Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I was interviewed by a reporter from National Public Radio at the State House in Columbus today. Afterward, Sarah, Joseph and I sort of snuck in on part of a school tour of the State House. We joined just as the guide had stopped on a big floor outline of Ohio, complete with different marble tile outlines of all 88 counties (in which we have now — mostly — campaigned, twice). Sarah, Joseph (and I) learned today that Ashtabula County is the largest county in Ohio, Lake County (which is right next to Ashtabula County) is the smallest, and Allen County (where we’re from) is represented with green marble because (I told the kids) that green is representative of the rural character of the area. Well, I didn’t know… This afternoon I gave a talk to students involved with an alternative high school in downtown Columbus. It’s called: the “Christopher Program.” It was a rather lively session, with the students becoming quite animated as they asked questions, debated topics. Teacher Todd Stanley told me afterward that the course, “The Human Side of Politics,” allows each student to spend one day a week actually working on area campaigns. He said as a result, some 90% of the students now demonstrate an actual “passion for politics.” Stanley continued that this type of class orientation is termed: “authentic learning.” (I couldn’t help but think how more students, not just at alternative schools, would tremendously benefit from similar types of “authentic learning,” no matter what the field.) Tonight: We traveled north to Ashtabula County, not to see how big it is, but to meet with Molly Linehan in Geneva. Molly, who has a strong heart for social justice, was a “Rotary Scholar” who went to India as part of an ongoing Rotary Program to help foster more: “world unity.” She said she was struck with many of the similarities between the Islamic Religion and Christianity. Molly said she was also struck with the extreme abject poverty she saw in India (which seemed so much more dire, and far reaching, than in the U.S.). What’s more, she said she was disheartened by some of the attitude toward child labor there. And in general, she added: “The poor truly are getting poorer in India.”
10/27/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. While in Cincinnati, we met with Drew Peters who coordinates programs for the Dorothy Day House for Xavier University students. Peters said students here have spearheaded intitiatives to help with: the environment; AIDS in Africa; fair trade; peace; human rights… Peters invited us back to his two story home, which he shares with three other single men. They live together to share expenses, energy use and develop deeper community. One of the roomates told me while in Portland, Oregon several years ago, he participated in a Shared Housing Program. A computer data base would match those looking for house shares. He said for a year he ended up living with a 96-year-old woman who needed help, companionship and so on. Note: Drew Peters is a lacross player, but not a parent of young children, yet. And as a “campaign donation” this morning, gave our children two junior lacross sticks and a lacross ball. A lacross ball that keeps whizzing by me as we’re traveling down I-75 for a whistle-stop event in downtown Cincinnati today. Thanks Drew.
10/26/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. We did a whistle-stop at Court House Plaza in downtown Dayton today. Dayton’s NBC News was there. The reporter asked our daughter Sarah, 9, what she thought about her Dad running for president. Sarah said: “I like his message.” The reporter smiled and asked Sarah to talk about one of the “messages” she most liked (I’m sure expecting a cute, well, nine-year-old response.) Sarah said: “I like his stance against abortion. My Dad has a bumper sticker that says ‘He’s a child, not a choice…’ And I think that’s good.” Bravo Sarah!… This evening I was asked to participate in a round table discussion at Xavier University in Cincinnati on: “The Young Catholic Vote.” The topic of nuclear weapons came up. I asked: “What if we let the weapons inspectors into, say, Montana — what would they find?” (Answer: Some 2,000 weapons of mass destruction aimed all over the world.) “To the rest of the world, wouldn’t we look like a terrorist nation?” I posed… Tonight there was also a brief talk by a graduate student from Harvard University who was traveling the country trying to raise awareness about: Catholic Social Teaching and how it tied into the vote. Greg Mancini said there is more than just one “Pro-Life” oriented issue to consider when voting. He said some of these other “Pro-Life issues” include how we are responding to: the environment; AIDs in the Developing Countries; military decisions; the poor… Mr. Mancini called this a “consistent Pro-Life ethic.”
10/25/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I gave a talk tonight at Bluffton University’s Nuefield Hall here in my hometown. It was a “Town Hall” style meeting and the interaction was quite lively. At one point I explained our administration would push for a simplified, one-page tax form (that is, if we continued with the income tax) that would also have an empty pie chart on it. The taxpayer, in turn, would get to divide the pie chart up: designating what % of his/her tax money would go to which program categories: environment, education, military, social programs, etc. “I mean, wouldn’t that be a lot more democratic?” I asked. What’s more, this might inspire more people to spend time researching existing, and proposed, programs in various areas. Which, ultimately, would increase their political awareness, involvement and so on. While the initial response, for the most part, was enthusiastic — there was some hesitancy. A couple students suggested that, for instance, there should be a base of money for each program and then taxpayers could get a say in, for instance, 50% of where their tax dollars go. (Some students were concerned not enough money would go to the environment, programs for the poor, and so on.) Note: President Bush is speaking in nearby Findlay two days from now and an Army helicopter was sweeping the I-75 corridor here, I’m sure looking for potential terrorist sites, etc. While the helicopter was a good two miles off, as we approached the Bluffton exit on I-75 this afternoon in the “average Joe” mobile — decked out in all it’s Old Nave stars and stripes regalia — the helicopter abruptly banked and then flew directly over us. And I’m sure the pilot was probably thinking: ‘What the heck is this…?’ I, in turn, waved.
10/24/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Today the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper ran a rather lengthy “Voter’s Guide.” They noted there would be four presidential candidates on Ohio’s ballot and six official “write-in” presidential candidates — of which I was one. In the story, reporter Grant Segall noted I said of our campaign: “We’re influencing America.” And that’s exactly what we are trying to do, one town, one person… at a time.
10/23/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Last night our kids, and some of the other neighborhood kids, raked a big, and I mean big, pile of leaves. Then for about an hour, we developed what I’m sure will become a new Olympic sport someday: Leaf Diving!… Today, a front page story about the campaign appeared in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese Universe Bulletin newspaper. Editor Dennis Sadowsky wrote that we have extensively traveled the country looking for people living out the Gospel message, then carry their stories with us. Which we do. Sadowsky noted that one of those stories is that of a family we met in Lisbon, Ohio recently who practice: “Apostolic Farming.” The children (eight of them) are being raised on the land, they grow organically with extreme respect for the environment… and offer everything they do on the farm as a “prayer.” While you can’t necessarily legislate this, you can talk about it with the hopes that other people (on a grassroots level) try it as well. And then who knows how far it will ripple out from there. (During a talk at Toledo University for this campaign, I said each time someone picks up on an idea we carry, “it’s as if we get a policy enacted even before I get to D.C. So, in effect, I’m sort of the president now.” They all smiled, politely. And my wife, Liz, enjoined: “It’s a happy little world you live in, isn’t it?”) And on we go…
10/22/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. A PBS film crew from the Netherlands came to Bluffton today to interview me for a Special they are doing on the American presidential race. How’s that for strategy? While the other candidates are exhaustively trying to get as much ‘American media’ as possible in these last days, I’m being interviewed by media from the Netherlands — where nobody can vote for me. The crew said I had 60 seconds to talk into the camera about “anything you want about the campaign.” I spent the first 40 seconds introducing my wife and our three children… then paused, and said: “Liz and I are running as ‘concerned parents.’ We’re concerned about these little children inheriting a world of global warming, increased violence, drugs… So instead of sitting back and complaining, we decided to do something about it. And one town at a time, we are.” After the interview, my wife (and campaign manager) Liz smiled in a consoling fashion, and (always the optomist) suggested maybe some people in the Netherlands have some friends in the U.S. they can influence. [Is it any wonder the polls are showing we’re not in the lead?]
10/21/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I was interviewed by a columnist for Kent State University’s newspaper today. I told her a couple years ago I had gone to KSU’s “May 4th Room” to do some research. The room is filled with books on the now famous May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State during a Vietnam War Protest. I told the columnist that we must “learn from history.” And to that end (to avoid as many more ‘May 4ths’ as possible), we propose a U.S. Dept of Peace. This would include things like a tremendously expanded Peace Corp.; conflict resolution classes in school curriculum; much more humanitarian help to the Third World in general… I added that instead of often being in a defensive posture, we should be a lot more “offensive” when it comes to building peace, not only internationally, but at home. Note: In homeschooling, my wife Liz is teaching our children a lot about other countries, other cultures, as a way of trying to develop more international understanding and camaraderie. They are currently learning about: China. And Bluffton College here requires students to go on at least on Cross Cultural Experience to another country, or another area of the U.S. Students work with the poor in South America, with a Conflict Resolution Center in Northern Ireland, and so on..
10/20/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Still in Bluffton, Ohio today, my hometown. Tonight I did a phone interview on a large talk radio show out of Cincinnati. The host asked me what subject I would most like to debate (“If you had the chance…”) with the other presidential candidates. I said: abortion. I said there is all this “talk about terrorism these days, yet we have become one of the biggest terrorist nations in the country.” By midnight, I went on, 4,400 babies will be slaughtered in their mothers’ wombs. And we’re worried about our own personal safety, c’mmon?
10/19/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I am in Bluffton, Ohio today where I have cloistered myself in the Bluffton College Library and am e-mailing letters to the editor of every Ohio newspaper I can in support of, that’s right: my campaign. I have started each letter with: “With all the ‘Bush/Kerry’ focus on Op/Ed pages these days, sometimes people forget there are other presidential candidates out here. I am one…” Today I also got a call from a woman temporarily working in Ontario, Canada, who is a resident of Vermont. She said she was writing my name in on an absentee ballot and needed to know my vice-presidential candidate’s name for this particular form. I told her it was: Barb Marlinski, an “average Jane,” if you will, from Lakewood, New York. Barb, who is a Catholic, puts her faith first in her life. In addition, she is on the same page with us on all the issues. She is a wife, mother and a piano teacher. What’s more, she told me several years ago she mounted a drive to keep out a proposed “News Store” that was going to sell pornography in her small town of Lakewood, New York. She won. Barb is the type of unsung, “extra-mile” American who is so representative of what makes up the real moral fabric of our country.