Jennifer Brunner - Ohio Secretary of State

Tour Around Ohio Tour - Canton, Ohio

Posted by Rick Brunner - July 16, 2006 11:08 PM - Permalink

The alarm went off almost as early as it does on work days. Our bodies protested to be rising so early on a Sunday morning, but we jumped into the showers and made our way out the door a little after 7:30 a.m. We began the drive north to Canton, Ohio stopping along the way for a breakfast at McDonald's on Route 13 just south of Mansfield. The morning was a beautiful summer morning with the promise of heat and humidity already evidencing itself. Our candidate picked up an audio version of the "Tipping Point," a book read by its author. Throughout the day, we would be picking up other portions of the "Tipping Point" and listening to messages conveyed by the author about social epidemics. The drive to Canton passed very quickly. For your correspondent it was a very nostalgic drive along certain portions of it, having grown up not far from Canton. Of particular delight was driving past Meyer's Lake, which was the site of an old, now demolished, amusement park that your correspondent frequented as a very young boy. The Stark County Democratic Party Headquarters was located not more than a mile west of Meyer's Lake on 12th Street in northwest Canton.

Johnny Maier is a wonderfully, energetic county chair that I have mentioned in previous blogs. Johnny recognized our vehicle as we pulled into the parking lot and met us before we were even out of our car. We went inside the Democratic Party Headquarters to a small reception for statewide candidates and local party officials. Your correspondent was able to sneak a glazed donut without our candidate noticing, which helped sustain him until they were able to have their next meal almost eight hours later.

The event with the Stark County Democrats got underway at 10:30 a.m. The day was already unbearably hot and humid, but that did not seem to dampen the crowd. As we had noticed the previous day, the hotter it was, the more exuberant the Democrats appeared to be around the state. It is clear that people are hungering for a change, and the hot weather only made them more agitated. This particular event began to take on tones of a religious revival with Democrats in Ohio. Folks were on their feet cheering and applauding. Our candidate did not disappoint the crowd. She gave one of her more rousing speeches, surprising the rest of the candidates with its effectiveness. She entered with the new tagline from the previous day, which brought the crowd to its feet.

Being more disciplined than the previous day, your correspondent began to flash her 10-minute warning signs while she was still on the stage and pulled her from the stage knowing that it was very important that we make it to Warren, Ohio.

As we passed north on Interstate 77, we passed the new bridge for commemorating the pro football Hall of Fame and passed the Football Hall of Fame itself. We passed the Akron-Canton airport and then headed east across the Ohio Turnpike, ensuring that we paid the toll along the way, unlike the current Secretary of State. As we began to arrive in Warren, Ohio, we noticed a brown van trailing us, only to discover at one of the traffic lights that it contained State Treasurer candidate Richard Cordray busily working on his computer while his staff drove him around. We received a telephone call in the van for Mike Sciortino, our Mahoning County coordinator and Mahoning County Auditor asking when we would arrive as we were only just making it at the beginning of the event. A portion of the street on East Market Street in Warren, Ohio had been blocked off for this rally and the speakers were speaking from the back of a flat bed semi-trailer.

Our candidate was introduced by Lee Fisher, as his friend and his former legal counsel. She gave probably the best speech to date in Warren. Her speech was continually interrupted by applause and the enthusiasm of the crowd seemed to feed her in her delivery, and the crowd seemed to be further energized by every other sentence she spoke. It was a wonderful event to watch and I had a number of people come up to me asking for our stickers and literature. Unfortunately, by the time our candidate finally came off the stage, I had to put her back in the car and make the next dash to the next stop.

As we drove by the GM Lordstown plant and raced across the Milton Lake reservoir along the Ohio Turnpike, I realized there still is some beautiful country in the Mahoning Valley. Crossing over the Mahoning River and seeing signs for Mount Union College in Salem made your correspondent a little nostalgic for our farm in Columbiana County. We were under such a time crunch that we were unable to stop to get water or any lunch.

Posted by Rick Brunner - July 16, 2006 11:08 PM - Permalink