BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Broadway Commons backers will label it David versus Goliath.
Riverfront supporters will term it a choice between a vibrant riverfront and a waterfront full of parking lots.
But whatever it's called, the campaign to persuade Hamilton County taxpayers how to vote on the new Reds stadium could get "down and dirty in a hurry," predicted Stephen Bennett, a University of Cincinnati political science professor who has followed the issue.
"People are prepared on both sides to conduct a scorched-earth campaign," Mr. Bennett said.
In fact, Mr. Bennett said he thinks the volatile stadium issue could overtake other issues facing Hamilton County voters Nov. 3, even the race to select Ohio's next governor.
Barring successful legal challenges before Nov. 3, Hamilton County voters will have a spot on the ballot to say if they favor creating a county charter to force commissioners to build a new ballpark at Broadway Commons, the site at Broadway and Reading Road.
Broadway backers got nearly 45,000 signatures on petitions to get the issue on the ballot. They expect to use those supporters -- especially the 1,200 volunteers who circulated petitions -- as the core of the grass-roots campaign to convince voters to pick Broadway.
University of Cincinnati political science professor George Bishop, a Broadway supporter, thinks that 45,000-person base could wind up being enough to win, if each of those motivated voters can convince one or two friends to vote for Broadway Nov. 3.
"That's a huge grass-roots head start," he said.
But Cincinnati City Councilman Charlie Winburn, a riverfront supporter, said he doesn't think a 45,000-person base will be enough. "All 45,000 are not going to stand with you," he said. "Once all that TV gets on there and people are shouting up and down, it's going to be a mess."
Mr. Winburn, a Republican with ties to the community's corporate elite, predicted corporations will pump $750,000 into the campaign to defeat the issue.
He also expects some pro-riverfront forces will argue that a vote for Broadway could risk losing the Reds. The team signed a deal with the county last month for a new riverfront ballpark just west of the Crown at a site known as Baseball on Main or the "Wedge."
For an issue campaign like this one, corporations and individuals can donate money without limit, said Tim Burke, chairman of Hamilton County's board of elections and of the county's Democratic Party. But Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, the politician most closely associated with the push for a riverfront stadium, said he doesn't think the campaign will cost $750,000.
He expects the pro-riverfront crowd will approach the campaign from two sides:
First, by sharing with people the vision Mr. Bedinghaus and County Commissioner Tom Neyer Jr. have for the riverfront, with two sports stadiums, plentiful parking garages, expansive parks and the National Underground Railroad Freedom center.
Second, the campaign will argue that a county charter is bad. Green Township Trustee Bill Seitz, a lawyer who opposed putting the Broadway measure on the ballot, has convinced a majority of trustees in all 12 Hamilton County townships to oppose the measure on those grounds.
Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin, a Broadway supporter, called the argument that the measure threatens local governments "balderdash."
"This is about stadiums," he said. "There's no question that at this time Broadway Commons is ahead, because that is the preferred site for the stadium."
The question, Mr. Dowlin said, is whether opponents will be able to change the subject to the questions about county government. That topic could resonate with suburban voters, said Mr. Burke. More than 60 percent of the 566,625 registered voters in Hamilton County live outside the city of Cincinnati, according to board of elections figures.
But Broadway backers plan to sell a simple message: that Broadway is a simpler, more beautiful spot for a ballpark than the riverfront site.
"The Wedge falls under its own weight," said Cincinnati City Councilman Jim Tarbell, Broadway's biggest booster. "I don't care how much money you spend or how clever you are, it falls under its own weight."
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