Avon, Ohio-- On Saturday morning, hours before also making remarks at former President Donald Trump's Save America Rally in Youngstown, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, JD Vance spoke before a crowd of an estimated 150-200 attendees at a standing room only event.
Vance spoke candidly of his upbringing throughout his remarks, which included being raised by his Mamaw and Papaw due to his mother's drug addiction. He used his personal experiences to relate to the crowd, and applied them to issues facing the country today. This included how they could at times not always afford hamburger and hotdog buns, and so at times would use white bread instead.
"And the reason I tell you that story is think about the terrible inflation we're facing in this country, inflation caused by Joe Biden and Tim Ryan's reckless spending and reckless spending policies. It is caused by them, it was fine two years ago, they came into office and did what they were going to do, and now we have this terrible inflation problem," Vance said, invoking his opponent's name.
Vance shared that when he was speaking with one of the leaders of the biggest grocery store chains in the country, he was told they had seen a decrease in hotdog and hamburger bun sales, and a "drastic increase" in white bread. "That is because of their policies," Vance emphasized, referring to President Joe Biden and. Rep. Tim Ryan.
Inflation once more came up during a press gaggle following the event. Vance said that while he heard "a lot" about gas prices six months ago, he's now hearing "a lot about food prices" and that "the inflation thing is still top of mind, but the basket of goods people are focused on, is just much more on food." He offered "that's in some ways more heartbreaking" as "food is even more necessary to live than gasoline is."
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Vance spoke more about Ryan during the end of his remarks, and how the mainstream media may try to frame the race. "We have a tough campaign, okay? Again, I don't believe the media when they say that we're doing well, I don't believe the media when they say that we're doing badly."
That "tough campaign," Vance reasoned, is "because Tim Ryan, who has voted 100 percent with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, has run for three months using out-of-state-money, fraudulent TV commercials that frames him as a moderate, or even a conservative," despite how "he has voted for everything that has made this country less free, less prosperous, and less secure."
He told the crowd to "look at the guy's voting record," cautioning he's "not a Joe Manchin Democrat." While Vance offered "I don't agree with a lot of Joe Manchin's votes," there's at least still some wondering left to how Manchin might vote. That's not the case with Ryan. "With Tim Ryan, you never have to wonder. He's going to vote exactly how Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden tell him to vote."
Thus, Vance reminded those in attendance, "we have a job to do over the next couple of days," and that he specifically has a job in raising money for TV and radio ads so that they can correct the record on his opponent. He did offer assurances there will be more coming as the election approaches.
Vance also urged the crowd to "tell every person on social media, at the dinner table, tell your friends, and tell your neighbors that Tim Ryan is not who he is pretending to be," listing out specific policies.
"This is a guy who says he doesn't support defunding the police, but has voted to strip qualified immunity from our police officers only two years ago. This is a guy who says he doesn't support an open border, but has never seen a border enforcement measure that he actually votes for. This is a guy who says he supports Ohio workers, but has voted for every single Biden policy that destroys the American energy and the American manufacturing sector, which is what Ohio workers actually depend on to get to work and to do their jobs," Vance said about Ryan.
Towards the end of his remarks Vance declared that "Tim Ryan, ladies and gentleman, is a fraud. We know it and it's our job to make sure the state of Ohio knows it."
After the event, Vance took a question from Townhall about remarks he made on Fox News' "Hannity," in which he assured the host that "so long as we can tell the truth, Sean, we're going to do just fine in November."
When asked "what do you think is the most important issue that people correct the record on," Vance told Townhall that he's focused on how "we have to tell the truth just generally," but also again brought it back to his opponent.
"Tim Ryan is not the moderate he claims to be. I mean I think that this is a guy who is effectively running as the diet version of me, when actually his voting record is that he believes exactly the opposite. So I think it's especially--we have to correct the record on my opponent because he's just taking all of my issues, most of which are popular, some of which aren't, but you know, I believe it, so you go with the popular and the unpopular. I think it's really making sure people know that Ryan is not a moderate, that he's voted with Biden 100 percent of the time, and that a lot of the policies that people in Ohio don't agree with are there because Tim Ryan's record," Vance shared.
The issue with Ryan is not just his voting record, but that "now of course Ryan has also said a lot of dishonest things about me, he's lied about my nonprofit organization, he's lied about my positions on trade," which Vance acknowledged "is the nature of campaigns, and we have to correct the record on that stuff too."
Vance currently has a lead in the polls, an average of +2.7 according to RealClearPolitics. Forecasters also favor the Republican, with the race being considered "Lean Republican" or "Likely Republican." Decision Desk HQ currently gives Vance a 72 percent chance of winning.
Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who spoke before Vance, had warned against "complacency," though he nevertheless predicted Vance will "win big."
It was very much a theme throughout Saturday morning's event, that the mainstream media has gone with a narrative, which is not what the nominee is focusing on. Bernie Moreno, who ran against Vance in the primary, spoke earlier at the event, at which point he called for unifying behind Vance. He also warned the crowd that Ryan has the mainstream media behind them.
Vance echoed Moreno's warnings, while making clear he does not care about what the mainstream media thinks of the race, but what Ohioans do, which earned him applause from the crowd.
Following the event, its organizer, Tomie Patton, who serves as the president of Republicans of Avon Lake Avon, also spoke to Townhall about what she's been hearing on the ground, in contrast to her view that the ever-changing polls show the media "just likes to try to rile people up and promote their thinking, their agenda."
Voters, on the other hand, Patton affirmed, are excited about the race, which she emphasized "goes along with inflation" as "the big issue."
While Patton was clear that "nothing is energized like running in a Trump year," this still is "an exciting year, because Republicans really have an opportunity to do something for the country," adding that "if the Republicans win, it will be a drastic change in the direction of this country."
Noting that "people are scared," especially when it comes to what has happened to Trump and "government overreach," Patton also said "I've never seen people as knowledgeable about what's going on, not that everybody is, but more people, and a lot more people are engaged." Patton affirmed "for an off year, this is a very energetic year."
At his rally, Trump also warned about Rep. Ryan, as pollster Rich Baris highlighted.
Trump follows it up with, "It's total bullshit."
— Rich Baris "The People's Pundit" (@Peoples_Pundit) September 18, 2022
While calling into "Morning Joe" last Tuesday, Ryan declared we have to "kill and confront that movement" of so-called "extremist Republicans." Ironically, he made such a comment as an aide when trying to portray himself as bipartisan.
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