Ryan’s presidential bid is about the Valley’s future

We have known Tim Ryan since 2000 when he first ran for elected office. But The Vindicator did not endorse him for the Ohio Senate, nor did we support him when he set his sights on Congress after just two years in Columbus. It was our judgment that he lacked maturity.

However, we continued to follow Ryan’s political career closely, and there came a time when we concluded that he warranted our support.

We haven’t regretted that decision.

As he has aged, he has grown politically, resulting in our endorsements becoming enthusiastic.

As we said last year when we urged voters to re-elect the Howland resident for a ninth, two-year term in the 13th District, “America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is a shining example of Congressman Ryan’s vision and leadership in transforming the region’s economy.”

It is his vision of how old industrial areas like the Mahoning Valley can be revitalized that makes his bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 compelling.

Ryan announced his candidacy Thursday during an appearance on the daytime TV talk show “The View” and in the evening as a guest of host Chris Cuomo on CNN. His announcement was covered by most of the national press.

The congressman met with The Vindicator’s Editorial Board on Monday and spent an hour or so with us discussing his presidential bid. We had agreed not to go public with the meeting until his segment on “The View.”

Without a doubt, Ryan is a long shot in the 16-candidate field – it will continue to grow. His greatest challenge is to raise enough money to make him competitive with the frontrunners, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran in 2016 and has millions of supporters.

We were impressed with Ryan’s realistic view of the race. He realizes other candidates for the Democratic primary have had a head start, but he also firmly believes he has a message that will resonate in this part of country.

His understanding of the new economy, including the high-tech aspect of manufacturing, and its application to old industrial areas sets him apart from most of the other presidential candidates.

Additive manufacturing

Indeed, as Ryan talked extensively and knowledgeably about additive manufacturing and his effort in establishing the nation’s first institute, America Makes, in downtown Youngstown, we were struck by the contrast with Republican President Donald Trump’s view of the world.

It will be recalled that Trump, who won the 2016 election by reaching out to blue-collar Democratic voters in regions like the Valley, promised to resurrect the steel industry and to spur American automobile manufacturing.

In mid-2017 after he had taken office, Trump did a victory lap in the Valley. He had carried predominantly Democratic Trumbull County and almost won in heavily Democratic Mahoning County.

He held a rally attended by about 7,000 supporters and told them not to sell their homes and not to move because the big steel mills that once dotted the banks of the Mahoning River would rise again. He also pledged that his policies would boost the 53-year-old GM Lordstown assembly plant.

Today, there aren’t any new steel mills along the river, and as for the auto industry, Trump has presided over the demise of the Lordstown plant.

Ryan has been on the front lines of the battle to develop federal economic policies that not only address the competitiveness of the global market, but also develop new ways of manufacturing.

“Where’s Trump’s national strategy for the U.S.?” Ryan asked rhetorically. Where, indeed?

The president knows his divide-and-conquer strategy put him in the White House, which is why he continues to cling to it.

At every stop Ryan made last week as he rolled out his candidacy, he talked about the divisions that now exist in the country that are preventing us from solving problems.

“Who benefits most from us being divided?” he asked. The answer he gave, and that forms the basis of his economic strategy, was on the mark: Russia and China. Those two economic powerhouses are giving the U.S. a run for its money around the world.

Ryan contends that he knows first- hand how difficult it is to create good-paying jobs when the federal government’s policies fall short.

Yes, Ryan’s bid for the Democratic nomination for president is a long shot. But if he can articulate what must be done to resurrect the economy of the Valley and other such areas, he will have accomplished a great deal.