The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
KAINE, FRANKEN ENCOURAGE VOTING
Senators push for participation at rally
Democratic Party vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine told supporters he considers himself an underdog until he wins.
And he considers Ohio a “checkmate state.”
Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, and U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, asked voters during a rally Oct. 27 at Lorain High School, 2600 Ashland Ave. in Lorain, to not take winning the election for granted, and to vote early.
“We’ve never had a president who makes empowering families and kids their life’s work,” Kaine said, adding that has been the life work of Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who also would become the first woman president.
Kaine said Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump mocked the American political process and fairness of voting, and described not paying taxes as “smart.”
“We can’t let this guy within 10 time zones of the President’s office,” Kaine said, to cheering fans.
About 350 people – including 150 students – attended the event in an auxiliary gymnasium, said Jeff Hawks, executive director of operations of Lorain City Schools.
Kaine said Hillary Clinton has heard negative messages her whole life,
such as that it’s not her time, or that she should smile more, or that she “doesn’t look presidential” as Trump said.
But Clinton has dedicated her whole life to making life better for families and children, Kaine said.
Once Clinton is elected, a whole new group of people can say, “I can be president of the United States, and if I can be president of the United States, then I can make anything happen.”
Electing women to federal office requires extra effort, Kaine said. Some in the audience served as the first in the family or group of friends to reach an accomplishment, and it was tough. So, he asked attendees to encourage others to vote.
“Do your best work, and we will make history together,” Kaine said.
Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer said the election is unlike any other anyone can remember. It boils down to one key issue: the economy.
“It’s the investment in things that create jobs,” said Ritenauer, a Democrat. “It’s the investment in ourselves. There’s just one candidate in this race that has a plan for the economy, and that’s Secretary Clinton.
“She has planned for the largest investment in job creation since World War II. It would mean 375,000 jobs in the state of Ohio, alone.”
It would boost the economy locally, also, Ritenauer said, through investments in infrastructure.
Trump outsourced jobs with his own companies, Ritenauer said, and bought steel from foreign countries rather than from Lorain.
State Rep. Dan Ramos, a Lorain Democrat, said in all elections, people get up on stage and say, “This is the most important election of our lifetime.”
Ramos paused, “But it is. We are going to keep going forward.”
Franken said, “You know Lorain is home of my friend, Father Guido Sarducci. You know that? My friend Don Novello who is from here.”
Franken said he’s known Clinton for 23 years.
“I’ve never met anyone who is smarter, who’s
tougher, who works harder than Hillary Clinton, and she will make a great president,” he said. “I’ve known Tim Kaine for a little less time.
“The decisions that come to the president of the United States are decisions that no one else can make. These are decisions where the president has to call on his or her depth of knowledge, breadth of knowledge. These are very high pressure decisions. These are some of the reasons I so trust Hillary in the job.”
Franken outlined Kaine’s experiences at multiple levels of government.
Kaine praised the Lorain High School Titan Marching Band, that performed tunes for the rally. Theirs was the first marching band who played during his campaign, he said. They cheered.
“It’s great to be in the battleground Ohio,” Kaine said. “You guys are more than the battleground. You’re a checkmate state. This is the way I look at states, there are 50.
“Every state is important. But you get into a presidential race, some can go one way, some can go the other way. Then you get to about 12 or 13 battleground states. Minnesota is one. Virginia is one.
“But within that group of battleground states, you get down to the last two weeks, and there’s like four or five checkmate states. By checkmate I mean, if we win it, we done won it. If we win Ohio, the race is over. Hillary Clinton will be president.”
Kaine also warned against trusting the polls.
Monica Bauer, 45, of Vermilion, moved to Ohio about three years ago.
Bauer attended the rally with her three sons: Collin Rutledge, 16, Emerson Rutledge, 15, and Conner Rutledge, 12.
“These two aren’t old enough to vote in this election here, but they will be in the interims,” Bauer said. “I think it’s important for them to start becoming familiar with the process.
“They do have their own political feelings and opinions. I took them out of school today because I feel they will learn more here listening to Al Franken and Tim Kaine than they would have if they had been in the classroom.”
Collin said he takes government
and economics classes.
“This gives me more of a handle on it instead of just reading about it,” he said. “It’s nothing I’ve done before. It’s not going to be my last time doing it. If I live to be 100, how may times will I be doing this?”
“This is my first time wanting to go to see a vice president (speak),” Conner said. “It’s kind of fun to see what is happening.”
Emily Shelton, who played tuba in the Titan Marching Band, said, “It’s exciting. It’s not very often we get to play for a vice presidential candidate. Forty band members are here. It’s less than half of us, so it feels nice to be selected.”
Daesean Brooks, 17, a senior at Lorain High, said his government teacher elected him to watch the speeches.
“This is my first one,” Daesean said. “It was kind of interesting. It felt surreal when I sat behind him and I made contact with Tim Kaine. I just hope that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine get to become president.”
Seth Unger, Ohio Communications Director for Donald J. Trump For President Inc., provided a statement regarding the Kaine rally:
“Tim Kaine had ‘the saddest rally ever’ on Monday in Florida, where he encouraged ‘tens of supporters’ to get out and vote for Hillary Clinton, who is now down by two points in the Sunshine State.
“Tim Kaine and former funny man Al Franken are pitching a third Obama term economy in Lorain, where it’s no laughing matter that jobs have been forced overseas by bad Clinton trade deals. This is a change election, and Mr. Trump’s America First message of draining the swamp in Washington is resonating among Ohioans who have zero enthusiasm for the rigged insider system that Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton represent.”
For a next event in Lorain, at 1:30 p.m., Oct. 28, United Steelworkers Local 1104 will host a Rally for Hillary Clinton at 2501 Broadway Ave.
Union members which will come together to renounce the outsourcing and anti-worker practices of Trump, according to a news release.