Sunday, October 20, 2002
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
WARREN -- Timothy J. Ryan is running late.
After being up past midnight the previous night at a painters union get-together in Akron, Ryan drives his customized blue Chevrolet conversion van -- affectionately known as "Road Force One" -- to the front of his East Market Street campaign office in Warren through a driving rainstorm 25 minutes behind schedule.
Tom Koroni, a 64-year-old retired General Motors worker called "Shark" by Ryan and his campaign staff, gets into the front seat to drive while Ryan hops into the back.
So starts the day for Ryan of Niles, a 29-year-old state senator who is running for the 17th Congressional District seat.
Ryan, wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and purple tie, sings along to the Dave Matthews Band CD playing as Koroni drives him to a press conference at the Liberty Arms Assisted Living facility.
About 'Road Force One'
The van, which Ryan purchased a few months ago, has a TV and VCR, two large "Ryan for Congress" signs he uses when he stands on streets campaigning and a 3-day-old partially eaten poundcake.
The interior walls are covered with stickers of various Democratic candidates running this year. In the center of the pattern made by the stickers is a rectangular pin that features a large image of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., who is running for the seat as an independent and Ryan's former employer. Ryan says the pin is there as a joke.
"You'll have to excuse the mess," he said. "I practically live out of this van."
In between taking calls on his cellular telephone and reviewing his schedule for the day, Ryan grabs a football he keeps in the back of the van, and the former John F. Kennedy High School quarterback repeatedly flips the ball in his hands to get rid of some of his nervous energy.
He stretches out and places his feet on the top of Koroni's seat in front of him.
"When does this thing start?" asks Koroni, who knows Ryan is going to be at least 20 minutes late for the 9 a.m. press conference.
"When we get there," Ryan responds.
Press-conference time
The van pulls up to the nursing home. He grabs his suit jacket and raincoat and heads inside at 9:20 a.m.
There, he is greeted by Barbara Kennelly, a former 17-year congresswoman from Connecticut. Kennelly, who heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, is there to endorse Ryan's candidacy.
"It's the best job in the world; you'll love it," Kennelly tells Ryan about being a member of Congress.
There are 10 Liberty Arms residents at the press conference. They are almost outnumbered by Ryan staffers and the press.
Wherever Ryan goes, members of his staff are on hand.
Besides Koroni, Anastasia Staten, Ryan's campaign finance director; Ryan Keating, his issues director; and Ananda Hirsch of the Sierra Club, who is working for Ryan for a few weeks after the organization endorsed him, attend the press conference.
Before the event gets started, Ryan tells Koroni: "Hey, Shark, get those fingernail files." Koroni retrieves the "Ryan for Congress" nail files and hands them out. Nearly all are used immediately.
After the press conference, Ryan spends several minutes drinking coffee and talking with the residents, in particular five ladies, promising to take them to their favorite restaurant in January.
Ryan has plenty of time to get to a congressional debate in Akron so he and Koroni stop at a Belmont Avenue gas station. Koroni pumps the gas, while Ryan goes inside to pay with his credit card and to buy a few newspapers, a daily practice for the two.
Always the campaigner, Ryan asks the clerk who she's voting for. "I don't know. I guess you," she says. An older man in the store recognizes Ryan and says he is voting for him.
Ryan asks the clerk for a couple of lottery tickets. You can't pay for lottery tickets with a credit card so Ryan has to find $2 in cash for the tickets. He only has $1 worth of change in his pocket. Koroni comes in and gives Ryan $1.
Joking around
Also, Ryan hasn't signed the back of his credit card so the clerk asks for ID even though she recognizes him.
"Do you want my real ID or a fake one?" he jokes, a comment about his 1993 disorderly conduct conviction for having a fake ID in college that has been the focus of a TV commercial.
Then it's on to the University of Akron's Martin University Center for a debate with Republican Ann Womer Benjamin of Aurora.
Ryan is met outside in the rain and cold at 11:30 a.m. by a dozen people wearing Ryan shirts and holding up Ryan posters. Ryan greets them and others inside the center before being led to a private room downstairs for a quick bite to eat. Ryan eats a little macaroni salad while Jessica Fishel, his volunteer coordinator, eats a portion of his ham sandwich.
On the way to the debate, Ryan reads the newspapers and rips an article from one that he later quotes during the forum. He also quotes a Dave Matthews Band song in the debate, a song he heard earlier on the van's CD player.
The debate starts at 12:15 p.m. and is over 75 minutes later. Keating and Allen Ryan, Ryan's brother and campaign chairman, watch the debate from the back of the room. Ryan's mother, Rochelle, watches the debate from a nearby table.
Staying after
After the debate ends, Ryan hangs around the center for close to 30 minutes talking with supporters and giving a lengthy interview to an eager Kent State University student for the college's TV station.
Throughout the day, Ryan weighed whether he would take a tour of the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank, which is a few minutes from the college campus. He had canceled the tour twice so he goes, even though he is hungry.
"Maybe we can get some food there," he kids about the food bank.
Ryan and Koroni tour the food bank for about 45 minutes. The place is filled with food, but very few people.
It's 3 p.m. and finally time for a quick lunch because Ryan has to be in Cleveland for a TV interview at 4:30 p.m.
From there, Ryan and Koroni take a drive back to the Mahoning Valley. Ryan has to get ready for a campaign fund-raiser at McMenamy's Banquet Center in Niles, which takes up the rest of his night.
skolnick@vindy.com