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Former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste returns to campaign trail for Hillary Clinton after 25-year absence
YOUNGSTOWN
When Dick Celeste left the Ohio gubernatorial position more than 25 years ago, he stepped away from political campaigning, but has returned for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I’ve been politically inactive since 1991,” but “this election is so important, and I’m concerned that many people who have a legitimate gripe about what’s going on in Washington don’t realize what a flimflam man [Republican nominee] Donald Trump is,” Celeste said Monday in an interview with The Vindicator.
“I’m saddened that we are at a point in our country where there is so much skepticism about government that people would – I think it’s an act of desperation – to be inclined to support him,” Celeste said. “I understand the frustration, but I think that if we contrast the behavior and the conduct between Hillary and Donald Trump, we’ll see how extraordinary the difference is.”
Celeste started campaigning Monday for Clinton in Ohio, saying he will do so until next Tuesday.
“I wanted to do everything I could to help Hillary in one of her most important swing states,” he said during a gathering of about 15 Clinton supporters at a North Richview Avenue house on the city’s West Side.
Celeste lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he served as president of Colorado College from 2002 to 2011.
He said he’s known Clinton for 30 years, having met her when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was governor of Arkansas and he had the same position in Ohio. Celeste worked with Hillary Clinton when he was director of the Democratic National Committee’s health-care campaign in 1993 in which the then-first lady led the unsuccessful effort to implement universal health care.
Bill Clinton appointed Celeste as ambassador to India, a position he held from November 1998 until April 2001.
When asked about criticism about Hillary Clinton’s honesty, Celeste said, “In my personal dealings with Hillary over 30 years, I’ve found her to be completely honest. It’s not to say she’s perfect. It’s not to say she hasn’t made mistakes, but she will admit them and she will learn from them, contrary to” Trump.