Issue 5: Now We Wait

I dropped by COHHIO to chat with Bill Faith and Sandy Theis about the final day in the campaign to keep HB545 intact. Earlier today reports had been coming in of Payday Lending supporters using aggressive tactics at the polls, especially in Central Ohio. Those reports have trailed off, but there is some indication problems still might be occurring in the Mahoning Valley. The general impression of the folks I talked to though, was that the encounters were pushing voters toward a "yes" vote in response to their dislike of the campaigners and tactics of the Vote No side.

I asked Ms. Theis if she was feeling confident given the polling in the last few days that showed overwhelming support for the new regulations on lenders. She said that between the confusing ballot language, being outspent more than 60-1, and looking at the fact that only one referendum in the past 140 years has resulted in more "yes" votes than "no" votes, that it would take all that support just to have a chance.

I'm more confident then she is.

Part of the antsiness might be the fact that things are now pretty much out of their hands. The campaign has no GOTV operation, a relatively small number of volunteers at the polling places, and is relying on free media (including talking to bloggers like myself - even when we're late for the interview...) to keep pushing their message today.

As one supporter said, "Now we wait. There's not much more we can do."

Pivoting from their words to mine...

If you haven't voted yet, or are in a conversation with someone who hasn't, remind them that the bill that the lenders seek to overturn was passed by a large bi-partisan coalition - Dems and Republicans from the furthermost bands of the ideological spectrum voted for this bill. Every major paper (and most of the minor ones) support a "yes" vote on Issue 5, and many people who normally wouldn't care one way or another are voting yes simply because of the intelligence-insulting, brazen falsehoods of the Lenders 'Vote No' campaign.

Thanks.