Friday, September 30, 2016
Michele Bieber of Trumbull County, a Lordstown General Motors worker, is the focus of a one-minute web ad critical of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The ad comes from Local Voices, a Democratic Super PAC. The ad can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hD-G03zQUY
The Core Team of Union Baptist Church is hosting a candidates and issues forum at the church, 528 Lincoln Ave. in Youngstown, from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday. Candidates for every office on the ballot in Mahoning County as well as representatives from the two Youngstown citizen-initiative charter amendments and the Mahoning County Developmental Disabilities renewal levy are invited to attend.
The planning of the Republican vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence visit to Leetonia High School was a bit unusual.
That the campaign chose Leetonia High School in Columbiana County is commendable as small villages like that rarely get visits from vice-presidential candidates and the school did a nice job hosting.
However, it seemed like someone on the Donald Trump presidential campaign arbitrarily chose a place for the rally.
That was the impression Rob Mehno, Leetonia superintendent of schools, left with me. He said the high school principal received a call that “they were looking for a school or a venue between Youngstown, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We were randomly selected.”
On top of that, Columbiana County Republican Chairman Dave Johnson, one of the state’s most prominent chairmen, told me the Trump campaign didn’t contact him about a location. He was certainly pleased with Leetonia, but I don’t see how you can go into Columbiana County and not at least ask Johnson about such an event.
As I do for every event like this, I requested a one-on-one interview with Pence. I don’t do this for an ego trip. I do this to better inform my readers. I’ve interviewed numerous presidential and vice-presidential nominees since 2004.
That hasn’t been the case in this election, but I’m hopeful that will change in the final weeks before Nov. 8.
I’m not the only journalist who seeks access and doesn’t get it.
Campaigns prefer to grant interviews to television for a variety of reasons, and in this particular case, a local station and one from Columbus got a few minutes each with Pence.
Here’s something that most people don’t know: the TV reporters who asked the limit of three questions to Pence had to submit them to the campaign before asking.
I’ve had campaigns ask me in general terms what I’m going to ask, but have never experienced that. The Trump-Pence campaign isn’t the first to do it, but it’s unacceptable.
As a journalist, sometimes what the candidate says at a rally isn’t the big news.
For me, the appearance of Kathy Miller in the front row of the rally was a bigger story than Pence’s praises of Trump.
Miller, who was Trump’s Mahoning County campaign chairwoman and a Republican member of the Electoral College, garnered international headlines a week ago for numerous comments she made to The Guardian about African-Americans and that racism didn’t exist until President Barack Obama.
The comments were refuted by Republicans, who immediately got her to resign as chairwoman and Electoral College member, and pointed to by Democrats as proof that Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, is a racist.
Miller told me last week that the comments were “inappropriate” and apologized because of the problems it caused for Trump and not for the statements.
Miller said she was at Pence’s Wednesday rally because her son wanted to be there and she was in the front row because she got there early.
When I sought comment from the Trump campaign, Seth Unger, its Ohio communications director, texted me: “Kathy Miller is no longer affiliated with the campaign and the event in Leetonia was open to the public.”
However, Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras sharply criticized the Trump campaign for having Miller – “whose ignorant, abhorrently racist comments were the subject of worldwide derision” – stay in the front row.
It “provides clear evidence that Donald Trump and his campaign embrace the type of bigotry for which she was justifiably criticized,” he said.
He added that Miller received “preferential treatment” by the campaign as it’s not that easy to get a front-row spot at a rally.
Johnson called me Thursday morning upset about the article saying it gave the strong suggestion that the campaign embraces Miller when that’s not true.
“That her comments would be accepted and acceptable by anyone in the campaign and be supported ... nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. “She wasn’t invited or given preferential treatment.”
Johnson also said, “I categorically reject the statements that David Betras said as wrong and I’m calling him out on it.”
Johnson said if a Ku Klux Klan member was at the public rally, the campaign wouldn’t throw him or her out.
Betras said,” They can throw people out. [Johnson] is mad the campaign got caught with their pants down.”
I’ve seen people tossed out of Democratic and Republican rallies, but it’s usually because they’re trying to shout down the candidate or create a distraction. Trump is well-known for personally pointing to people and having them tossed out of his events.
“Someone should have alerted the advance team that Kathy Miller was there in the front row – and you can’t tell me no one noticed her after the international publicity she received,” Betras said. “They should have asked her to leave, but they did nothing because no one cared.”
Instead, Betras said, “They allowed Pence to be photographed with Kathy Miller.”