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I think Mr. Blackwell had a touch of stage fright. He’s never been known to be a fast talker on TV. But he is a brilliant man. And you can’t get much more conservative then Ken Blackwell. I wish he were our president!

Here’s just some of what it say on Wikipedia

Blackwell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to George (a meatpacker) and Dana (a part-time nurse) Blackwell in 1948. He has two brothers, Carl and Charles. He married his wife Rosa in 1969 while he was in college. They have three children, Kimberly, Rahshann (a Denver resident and Ohio Northern Law School graduate) and Kristin.

Blackwell attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio on a football scholarship. Blackwell received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Xavier in 1970 and his Master of Education degree, also from Xavier, in 1971. He taught at Xavier from 1974 to 1991 and has served as a trustee of Wilberforce University and Wilmington College. After college, he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp; he states that he gave up football when he was told he would have to convert from linebacker to offensive lineman.[4]

From 1979 to 1980, Blackwell served as Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Earlier, he had been a member of the Cincinnati city council.

Blackwell served in the administration of President George H. W. Bush as undersecretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1990. He returned to Cincinnati to run for the first district seat in the United States House of Representatives being vacated by Tom Luken. Blackwell lost to Luken’s son, Charlie Luken, by a narrow 51% to 49% margin. Following his close defeat, President Bush appointed Blackwell ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Blackwell served in that post from 1992 to 1993.

Blackwell was appointed Ohio State Treasurer by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1994 to complete the term of Mary Ellen Withrow, who was appointed U.S. treasurer by President Bill Clinton. Blackwell was elected treasurer in 1994 and was elected Ohio Secretary of State in 1998. That year, Blackwell considered a run for governor, but Ohio Republican Party chairman Robert T. Bennett persuaded Blackwell to run for secretary of state instead, leaving the governorship open to Bob Taft.[citation needed] Blackwell was national chairman of longtime friend Steve Forbes’ presidential campaign in 2000.[5] Blackwell was re-elected secretary of state in 2002.

Blackwell, a strict fiscal and social conservative, has become a vocal critic of the moderate wing of the Ohio Republican Party, including Taft, for adopting tax increases in the face of budget shortfalls in recent years.[citation needed][when?] He has also demanded the resignation of Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican, whose staff became embroiled[when?] in fund-raising scandals.[citation needed]

He was also[when?] the most prominent Republican to support adding an amendment to the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.[citation needed] The state’s Republican U.S. Senator George Voinovich and then-Senator Mike DeWine opposed the amendment’s broad language, fearing it could bar not only same-sex marriage but also civil unions, domestic partnerships, and possibly wills and any legal contracts for homosexuals.[citation needed] Taft later[when?] also came out against the amendment, expressing his concern that its ambiguous language would have unintended consequences and leave the state open to a number of lawsuits.[citation needed] During the campaign Blackwell lobbied hard for this measure and was widely credited[by whom?] with attracting many conservative evangelical African Americans to the polls to vote for the measure and for Bush’s re-election. The amendment passed with the approval of 61.64% of the voters.

The rest can be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Blackwell