amazing. If you believe every Democrat involved here, then apparently no one is really responsible for this controversy. The Ohio Democratic Party and the OU College Democrats are placing the blame at the feet of the Athens County Democratic Party and Susan Gwinn. Susan Gwinn is blaming Kellie Galan and the OU College Democrats. With so much finger pointing and no one taking any responsibility, do they really expect us to believe there was absolutely no wrongdoing?

UPDATE: Almost missed this. A-NEWS is reporting that Athens County Democratic Party Treasurer Lenny Eliason says that he was not aware of this get-out-the-vote program until he saw an e-mail about it last night, and that no such program was ever discussed at a county party meeting. “The chair (Susan Gwinn) may have done that,” Eliason said, “but it hasn’t gone through me.”

UPDATE II: Ohio Republican Party Chair Kevin DeWine is calling on Gov. Ted Strickland to demand Susan Gwinn’s resignation, reminding us that Strickland has refused to act on a corruption scandal in Cuyahoga County. I agree, Strickland needs to speak up. But it would also be nice to have a few Athens County Democrats — ahem, Christine Fahl — call for Gwinn’s resignation as well.

WELCOME Michelle Malkin readers! Quite a mess we have here in the Rust Belt Berkeley, AKA the People’s Republic of Athens. Here is more of my coverage of corruption and stupidity in this quiet little college town:

Randy Morris for Athens City Council
Bain Reveals Athens Dem Contempt for Voters
More From the Rust Belt Berkeley
How Much is Your Vote Worth?
More on “Cash for Votes”

Feel free to browse the blog and see if there’s anything else that interests you. And be sure to stay tuned for more coverage of Cash for Votes as well as the results of tonights Athens Fourth Ward City Council election, in which Republican Randy Morris is seeking to unseat appointed incumbent Democrat Christine Fahl and become the only Republican on city council.

While Athens slept, OUCD Communications Director Chris Mullen issued a press release denying any wrongdoing in what has been dubbed the Cash for Votes scandal. In the statement, Mullen insisted that any money promised had not yet been distributed and that the money was promised as incentive for volunteers involved in canvassing rather than directly for votes. He also confirmed that this program was sponsored by the Athens County Democratic Party and directed all further questions to indicted Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn.

My favorite part, though, was when Mullen tried to intimidate the media:

Any implication that any member of our organization has been involved with paying voters is false, unfounded and potentially libelous, as it incorrectly asserts illegal activity on the part of the College Democrats. These kinds of assertions, reported by the media, have no factual basis, and are based on statements misunderstood and taken out of context.

Emphasis is my own. Watch me school Mr. Mullen on the meaning of libel and the role of both the political opposition and a free press in our political process beneath the fold…

It’s after midnight, which means that it is officially Election Day. It’s 2009, so aside from a few special elections we’re not seeing any major national elections. There are a couple important gubernatorial elections. You might be inclined to just stay home today, but you shouldn’t. You should go to your polling precinct and vote. There’s bound to be a state issue on the ballot, or some local elections that may have more of a direct impact on you than any national election will.

Americans have a lot of unique holidays — Thanksgiving, Independence Day, etc. But we never celebrate our uniqueness and what we truly have in common more than we do when we exercise our right and responsibility to vote on Election Day. When you get right down to it, elections are what make us Americans. Elections are the unique contribution that America made to the world at its inception. Do your civic duty and show that you’re proud to be an American. Vote.

Just to recap, here’s my coverage of the ‘09 elections:

Randy Morris for Athens City Council
Doug Hoffman for NY-23
Bain Reveals Athens Dem Contempt for Voters
Palin Goes Rogue, Endorses Hoffman
I’m Voting Yes on Issue 1, No on 2 & 3
More From the Rust Belt Berkeley
Conservative Resurgence: Dem Disaster in 2010?
It’s Not a Purge
How Much is Your Vote Worth?
NJ Dems Paying for Daggett Robocalls

So yeah, happy Election Day. Be sure to celebrate by casting a ballot.

According to Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government, the New Jersey Democratic State Committee is paying for independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett’s robocalls. This fits with the conventional wisdom that Daggett will draw votes from Republican candidate Chris Christie. It also tells us that Jersey Dems are afraid that incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine is too unpopular to win this election on his own.

This could backfire on Corzine. As I previously noted, Public Policy Polling’s data shows that Daggett may be doing more damage to Corzine than to Christie. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Jersey Dems are paying for robocalls that could draw votes from their own incumbent governor?