Republicans Ready to Vote, Volunteer
VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Supporters of the Republican presidential ticket attending a late Monday rally with Paul Ryan (READ STORY) say they are ready to do what it takes today to send Ryan and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to the White House in January.
The Romney for President campaign reported that 1,550 supporters attended the Election Day Eve event to rally the troops prior to today's voting, held at the Winner Aviation hangar at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
Among those enduring temperatures in the mid-30s for what for some was a wait of more than two-and-a-half hours before Ryan’s arrival by plane at 9:29 p.m. was Jill Surrena, who drove from Pittsburgh to see Ryan and support the ticket.
“I have a good feeling about Ohio and Pennsylvania,” Surrena remarked. She has been volunteering to help get out the vote, and she said she will “keep it up” today and continue to make phone calls on behalf of the ticket, then watch the results tonight.
Carl Caylor of Ashtabula said he voted early, an option for Ohio voters that Pennsylvanians don’t have. Caylor has signs in his yard and has talked to some people about the campaign and gotten them registered to vote. “The country has been adrift for four years now” under President Obama, he remarked.
Matt Rising of Fowler said he will vote today, and also plans to talk to friends and relatives “and put some reason into the ones I can.” He also applauded the prospect of not seeing any more political advertisements for a while.
“I approve of his message. I can’t wait to see it all implemented,” he said.
“We came out to see the new future of the country,” said Ray Marsch of Orwell. “Paul Ryan is an incredible leader and he’s good with a budget, and we need these types of people in office.”
Marsch, who plans to vote this morning, attended the event with his wife and children. He has signs in his yard and has spoken to family, friends and others in the community in Ashtabula County about the GOP ticket.
Showing off an autographed photo of him and Ryan he got signed last night, Jim Kopnic of Boardman said he did ticket duty at Ryan’s event at Youngstown State University a few weeks back.
“Obama’s a thief when you think about it. If I go and use your credit card to make purchases you’d say that was stealing,” Kopnic remarked. “Obama’s borrowing all this money in the name of people that haven’t even been born yet.”
Earlier in the day, Ryan’s colleague in the House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17 Ohio, and labor leaders held a pre-emptive news conference in advance of the vice presidential candidate’s visit. .
Tim Ryan pointed to the tangible evidence in the region of how the area has benefitted under the Obama presidency. That evidence includes the V&M Star mill being developed in part thanks to tariffs on Chinese pipe the administration secured, the activity at the General Motors Lordstown plant, which benefitted from federal aid to GM and Chrysler, and the new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute downtown.
“We are better off than we were four years ago because Barack Obama is president of the United States, and if we want to keep the positive momentum going in our community, we ‘ve got to get out and vote for President Obama,” he said.
“This election without a doubt is the most important election of our lifetime. It’s going to set the tone and direction of this country for not just the next four years but for decades to come,” said Gary Steinbeck, sub-district director for the United Steelworkers of America. While the steel industry has had “major problems with trade agreements for decades,” no president has “stepped up to the plate” like Obama has.
United Auto Workers presidents Glenn Johnson of Local 1112 and Dave Green of Local 1714 also spoke on behalf of the incumbent, touting his support for the auto industry.
Additionally, Green honed in on recent reports that Romney had profited from GM supplier Delphi’s bankruptcy and a recent ad by the Romney campaign -- widely debunked -- that implies GM and Chrysler are shifting production to China at the expense of American jobs. He also pointed out that while Obama was “getting tough on China” last year by pursing tariffs on tire imports, Romney was “making phone calls to endorse Senate Bill 5,” legislation passed in Ohio last year to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers. The legislation, which Democrats, labor and their allies successfully overturned, has been another rallying point for the Obama campaign.
Ryan also blasted the GOP ticket on claims that the Romney administration would be “tough on China,” pointing out that his Republican colleague was among 70 House members who voted against his China currency bill when it came up for a vote a year and a half ago. “So to have him come into my congressional district, come into Ohio, and all of a sudden have an epiphany before an election [that he and Romney would be tougher on China than Obama] is laughable,” he said.
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Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.