average JoeOhio Tour cont: We drove into Cambridge, Ohio, where we did a downtown whistle-stop. A reporter from the Daily Jeffersonian newspaper did an interview. We talked at length about global warming. I said, among other things, that like in war time: I would ask the American people to sacrifice. Even if that meant rationing energy use, etc. She responded that it really is a war on the environment that we are seeing today. For more on our environmental stance as it relates to global warming and other issues, see…
10/17/07
We did a whistle-stop event in downtown Stuebenville. Reporter Dave Gossett from the Herald Star newspaper interviewed me. I said we believed in a consistent life ethic that sets us against abortion, euthanasia, embyronic stem cell research, pollution, poverty… and anything else that ends life prematurely. And in regard to poverty, I told Mr. Gossett that our family had moved to the inner city of Cleveland to live side-by-side with the poor in solidarity (and to help). That is the real key to changing our turbulent inner cities. It’s just getting people and churches, for instance, to get behind this.
10/16/07
average JoeOhio Tour cont: We headed into Stuebenville, Ohio, where we stopped at Franciscan University. Every other t-shirt here, and this is not much of an exagerration, has a Bible quote, or a picture of Christ, a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary… These students take their faith seriously. While walking about and passing out campaign stuff, I learned a Franciscan student group goes to an abortion clinic in nearby Pittsburgh, PA, to pray every Saturday morning. Another group had organized a “Trick or Treat for the Poor.” They were going around town dressed as saints and asking people for non-perishable food or monetary donations for the poor. Actually, you hardly can take a math course at Franciscan without learning about “God’s Natural Order” and how that relates. Note: After we got our kids to bed in the motor home, I went into a small chapel on campus to pray. It was 10:30. There were some 15 students in there praying.
10/14/07
Heading further east in Ohio, our campaign vehicle went on the blink. Translation: It wouldn’t start. Where it broke down, providentially enough (I like to think), was in an Auto Zone parking lot in Minerva, Ohio. My father-in-law Stuart, an Auto Zone guy named Mike Ross, and myself spent the better part of the afternoon trouble shooting (and buying parts). A gas filter, a distributor cap and a coil later… it finally fired up. Mike couldn’t have been more helpful and I promised him a position on the Air Force One mechanical team when we get to D.C. (My wife Liz keeps saying I’ve got to stop doing that.) What’s more, with global warming and all, my administration’s Air Force One may well be a small Cessna…
10/13/07
The Morning Jornal newsaper did a big feature story on the campaign today. A few excerpts: “In this campaign (2008) the Schriners have done 30,000 miles in a donated (conversion) van that looks more like a member of a Grateful Dead entourage than it does a campaign headquarters.” [That might be, oh, stretching it a bit.] “…he (Schriner) wants to phase out subsidies for traditional farmers and redirect that money toward more organic start ups, farmland preservation and the development of small, non-polluting farm technology.” [Lisbon, Ohio is right in the heart of Ohio farm country. How’s that for not pandering?] Note: It is my faith belief that we are called to be excellent environmental stewards of the land. I am Catholic and I read once where St. Benedict said we are to treat the things of God’s nature as we do the sacred vessels of the altar. Our agriculture platform reflects that.
10/12/07
We met with Tim and Ann Miller in Lisbon, Ohio. They practice “apostolic farming.” That is, they look at the land as a gift from God and do everything organically — instead of pumping toxic pesticides, herbacides and fertilizers into the soil. Our agricultural platform calls for pulling subsidies away from farmers using these toxic chemicals (which are depleting the soil and causing, among other things: cancer). In a short piece about our campaign prior to a whistle-stop event in Lisbon, the Morning Journal newspaper noted that I am a concerned Midwestern parent. One of the things I’m concerned about is our kids getting cancer from modern wheat, soy, broccoli…
10/11/07
I was interviewed by the Salem News in Ohio. I said that a lot of our platform is based on Catholic Social teaching. For instance, we are pro-Life across the board. That is, we look at abortion, the environment, the poor in the Third World… all as “pro-Life” issues. I also noted to the reporter that when the dust clears from the Primaries, our campaign may be one of the few Pro-Life campaigns left. And the time to support us (on every level) is now, so we can become as viable as possible: Schriner Presidential Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113.
10/10/07
We traveled into Cortland, Ohio, where I gave a talk at St. Robert’s Church. I said World Hunger is a “Pro-Life issue,” with 24,000 people starving to death in the Third World every day. Afterward, Fr. Karl Kish at St. Roberts told me his church has developed a Sister Church relationship with a church in Mexico. What’s more, his parishioners are doing the “Crop Walk” this year to impact World Hunger, St. Roberts helps support a local Food Pantry and they are involved with an ecumenical outreach to send clothing, school desks, and a variety of other items into the Third World… Later today I told the Cortland News’s Jim Woofter that St. Roberts is one of the most vibrant churches we’ve come across in Ohio. Note: In downtown Cortland, a woman approached us tremendously excited about the campaign, saying she’d recently seen us on TV news.
10/9/07
average JoeOhio Tour cont: We headed into Madison, Ohio, where we passed out literature and talked with Todd Roberts at the Open Door Coffee House. The Open Door is a Christian Ministry run by Northgate Ministries. Todd said the casual atmosphere of the coffee house lends itself to relaxed conversations about God, about peoples’ problems, and so on… Northgate is taking God to the streets, if you will. Todd also said a number of church groups in the area meet here regularly and he would hope the whole atmospher exudes God’s presence. Note: We continue to travel with Liz’s parents who are here from New Zealand. Her father Stuart said when you ask for directions in the wide open expanses of Australia, you might hear: “It’s just around the corner. Of course, it might take you a day to get to the corner…”
10/8/07
average JoeOhio Tour cont: I gave a talk at Immaculate Conception Church in Willoughby, Ohio, today. I noted that we stood in a Life Chain that included some 150 people in Mentor, Ohio, the day before. And it probably would have been more “…if the Brown’s game hadn’t been on at the same time.” I added that we are living in a modern day Holocaust with abortion, but many Pro-Life people will prioritize a sports event over trying to stop: mass killing. Note: I just read an Associated Press article that said Hillary Clinton and Rudy Gulliani are starting to look past the Primaries and to squaring off against each other because of what the polls are saying at this time. Neither of them are Pro-Life. We are. And the time to start supporting our campaign, at every level, is now.