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Press kept at bay during Veep Biden’s visit
Joe Biden Visits Valley
Gallery
Vice President Joe Biden stopped in the Valley today to campaign for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. He stopped at the Golden Dawn in Youngstown and Astro Shapes in Struthers.
On the side...
6th District race: A poll commissioned by Bill Johnson, the Republican candidate in the 6th Congressional District, shows him ahead of U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, the incumbent Democrat. The poll of 400 likely voters in the district has Johnson ahead of Wilson 46 percent to 44 percent.
I don’t doubt that in an anti-Democrat and anti-incumbent political climate the results of this congressional race could be very close.
But the poll must be taken with a few grains of salt. First, the margin of error is 4.9 percent. Second, Johnson’s campaign paid for the poll, which was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican political polling company.
Vice President Joe Biden can talk and talk and talk.
But when it comes to the Mahoning Valley media, he kept his mouth shut.
Also, the White House staff and volunteers at Astro Shapes in Struthers, where Biden spoke Monday, refused to allow the local media to talk to those there before the rally started.
The crowd was filled with local politicians, their campaign staffers and Astro Shapes employees. What could they possibly say that would make the White House look bad?
Before Biden came to the Struthers plant, he met with six invited guests at the Golden Dawn Restaurant on Youngstown’s North Side as well as mingle with those at the diner.
The Golden Dawn location was supposed to be a secret. But two local Democratic sources and Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign confirmed where the lunch visit was to be.
That seemed to bother the White House as officials there claimed the location was uncertain even though it ended up being at the Golden Dawn to the surprise of no one. Biden talked so much at the diner that he didn’t touch his lunch and was at least 30 minutes late to Astro Shapes.
I also was delayed in making it to Astro Shapes, but it had nothing to do with Biden.
A Norfolk & Southern Railroad train stopped dead on the tracks blocking dozens of cars, including mine, on the way to Astro Shapes.
After waiting for 15 minutes, I walked to the front of the train and asked the woman inside what was going on.
She gave me an answer that I couldn’t hear. When I asked when the train was going to leave, she was done with me. She closed the window she had open and sat down.
Struthers officials say this isn’t unusual, but they were more upset than usual because of the timing of Biden’s visit.
After 25 minutes, the train went in reverse about 20 feet and I made it to Astro Shapes.
The speech was far from compelling, but it wasn’t bad.
Some of you may be wondering about being the pool reporter. I still get comments about my May 21 column on being the pool reporter for President Barack Obama’s visit to V&M Star in Youngstown.
A pool reporter is present when very important politicians are in restricted and/or private areas and then tells the other journalists what happened.
The White House asked me if I wanted to be the pool reporter for Biden’s speech at a fundraiser at the Canfield home of Bruce and Rori Zoldan.
“No,” I quickly responded.
Instead that responsibility fell to Vindicator reporter Elise Franco, who had no idea what she was getting herself into.
She was ordered by White House staff to sit in a bedroom at the Zoldan house — essentially a political hostage — with a White House “babysitter” until five minutes before Biden spoke. She was then returned to the same room and not allowed to leave the Zoldan compound until 10 minutes had passed after Biden’s departure.
It’s the White House’s version of reporter snatch and release.
Of course, Biden didn’t say anything new, but Franco had to submit her pool report.