Dems are at it again...

From Dayton Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2010/10/11/daily6.html?ana=e_du_pub

Ohio Democrats poach Jon Husted domain for parody Web site

The Ohio Democratic Party has poached the domain name of Republican Secretary of State candidate Jon Husted to launch a parody Web site about him.

The site, JonHusted.com, blasts Husted’s record in the state legislature with a mock biography, endorsements and sections about major issues. It also pokes fun at his residency — listing him as living in Upper Arlington — which has been a source of contention. Husted currently represents the 6th Senate District and lists Kettering as his residence.

Reached by phone on Friday, Husted said he was unaware of the site.

“I have no idea what the Ohio Democratic party is making up about me; the bottom line is that I’m focused on trying to create jobs and get Ohio out of the desperate mess that it is in,” Husted said. “We’re running a good campaign, we’re trying to stay focused on raising the level of discussion about the issues that matter to people. I’m focused on trying to improve Ohio and they’re focused on trying to drag Ohio down.”

Ryan Barilleaux, a professor of political science at Miami University, said the Husted parody site is part of latest evolution in political tactics driven by technology. However, Barilleaux said it appears to be fair game because the Ohio Democratic Party has not tried to conceal its participation.

“This is something we’ll be seeing more of; there will be more kinds of parodies put up on the Internet, hoping that some curious voter will run across it,” Barilleaux said. “Of course what this will stimulate is that Jon Husted will be the last candidate in Ohio whose going to make sure he hasn’t bought up every possible version of a domain name.”

The site was registered using the GoDaddy.com Web domain registration site, which lists Todd Hoffman of the Ohio Democratic Party as the contact for the registrant. The site was created Sept. 11, 2009, and expires next year.

A search of the names of most of the other candidates for state office turned up that most all of their names have been registered.

However, Ken Matesz is the Libertarian Party candidate for Ohio governor and his name did not come up in a search of registered domain names. He is the only gubernatorial candidate whose name did not come up in a search of registered domains on InterNIC.net, the organization that runs Internet domains. The names of Ohio Gov. Ted Stickland and Repulican candidate John Kasich both have been registered.

All three Montgomery County Commissioners’ names came up in the search as having been registered, and four of the five Dayton City Commissioners’ names came up as well. The only city commissioner whose name didn’t come up as being registered in a search on InterNIC.net was Dean Lovelace.

Husted raised more than a quarter of a million dollars in August for his bid to become Ohio’s secretary of state and has maintained a financial edge over his opponents during the race. His Democrat opponent is Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, clerk of courts for Franklin County. O’Shaughnessy’s name is registered already as a domain name. Charlie Earl is running for the position as a member of the Libertarian Party of Ohio. The search turned up Charles Earl has been registered as a domain for a photography business, but Charlie Earl has not been registered as a domain name online.

E-mail jcogliano@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4424.