Vote for Joe

A couple supporters have recently e-mailed asking about our campaign strategies for Election 2012. (By the way, I’ve already declared for 2012.    Listen to the short declaration speech at the top of our home  page.)   In regard to donating to the campaign, one man wrote:   “People tend to want to ‘invest’ their money wisely and usually wait until they are confident enough that a candidate has a legitimate chance of winning.”   The answer to this is two-fold.     First:   People  need to  ‘invest’ in us now so we can advertise and do all the other things campaigns do to raise their profiles.   And people need to invest in us now to help keep us in motion so we can continue touring, stumping and getting our message out to as many people on the street and in as much media as possible.   (This is the kind of synergy that will make the campaign a national story with staying power —  especially because of the tremendous amount of time and effort we’ve already put into this to date!   As opposed to it being a ’15-minutes of fame’ phenomena.)   Also, when this becomes a prominent national story, we will have a much better chance of catching on with an established Third Party.   This is key because it is the best chance we have of gaining ballot access from state to state across the country.   Having said that…   Second:   When we’re on the road touring, we get a  significantly different message out.   It is a message  that is helping change the country now, one town at a time.   As an example, I recently gave a strong pro-Life talk at a church in centeral Ohio.   Afterward, the pastor stood up and was actually in tears.   He apologized to the congregation for not being “bold enough” in his witness to stop abortion and vowed to be so in the future.   And then this pastor and congregation members influence other pastors and congregation members.   And then these pastors and congregation members…   And as a result, we get part of policy enacted long before ever getting to D.C…   A front page article in the Athens (OH) Post recently noted that our family has set aside a “Christ Room” for homeless people in our small place in Cleveland.   So then someone in Athens sets aside a Christ Room, then someone in Louisville, Kentucky, sets aside a Christ Room, then someone in Holbrook, Arizona, sets aside a Christ Room… And before you know it, homelessness is down significantly in America and those setting up the Christ Rooms  are much more advanced  in their faith witness.   And part of our policy on poverty gets enacted as well… A ‘winning’ candidate?  We’ve been ‘winning’ every day we’ve been on the campaign trail the past nine years and 83,000 miles.   But (and really think about this), what if  a president turned the  Lincoln Bedroom into a Christ Room?   How much more of a witness would that be to the country?    …While traveling the 83,000 miles campaigning, parts of our message have gottten out in some 2,000 newspaper articles, close to 200 regional network TV news shows, hundreds of radio shows, many church talks, college talks…   In other words, we’re exhaustively doing our part.    But we need help.   Note:   The time for cautious consideration around “investing” in our 2012 campaign run — our last —  is over.    We ask people help  now in as  full a fashion as  we are undertaking it.    Because I believe it will take this kind of all out   effort if there is to be any real hope of getting to the White House.     Ps… If you missed our  DONATION LINK  on this post… Also, have I mentioned we need VOLUNTEERS?     Some references: “I experience Joe Schriner as a fervent pro-Life candidate willing to make great sacrifices for the moral betterment of our nation and the transformation of our society.   He was an inpsiration to our students.”   — Fr. Michael Scanlan, former president of Franciscan University.   And… “Joe’s talk during (Sunday) Worship was spirit-led and reflected his and his family’s concern for plantet earth — as our addiction to fossil fuels pushes us ever nearer extinction.   We need to hear his voice and God’s call.”   –Rev. Lea Mahan, First United Methodist Church, Wellington, Ohio.     And…  more references…  

I talked with Paul Breen today.   He is a Professor of Finance at Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio.   He said our current financial systems in America, for the most part, all revolve around credit. Professor Breen said when we started going “down the slope (in regard to our current financial crisis)” is when young couples, several decades ago, started buying houses they couldn’t afford on credit, which has now cascaded into a tremendous amount of foreclosures…   Some “average Joe” common sense:   People could   actually afford many of these homes if they used some simple, creative smarts.   They could rent out a room in their homes.   They could, in addition,  convert a garage to, say, an efficiency apartment.   They could even house-share with another family, halving the expenses altogether…   It just that, well, we’ve become so gluttonous and selfish  about “our space.”   And this is not so much an endemic  financial malady — as it is a spiritual one.     Note:   Professor Breen said credit (read: debt) is imbedded in America.   But was this God’s plan?   Many of us, in essence, have become compulsive debtors (credit cards, car purchases, home purchases…).   In California, I researched the group Debtor’s Anonymous.   People here admit to their addiction to debting and the formula is simply not to debt anymore, one day at a time.  And somehow, with God’s grace, they are able to live in this society without debting.

Buckeye Back Road Tour completed:    We ‘fought the good fight.’   For the past three days, we continued on through central Ohio, stumping in places like Yorkshire, Versailles, Plain City… On Election Day (today), we were in Columbus where we passed out campaign information at a polling place on the Ohio State University Campus.   I also talked with Deryck Spooner who was here from D.C. pushing for the passage of Issue 2   here, which is about backing a Clean Ohio initiative.   He is with The Nature Conservancy   and told me he believes climate change is real and a definite threat.   He pointed to shifts in weather patterns, the significant melting of polar ice caps, rising sea levels… He said part of the answer is cap levels on carbon emmissions, especially among coal, electric and oil companies.   And using a “market approach,” he said he would propose that these companies get dollar value “carbon credits,” for each pound of carbon that’s not produced…   We, too, believe climate change is a clear and imminent  threat that needs to be addressed dramatically, and now.   For more…   Note:   At this polling place there were some 10 Democrat volunteers passing out literature and I was told there were some 81 “staging areas” around Franklin County where volunteers were prepped and sent out to the different polling stations.   Meanwhile, it was just myself and our family.    The ‘staging area’ being our small motor home up the street.   And so it goes…

Buckeye Back Road Tour cont.:   We continue on down the Old Lincoln Highway (Rte. 30) through Ohio.   During an interview with a newspaper in Wooster, Ohio, I said there is a death on our nation’s roads every 13 minutes.   “That’s like a half full airliner going down in this country every day,” I said.   Our proposal is to reduce speed limits, across the board, significantly.   I mean that’s only common sense…   I also gave a talk at St. Mary’s Church in Wooster, explaining that for abortion to end, pro-Life people need to create the same type of non-violent social unrest that was created in the South to finally end Segregation.   More common sense…   We then headed to Mansfield where I gave a talk to students at St. Mary of the Snows School.   One boy asked:   “If America is the richest country in the world, why are there homeless children?”   I replied:   “Because, well, not everyone is very good at sharing.”   More common sense…   Today the Mansfield News Journal   noted that akin to “Joe the plumber,” I was “Joe the house painter,” with a twist.   That is, I’m “Joe the house painter” running for president.

Buckeye Back Road Tour cont.:   I did an interview on WHBC radio out of Canton, Ohio, today.   (Barrack Obama was in Canton yesterday.)   In regard to the financial crisis, I said I wouldn’t have bailed out  Wall Street.   “Stocks are merely a legalized form of gambling to make easy money.   And I don’t believe in gambling,”   I said.   What’s more, I said the country might do well to actually slide (or crash) into a full-fledge Depression.   Peoples’ priorities might finally shift, for the better…   As an example, polls show that for a majority  of Americans  the economy is the number one issue.   Meanwhile, I  pointed out  that  some 4,000 babies will be killed in their mothers’ wombs in America today, some 24,000 people worldwide will starve to death today, scores of people will be killed in the  Darfur Genocide  today…   And we’re more worried about our 401ks, ability to buy the bigger television set, etc… Just as we don’t   need a bail out on Wall Street, we do   need an attitude adjustment on ‘Main Street.’   A big one.   Note:   The radio host asked what our website was.   When I said voteforjoe.com, he responded:   “Is this like Joe the plumber?”   I laughed and said no, this is like “Joe the house painter.”   I also said, as ‘Joe the plumber’ is having an impact on the election, having campaigned in all 88 counties in Ohio at least twice over the years, ‘Joe the house painter,” might have an impact on the election as well.   See if we impact the vote in Ohio (even slightly), and it’s as close as it was last time in Ohio, well, it might change the complexion of the whole   race nationwide.   Wouldn’t it?   Note 2:   This week we  are doing a series of “whistle-stops” along the Old Lincoln Highway (Rte. 30) through Ohio.   Come join us.