Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a whistle-stop tour down Rte. 224 through the interior of Ohio yesterday, stopping in Nova, Sullivan, Lodi, Willard… At the end of Mass at a church in Willard, the parisioners (as they do every week), read a: Prayer for Peace. Part of it reads: “God… cleanse our minds of retaliation and help us to be instruments of Your peace.” Note: We propose a U.S. Department of Peace that would, for instance, exponentially increase things like Peace Corp. help to the Third World. If we became more proactive about building peace and social justice, we believe tensions would diminish in kind.
10/2/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. *Note: WE NEED DONATIONS TO KEEP GOING RIGHT NOW! IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE CONSIDER IT. THANKS. (Schriner Election Committee, P.O. Box 15, Bluffton, Ohio 45817). Yesterday was just a great “backroads of Ohio” day on Rts. 68 and 235. A few vignettes: I was interviewed by the Xenia Daily Gazette in the morning, then headed north to Yellow Springs where I stumped on the main street there. Barber Greg Hasser said his shop had been broken into twice, once after he even installed metal bars on his back window. “Those guys (presidential candidates) are talking about protecting our borders… and I can’t even protect my back window,” he half smiled. In St. Paris (pop. 2,000 “…counting the dogs and cats”), Tom’s Varsity Barber Shop owner (my day for barbers) Tom Roush has the place filled, absolutely filled, with sports memorabilia. He said his favorite is a basketball former Indiana University coach Bobby Knight had signed for him. I then went to Rosewood, Ohio and talked to the Rosewood Grocery and General Store owner about supporting local business. After putting up a flyer in Rosewood (my response to the million dollar adds), I headed to DeGraff, Ohio where a man playing the ukelele on the main street there, stopped playing, looked up and hollered “Go Joe!” In Quincy, Ohio I talked to Sue and Bill Weiskittle, who had just returned from a trip to Marion, Ohio to see the “Moving (Vietnam Memorial) Wall.” Bill had been in the service and said to me that the news media seldom focuses on the good things that are happening in Iraq, like the kids going to school, the women having more rights… The Weiskittle’s daughter told me she’d seen a piece about our campaign on Channel 7 News out of Dayton and wanted to wish me “luck.”
9/30/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I headed south to Wapokeneta, Ohio (hometown of astronaut Neil (“One small step for man…”) Armstrong. I called the editor of the Wapokeneta newspaper when we got to our whistle-stop location downtown and said we had just: “landed.” Clever, huh? Then it was further south to Piqua, Ohio where I talked with retired teacher Larry Hamilton, who taught Social Studies and African American studies. I told Mr. Hamilton that our platform calls for a curriculum shift to many more cultural studies (African American, Native American, Hispanic…) to promote more understanding between cultures so we can build a more close-knit national, and global, community… This afternoon I gave a talk at the University of Dayton to Student Government and Political Science students. I started by saying it had either been a choice for me between participating in the presidential debate tonight in Florida. “…or coming here to talk with you. And, well, here I am.” John Strano, one of the students coordinating the event, said: “Did you want me to call Florida and have them remove the third podium Mr. Schriner?” After the laughter subsided, I gave a talk on our Education Platform (see www.voteforjoe.com / what joe stands for). Afterward, a reporter from the university’s Flyer News asked what motivated us to keep on. I said Liz (my wife) and I feel like we continue to make a difference… “one town at a time.” Note: The Greenville, Ohio Daily Advocate newspaper ran a front page story on the campaign today. Staff writer Nathan Eagle started the story with: Common sense. Noun. 1) The unreflective opinions of ordinary people. 2) Sound and prudent, but often unsophisticated judgment. (Merriam Webster).
Joe Schriner. Noun. 1) The 2004 presidential candidate that sees the future of America with a common sense philosophy. [I liked that.]
9/24-29/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a circle tour of Grand Lake St. Mary, the largest inland lake in Ohio. We appeared on the front pages of St. Mary’s and Celinas newspapers, then headed to Coldwater where I stumped with the regulars at the Main Street Cafe there. The reason I remember it was the Main street Cafe is because I am just now looking at a pen that says: “This pen has been stolen from: Main Street Cafe, Coldwater, Ohio.” Busted. Owner Pat “Buck” Rosenbeck had given us a free dinner as a campaign donation (great food). And as the campaign donations continued, Tim Axe in St. Mary’s then put a new rotor on the van and some steering aparatus “idler arms.” But I couldn’t stay ‘idle’ (sorry), and we headed further south to St. Henry’s where we were met by a reporter from Indiana who wanted to shadow us for the day. At St. Henry’s, I stumped at Fishmo Restaurant and owner Matt Stelzer told me the end zone sign (still working) he has out in front of his place is from the old high school stadium. “I only post the score if St. Henry’s wins,” Stelzer smiled. “People feel like I’m rubbing it in if I post a losing score.” And although it looks like we are still losing, I’m not one to give up. So we then headed to Greenville, Ohio, where we were interviewed by the editor there. He asked about practically all my positions in, perhaps, one of the most indepth interviews I’ve had recently. Then we headed into Cincinnati the next day where I gave a talk in a theology class at Xavier University. I talked on the economy: I said if you’re shopping at Wal Mart (K-Mart, Target…) for the cheapest prices — “you could be destroying families in Mexico.” I said after the North American Free Trade Agreement passed, the Mexican government stopped subsidizing the small family farmer in the interior of Mexico. The farmer and his family(s) then moved to the border to work in the factories that had gone up after NAFTA. (The government had needed a work force for all the factories.) Trouble is on a recent research trip to Juarez, Mexico we learned: the Mexican farmers, the wives… get a phenomenally low $3 a shift, so some parents are working two shifts, living in cobbled together shacks and their children are roaming the street. “All because we want stuff cheaper,” I said. “Does any of this sound spiritual?” I asked the theology students. And while I could tell I didn’t have all their votes — I did have their intention.
9/23/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz rolls on… The Springfield, Ohio News Sun did a big feature spread on the campaign yesterday and noted I had a map of Ohio pinned to a wall in the van dotted with circles of “cities, villages and townships” I’d visited. (And there are a lot, so far.) The Urbana Daily Citizen also ran a piece yesterday with the headline: Joe Wants to Win Ohio. Which I do. And to that end, I then met with David Parker in Urbana who is a member of the Shriners (no relation). By collecting cans, his group has raised a phenomenal $400,000 in the past 13 years so disadvantaged children can get help at Shriner’s Hospitals all across the U.S. I then headed north to West Liberty where I risked serious injury climbing up on a washing machine at the downtown laundromat to hang up a campaign flyer. I took another flyer to Subway Restaurant there and, playing off their current slogan, I wrote on the flyer: “Eat Fresh and Vote Fresh.” (I would like to reiterate once again, I am doing all this without paid consultants.) After this advertising inspiration, I headed further north to Bellefountaine, Ohio. After being interviewed by Joel Mast, the editor of the Bellefountaine Examiner, I met with the former mayor of Bellefountaine to discuss urban renewal issues. Our campaign calls for “decentralism.” That is, rejuvinating small town downtowns all across the country. Then it was off to Dunkirk, Ohio’s (pop. 887) Dairy Freeze where all the employee t-shirts say they: “SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM.” And I was ‘screaming’ for joy (actually more like smiling a bit) when they offered to hang one of the flyers up right by the order window. It’s my belief if you can carry Dunkirk… you can carry the country.
9/21/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. In Springfield, Ohio this morning I talked with John Polley, 18, a used tire shop manager. He walked with a limp and said his knee “was hurting bad from lifting sem-tires.” But he had no health insurance and was hesitant to get his knee checked. I told a Springfield newspaper reporter later this morning that in Grand Junction, Colorado we researched a hospital run by doctors, nurses, town people doing intakes, janitorial work, and so on… all on a volunteer basis — so people like John could get help. (It’s called the Marrilac Clinic.) Dayton’s Channel 7 News also arrived just as someone was scolding me about parking in a handicapped spot (by mistake). And you think Bush and Kerry are experiencing public relations problems… Springfield’s Paul Campbell thinks the country isn’t so much experiencing PR problems, as it is “business problems.” That is, he said, “if you had a business that was in as much debt as the U.S. Government, well…,” he threw up his hands. I then headed to South Vienna, Ohio where a guy on the street said to me: “Bravo! Fighting the big boys!” I then went to W. Jefferson where Michael Tyree, who owns a small flooring business, said he gets disconcerted at times with local people driving 40 miles round trip to Columbus to look for cheaper prices at Lowe’s. What people don’t factor into those low prices is: gas money, time wasted (that could be spent on family, community) and added pollution to the atmosphere. It was then onto Mechanicsburg, Ohio where I put up a flyer in the window of a Christian bookstore called: Heavenly Touch. And we’re hoping the campaign gets a ‘heavenly touch’ (read: loaves and fishes story) soon. But in the interum, I then drove to Urbana, Ohio where I was interviewed for the better part of an hour by a reporter there. I then went into the New Family Table Restaurant where I stumped with the customers and passed out flyers. In addition, I interviewed owner Brian Waller who said his employees consist of: his wife, step son, mother-in-law, neice… In working together, Brian said it has brought them closer together as a family — just like he used to feel with his brothers and sisters growing up on a small family farm in western Illinois. Note: In a recent Guest Column in The Advocate (Newark, Ohio), Kathleen Pipes wrote: “this year I will write in a candidate of my cholde, Mr. average Joe Schriner. And I urge you to do the same. I am voting to make a statement: “We want to take back our country.”‘
9/20/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Gave a talk at a “Farm Festival” on Sunday at Dan and Nancy Kramer’s organic farm in Yorkshire, Ohio. I said one of the first things I’d do at the White House was tear out some of the front lawn and “put in an organic garden.” I said studies show farm chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, and the like) are creating chemical cocktails in people that are causing cancer, and other disease. I recently told Farm News Today that our agriculture platform would call for a dramatic shift back to the small family farm and things being grown naturally. In Mr. Kramer’s talk, he said national grocery chains are opening the door to mega farms and cruel treatment of animals (chickens, cattle…) on mass confinement farms. Mr. Kramer is an evangalist for the humane treatment of animals and the organic, small farm. And he has developed quite a model at his place… From Yorkshire I headed to Sidney, Ohio where I passed out literature downtown in front of the Spot Restaurant “The spot to be,” the sign says. (Not having an advance team, I took the restaurant’s word.) And it was. Afterward inside, I was greeted with a picture of President Bush waving in front of the restaurant, having gotten out of his tour bus for a moment. Close to the picture was a sign that said: George W. Bush Burger: $2.95. I asked the manager if I could hang a flyer on the bulletin board, and she said yes. But when I asked if they’d name, like, a toasted cheese sandwhich after me, well… Undaunted, I then headed to Tipp City, Ohio where I talked with Everett Hall, 64. He drives about town in a “road ready” golf cart, complete with a canvass shell and mini heater. He said he spends, at most, about $5 a month extra on electric. Later, I talked with Rick Sapolek in Huber Heights, Ohio. Sapolek’s company reconditions old golf carts and sells them for street use. He said the market would be better if towns added charging stations to, say, parking meters and created more room on the streets, and trails, for these. Our administration would push for more of this type of slower transportation (and slower speed limits)to make the roads safer for children and to cut down on pollution from burning fossil fuels.
9/18/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. The whirlwind tour continues to roll on down Ohio’s backroads with stops in the last two days in Wauseon, West Unity, Bryan, Ney, Sherwood, Deshler, North Baltimore… While passing out literature at a Farmer’s Market in Bryan, I talked with two organic farmers who shun modern pesticides and herbicides because of their toxic affects. “Average Joe” platform point: “If we want to end cancer, we have to stop using things that cause cancer.” I then told the Bryan Times that I was running on a platform to: end pollution, make the country safe for children, and simplify the Federal Government. At John Weber’s Restaurant (their slogan: “Good Food, Mediocre Service”) in Wauseon, I sat in on a board meeting of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes. FCA’s Rex Stump said there were 86,400 seconds in a day, and his goal is to get his athletes making the most of each moment, not just for their sports’ endeavors, but more importantly, for God. (One of the board members said he’d seen a Fox News piece about me the night before.) At Marty’s Restaurant in Ney, Ohio, owner (Who else?) Marty told me his plan for curbing unemployment would be to improve health care, for everyone. That is, he said if more seniors had affordable health care, they could retire earlier (and spend more time, say, with community service.) As they retired, it would open the door for more jobs. Made sense. Note: Tomorrow I talk at a Farm Festival in Yorkshire, Ohio.
9/16/04
Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I stumped with a group of regulars at the Lamplight Restaurant in Perrysville, Ohio early yesterday morning. One man had been to China recently on business and said he had been impressed with the beginnings of company privatization there, because it was moving at least a segment of the population away from dependency on government. Later in the morning, I told the Perrysburg newspaper that one our administration’s main priorities would be ending world hunger (24,000 people starve to death worldwide every day). I then went to Whitehouse, Ohio (pop. 1,000), and told a Fox News reporter that this might be “the closest we get to the ‘White House’ this Election.” Also while in Whitehouse, I got in a round table discussion at the Chickaroo Restaurant with a few of the town’s old timers and a reporter from the local newspaper. Topics ranged from taxes, to the war in Iraq, to inflated housing costs… Jim Strain, 83, told me he bought a two-bedroom ranch style home in Whitehouse for $850 in 1951. It just sold last year for: $92,000. Everybody at the table said: “Wow!” I then went up the street to meet with Whitehouse’s informal local “historian,” Darryl Bauman. Bauman, 68, said when he was a kid here movies (black & white) were a dime, the downtown was filled with all kinds of Mom & Pop shops, and Saturday nights everybody was in the downtown shopping, socializing and listening to music wafting down from the open windows of a second story dance hall. I then ‘danced’ (sorry) north to Swanton, Ohio. Enroute, Fox News called and said they were sending out a reporter and another camera man for some more footage because they had decided to make the story a feature “package” and send it to their national headquarters in New York. In Swanton, the news crew got there in time to see me slowly drive through town in the “average Joe” mobile, $3 garage sale bull horn in hand. I stopped at one point and called out to a guy cutting his grass that if I became president: “I’ll get you a union and you won’t have to do that anymore!” He laughed. I then went door-to-door on a street in Swanton and ended up in a lengthy conversation with a resident about Swanton’s school system, which is facing a looming teacher’s strike because of levy failures and pay freezes. Ironically, I was told a new high school was built not too long ago here, while an old high school, which had been totally refurbished not seven years prior — was now sitting empty. Late this evening, I drove into Delta, Ohio where I passed out some more literature and hung a flyer and a button up at the Community Market here. I had told the Fox News reporter earlier that when you don’t have the millions for advertising, flyers in small town groceries seem the way to go. (And again, we’re doing this all without paid consultants.)
9/15/04
Average Joe Buckey Blitz cont. The Ohio whirlwind tour rolls on… And I rolled into Haskins, Ohio (pop. 1,000) yesterday. Entering the village limits, the first thing you see is a Ohio Bicentennial sign saying Haskins is the “Birthplace of Earl W. North, an American impressionist painter.” I couldn’t help but think how refreshing it would be to someday see a sign that read: “Haskins: Birthplace of Ernie Schwartz, father, good worker and Kawanis member. I then posted “average Joe” flyers at Or’s Sunoco and the Pear Tree Hair Salon, right in the heart of the Haskins downtown. The owner, Jennifer, said she admired what I was doing and one of the customers asked for a button to give to her husband “…who is actually thinking about running for president himself in 10 years.” I gave her the button reluctantly, and smiled that current polls were indicating that I’d probably still be running in 10 years as well– “and I’m trying to discourage competition.” From Haskins, I traveled north to Waterville where I met with Chowder’s N Moor Restuarant owner, and “conservative independent,” Tom Kuran. Kuran talked about politics, and America in general, with a passion. Also, without telling him anything about my Haskins sign idea, he said he and his wife were recently watching a TV episode showing singer Britney Spears putting her hand prints in concrete on Hollywood Blvd. Kuran riled at this, saying: “Once, just once, I’d like to see an average American’s hand prints there (Hollywood Blvd.)!” I had interviewed Tom for our book Back Road to the White House 2, and afterward he gave me a campaign donation: a bowl of their “famous,” and rather unique, White Chicken Chili. And after only a couple spoonfulls — I knew who is going to cater the Inauguration.