Long days on the campaign trail

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
SHALERSVILLE -- "Do I have black all over my eyes?" asks Ann Womer Benjamin as she uses a tissue to wipe the tears rolling down her cheeks.
The Republican candidate in the 17th Congressional District can't hold them back -- despite her concerns, they don't cause her eyeliner to run -- as she helps dedicate a war memorial in the heart of tiny Shalersville in Portage County, north of Ravenna.
"I get emotional at these things," says Womer Benjamin, whose father is a World War II veteran.
Local celebrity
The state representative from Aurora is greeted as a local celebrity by about 20 people attending the dedication. Womer Benjamin was instrumental in getting $11,500 in state funding for the memorial.
The veterans at the event hug her, and give her an American flag they drape over the monument.
"I'm going to take this to Washington with me," Womer Benjamin says to loud applause while clutching the flag. "Shalersville has always been particularly warm and friendly to me."
After the dedication, Womer Benjamin goes inside the nearby township hall for a Diet Coke and a few cookies.
"I don't usually have much time to stop and eat a cookie," she says. "Sometimes we go 20 hours a day. There's so many people to meet and places to go."
The Shalersville visit is one of many stops she makes that day as she campaigns throughout the 17th Congressional District.
Womer Benjamin's first official campaign stop was Ravenna High School. She drove there from her Aurora home around 8:30 a.m. in her blue Oldsmobile Bravada with "Ann Womer Benjamin for Congress" and "Go Steelworkers" bumper stickers in her rear window, to speak to about 100 government and history students.
A few minutes later, David All, her campaign manager, arrives. Womer Benjamin -- who is wearing a gray pantsuit with red shirt and her trademark hair bow, black this time -- immediately excuses herself to have a private talk with All.
A volunteer who normally drives Womer Benjamin to her campaign stops can't make it because of a family emergency, so All drives her to many events on this day. During the drives, All and Womer Benjamin discuss the upcoming event and review the previous event -- including making notes of what happened and who attended.
At high school
At Ravenna High School, Womer Benjamin tries to interest students in the congressional race.
It is a difficult battle as many of them appear uninterested in her 16-minute speech.
Then comes the Q & amp;A.
Womer Benjamin tells the kids not to be shy and to ask her questions, but it is slow going at first. After some prompting by Womer Benjamin and a high school teacher, the students start to open up a bit more. When the 30-minute Q & amp;A period ends, a number of them leave their seats to talk to her.
Before she goes, Womer Benjamin gets an official Ravenna High School staff mug and praises the kids for asking "good questions about important issues."
Firefighters ceremony
She leaves the high school shortly before 10 a.m., giving herself an hour to make it to her next stop: the Akron Fire Department's Station No. 4 to participate in its annual firefighters memorial ceremony. She arrives about 30 minutes before the event is to start.
She speaks to local officials and others in attendance. She says simply, "Hello, my name is Ann Womer Benjamin." She makes no mention of her running for Congress although she wears an "Ann Womer Benjamin for Congress" button.
Then she sits quietly in the front row.
When the event ends at 11:50 a.m., the crowd is invited to eat snacks prepared by the fire department's ladies auxiliary. Womer Benjamin declines the invitation. She has her sights set on lunch, and she knows exactly where she wants to go.
It is back to Ravenna. The drive takes her to East Park Restaurant on Main Street.
"I've eaten here many times in the past eight years," she says.
She is shown to a table in the back and orders an iced tea and a chef's salad with vinegar on the side.
About 15 minutes later, David Benjamin, her husband of 24 years, meets her for lunch.
Like Womer Benjamin, he is an attorney. Their two daughters are away at college.
He is extremely supportive of her campaign. While that is not unusual, his political affiliation is. Womer Benjamin, 49, is a Republican; her husband, 50, is not only a Democrat, but a Democratic precinct committee member in Portage County.
After 55 minutes at the restaurant, Womer Benjamin, her husband -- who takes over as her driver -- and All get into her Bravada for Shalersville and the war memorial dedication.
She talks freely with those at the war memorial event, asking a few of them if they would be willing to put her signs in their yards.
From there, Womer Benjamin spends time going door-to-door in Shalersville asking local residents for their vote.
After a while, she drives to her campaign office in downtown Ravenna to make fund-raising calls.
More appearances
Then she comes east to make a couple of appearances in Mahoning County.
The first is at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman to attend the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp.'s annual Man/Woman of the Year event.
The winners this year are the local United Auto Workers union members for helping to secure a product at the Lordstown General Motors complex.
In contrast to that success story, Womer Benjamin drives to Cold Metal Products in Campbell after the dinner to talk about the closed plant with former employees. Around 10 p.m., she leaves for the hour-plus drive home to Aurora for some sleep before the next day of campaigning begins.
"It's pretty nonstop," she says.
skolnick@vindy.com