If you attempt to take the political temperature of a state and want to make a serious assessment of the climate, you often have to consider the source. AlterNet would admit to being leftward leaning and to being biased toward Democrats. But AlterNet, like parallel rightward leaning sites report news even while engaging in it’s genre. In a piece focused on Ohio governor John Kasich’s growing, organized opposition from labor, Sarah Jaffe reveals how much financial support that Kasich has received from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
One Kasich supporter who is well-known is Rupert
Murdoch; before he took office, Kasich had a weekend show on Fox News, “From
the Heartland,” and he’s been a frequent guest on the network as a candidate and
as governor. Additionally, Murdoch personally donated $10,000 to Kasich’s
campaign, and Murdoch’s News Corp donated $1 million to the Republican Governors
Association for ads supporting his election. Since Murdoch’s recent descent into
scandal, Ohio Democrats have called on Kasich to donate Murdoch’s money to
charity.
Jaffe only touches on education within her piece but provided detailed evidence of Kasich’s attempts to appease labor groups in the state. Not outwardly as ideological as other controversial republican governors like Rick Scott and Scott Walker, Kasich’s opposition has taken a little longer to take shape. He did afterall reach out and indicate respect for state teachers after Ohio’s test-based ed reform bill was passed.
Rupert Murdoch’s money changes things for Kasich. Whether fairly or not, Murdoch has become lightening rod for opponents of corporate ed reform. The News of the World phone hacking scandal made the shady no-bid contract he got from NYC schools that worse. Murdoch’s mammoth $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association shows he’s trying to muscle his way in on education reform’s billionaire boys club.
A skilled and savvy politician, Kasich was once seen as invincible in Ohio. Focused opposition against him can shift energy toward President Obama next fall in Ohio- especially now that labor is getting organized in the state. While Obama will not be getting the broad support from teachers he once could have assumed, his recent outreach to Ohio labor confirms Kasich’s diminishing popularity.
