It's 'White House or Bust' for Average Joe

The presidential candidate says Americans have tired of political glitz.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Joseph Schriner walked into a local newsroom, introduced himself and let it be known that he was running for president.
"President of what?" queried a reporter.
"The United States of America," responded Schriner, who characterizes himself as "Average Joe."
Schriner is an independent candidate for president this year and most likely will run again in 2008. His name didn't appear on any presidential ballots in 2000, although he campaigned.
"This is not a publicity stunt. It's almost been 14 years of our lives," Schriner explained after setting up a campaign spot Thursday near the McKinley Memorial.
The 49-year-old Cleveland native travels in two vans -- one with 210,000 miles on it -- with his wife, Liz, a native New Zealander, and three children, Joseph, 6, Sarah, 8, and 18-month-old Jonathon.
Passing motorists honked their horns while Sarah waved the American flag and his oldest son carried a sign of encouragement to those driving by.
"White House or Bust" read a sign on one of the vans.
"People are fed up with the money and glitz," Schriner said of the political campaigns.
"My wife and I are concerned parents," Schriner said.
It's not just their pro-life position on abortion, he pointed out. It's about a climate of drugs, explicit sex, violence and increased pollution.
Campaign
Existing mostly on donations, the family has been traveling throughout the country, planting ideas of how to better America.
For example, he learned of a project in Maine that uses energy produced by sea waves. It makes the air a little cleaner and reduces the need for fossil fuels. During his stops at sea-coast communities, Schriner plants the idea of such an energy-saving system through his interviews with the media and in talks to groups.
In Newport, R.I., Schriner found out about Women to Women, a group that provides scholarships to pregnant women so they can continue their education or for food and housing. Another town might find out about it through him during his campaign.
"We win. Right there we win," the former journalist asserted.
"It's a very frugal campaign," Schriner admitted.
They eat and sleep in the vans that also have toilets. The people they meet on the road let them use their showers or they use the facilities at truck plazas.
Besides donations, the candidate does free-lance work while at home in Buffton in western Ohio, between Lima and Findlay.
"It's always been enough to get us to the next town," said Schriner, a Bowling Green State University graduate, of the donations that keep them going.
Sometimes, Schriner isn't always upbeat.
"There are days where I feel like the Cleveland Indians back in the '70s" when they weren't winning at all, he said.
yovich@vindy.com