Strickland:   Apparently, the governor has been getting plenty of feedback about the Christopher Newton execution.  No hard numbers about how many phone calls, etc., he has received, but indications are that there have been a lot.  The after-hours phone message box was full last evening, but no actual numbers on calls received.

Indications are also that none of this will have any effect on the governor.  He has stated on several occasions that he is not interested in what other groups or individuals (including, it seems, those in his inner circle) think about the issue, and does not consider "outside" opinion to be relevant at all.  By most accounts, Strickland is generally stubborn, is quite intent on keeping the death penalty going in Ohio, sees its continuation as part of a formula for gaining support of other components of his political agenda, and is likely to respond to efforts to change his mind on the subject by hunkering down on the issue rather than listening and changing, even to the point of looking like (or indeed being) a fool.  (These are the words of people who have worked with him.).  He sees this kind of resoluteness in the face of political adversity as a key to his success to this point in his political carreer.

• The only good news for those seeking a halt to executions in Ohio is that the governor is indeed taking some heat, especially following what is now generally acknowledged to be to be Ohio's second seriously botched execution, and has some sense of the embarassment it is causing his administration.

(On the Frances front, apparently the new first lady has become friends with Hope Taft.  Hope has been appointed to some sort of governor's mansion garden committee, and occasionally comes over and digs weeds.)

--  No reliable information on the "Bob the Butler" rumors going around.