Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed The Ohio Star Managing Editor Jack Windsor to the newsmakers line to discuss early voting protocols and predictions in Ohio and how the state will go for Trump on November third.
Leahy: Crom Carmichael the original all panelist is in the studio with us and on the newsmaker line lightning in a bottle our managing editor in Ohio for The Ohio Star Jack Windsor. Good morning, Jack.
Windsor: Good morning. Mike, it’s good to be with you and Crom. Thanks for choosing me today.
Leahy: Well, so we play every day now until the election at 6:15 we play electoral college roulette and today in today’s version. And in today’s electoral college roulette I had Trump winning with 294 Electoral College votes to 254 for Joe Biden. In that Ohio battleground state 18 electoral college votes. I am looking Jack right now at the Real Clear Politics average of polls. Now a President Trump won Ohio, I think by about nine points in 2016. Do I have that right?
Windsor: Yes, it is eight or nine depending on yes.
Leahy: So now the Real Clear Politics average of polls shows President Trump ahead in Ohio by less than one point, six-tenths of one percent. I don’t know Jack that seems to be not really an accurate reflection of what’s going on in Ohio. But you’re there on the ground or in do you talk to the governor all the time? (Laughter)
Windsor: When he’ll talk to me.
Leahy: He loves to talk to you.
Carmichael: What are the rules in Ohio? When does a ballot have to be in order is it does a ballot have to be in by mail by the close of the polls on Election Day to be counted?
Windsor: It’s actually I went back and checked it to be that night. So it’d be the night before that November 2, but they can count it up to 10 days after the election. So looking at the 13. they’ve already received according to Secretary of State LaRose well over 2 million mail-in ballots in the state of Ohio already.
Carmichael: But I have to still be they have to be in the night before to be counted later.
Windsor: Correct.
Carmichael: So if a ballot arrives the day after the election on Wednesday, it will not be counted. Is that correct?
Windsor: No, that’s not correct. As long as it is postmarked by the deadline they can receive it the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, in the eighth, and ninth, 10th, so on and so forth. And they will count it up until 10 days after the election. I’m not sure that they’re going to get a lot of that. It seems like the return has been pretty hefty upfront and frankly, you know what you’re seeing I think a lot of Republicans are probably going to vote on the day of the election if not close to the day of the election in-person early voting.
Carmichael: What’s the weather forecast for Tuesday? Do you know?
Windsor: I’m going to call it sunshine man, sunshine, and 65. That’s what I’m going to say. (Chuckles) I don’t know. You know seven days out probably 50, you know the high 50s, overcast. But we’re going to pray for sunshine and a great day.
Leahy: Now Jack the secretary of state up there is a Republican and it seems to me there’s a different sense of the level of voter fraud potential in Ohio compared to the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. I think the general sense is there is going to be huge voter fraud in Pennsylvania for a number of reasons. Now in Ohio, you do have democratically controlled areas where the local election commission Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, you know are Democrat-controlled. What is your sense of the level of potential of vote fraud in Ohio this year?
Windsor: You know I’ve chosen not to lose sleep over it. I’m going to pray that the controls that they have in place will work. And you know, they’re going to make two announcements. The night of the election and then there, you know final audited count a couple of days later.
Leahy: You think it’ll be a couple of days? Do you think they’ll get to in a couple of days?
Windsor: I do I think so. I really do I think that they’re going to intentionally try to make sure that they don’t drag it out, but they’re going to let us know how many outstanding ballots are out. And it sounds like there are a lot. But you know the momentum in Ohio to go back to your first question, I think Rasmussen had it 48 to 46 Biden back on the 20th. But two important things have happened since then. Hunter Biden’s laptop and then Bobulinski went on Tucker Carlson last night. And by the way, I add six points to those totals let’s. Let’s be real clear about that.
Leahy: Just for mainstream media bias and methodological error.
Windsor: Bias and error. And look the last couple of weeks some notable people Robert Reich who could write, came out and said look, we need to pass legislation to basically make it right for the rest of the people who didn’t support Trump. I mean, these people are talking just really scary stuff. So frankly, I don’t think people are as outspoken about their vote. So I would add six points to it. Again I’m going to stick with I think Trump wins Ohio by 10 points.
Leahy: By 10. So you haven’t seen anything to change your mind in the past week. In fact, it sounds like on the ground in Ohio there is momentum moving towards Donald Trump. Is that is that what I’m hearing from you?
Windsor: Yes, despite, you know, the mainstream outlets that are really pounding the message of hey, oh my gosh there Trump rallies without masks this is dangerous. I’ve actually seen photos of the rallies people are masking up believe it or not. And you know, the other thing I’m seeing is Trump’s approval rating according to Rasmussen is up over 52 percent now. And he and Biden have flip-flopped. Monday they had him ahead and then Tuesday it was Biden 49, 47. But a couple of key things the incumbent has 20 to 1 odds to win it several things are in place.
And I see those things in place. Again the big being his approval is back at some of the high levels of his presidency at 52 percent. The economy is heading back. Trump is talking about opening the country and recovery, Biden’s talking about it dark winter and more restrictions. The Left has gone too far left, I believe. And to me, the one deciding thing is what I call the passion gap. Just watch the difference between a Trump rally and Biden circle celebration. (Leahy chuckles)
Carmichael: The real question is how many people want to vote for somebody who is going to tell him to stay home for three months and not just tell him I mean force them to stay home for three months?
Windsor: There is a rising tide in Ohio particularly as healthy kids and athletes and sports teams get canceled and been told to go home and quarantine even though they are healthy. There’s a rising tide of frustration and anger in the state of Ohio. And Trump’s message of look, we need to figure out how to open this thing up and protect our most vulnerable is resonating.
Leahy: So let me ask you about this. You talked to a lot of people you do a lot of speaking engagements up there and not everyone you speak to, you know, has our conservative worldview. Do you think the Biden corruption storyline which seems to have all sorts of evidence to support it, is that breaking through in Ohio when apparently I mean who’s reporting it in Ohio besides The Ohio Star or talk radio, but I don’t see the local TV up there talking about it. I don’t see The Columbus Dispatch or The Cleveland Plain Dealer reporting it or The Cincinnati Enquirer. What’s your take on is this breaking through and changing some undecided mines there?
Windsor: I think it will eventually I think you know, my understanding is that there’s going to be a press conference later today by one of the intelligence communities, it might be the FBI. And maybe there’ll be something there if this thing gets traction with the FBI, the CIA, whatever, or even a Senate committee, then it has to be reported. But the bottom line is it is disgusting what we see in mainstream media outlets in the inability to really cover fully what’s going on both campaigns and both sides.
But you’re absolutely right, not a lot has received attraction. People are more concerned in media talking about you know, whether people are wearing masks at Trump rallies and oh my gosh, did he really pay $750 in taxes? I mean just ludicrous stuff that gets thrown out there and by the time it’s retracted, I mean, that’s the game, right? You throw out false information. But by the time it gets retracted, it’s, you know, the few points up the ladder for the opposition. But you know, I’m hopeful. I’m optimistic. I think the right always wins. I think good always wins and I think we will in this case
Leahy: You’re often a guest on the great Bill Cunningham and Cincinnati when you talk to him what kind of sense of the country and the sense of Ohio do you get from him?
Windsor: You know, he actually knows the governor personally. I believe they went to college together. They played, you know, gin rummy or something together for a long time. He’s frustrated when I’m on that when I’m on the line, he’s frustrated and what I hear is a couple of things. People understand this virus now. We have therapeutics now and they don’t want to be shutdown.
Leahy: They don’t want to be shut down or have a dark winter as Joe Biden says.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.Â
