One of the best things about my job as The Daily Signal’s editor-in-chief is hearing from you, our readers. And judging from the amount of correspondence we receive every day, there’s never a shortage of emails, comments, and tweets to keep me busy.
So when we invited you to tell us how we were doing earlier this week, I was eager to see the responses. You certainly didn’t disappoint. I’ll share a few of my favorites later this week. But first, I want to tell you about a story from this summer in central Ohio.
It was the third day of the Republican National Convention, and I was eating breakfast at a place called Memories, a restaurant in Richfield, Ohio, just across the street from the Super 8 where I was staying. Away from the big event in Cleveland, it’s exactly the type of place you want to be to get the scoop on what locals really think about the hullabaloo.
As I finished my scrambled eggs and bacon, I prepared to head in the opposite direction of Cleveland. You see, The Daily Signal was created by The Heritage Foundation to tell the stories that go unreported by the liberal media. And after two days in Cleveland, I was tired of being part of the pack.
Our reporter Melissa Quinn and I decided to do something different. She would head north to Ottawa County, which supported President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. I’d head to Crawford County in central Ohio, which historically supports Republicans.
We picked both places because they were home to an Ohio tradition that day: the county fair.
Residents show off their livestock at the Crawford County Fair in Bucyrus, Ohio, located southwest of Cleveland. (Photo: Rob Bluey/The Daily Signal)
I’d done something similar the year before on my drive from Washington, D.C., to Cleveland for the first presidential debate. That August, I stopped in Lisbon, Ohio, at the Columbiana County Fair. When I arrived in Cleveland that evening for the debate, I remember telling another reporter about my day only to have him look at me with bewilderment—“Why waste your time?”
But while other journalists thought it was useless to talk to actual Ohioans, for me it was an important clue about the growing disdain for Washington and the appeal of Donald Trump. In fact, my story began, “Prize-winning cattle are more popular than politicians…”
Our Commitment to Tell Your Stories
Now, 11 months later, I found myself sitting at a picnic table and sharing a bag of potato chips with the good people from Bucyrus. Their stories were similar to those I heard a year earlier, only now much more passionate. Their support for Trump convinced me he would win Ohio.
That day was more rewarding than any other this year. Getting to spend time with someone like Tim Allamon was an eye-opening experience. He once worked for a now-shuttered General Motors plant in nearby Mansfield, which at its peak employed 3,500 people. The plant closed in 2010.
The thing that struck me about Allamon was that he’s probably like so many of our Daily Signal readers. When he was working for GM and serving alongside members of the United Auto Workers union, he brought copies of Heritage Foundation research reports to meetings to educate co-workers about policy debates playing out in Washington.
The more time I spent in Bucyrus, I realized that the folks there were so excited to talk because no other media outlet had given them an opportunity to tell their stories—or even listen to them, let alone show up at a county fair.
At the Crawford County Fair in Bucyrus, Ohio, attendees participate in a free-throw competition. (Photo: Rob Bluey/The Daily Signal)
As an editor, I don’t often get the opportunity to spend time in the field on assignment. Thankfully, we’re fortunate to have a team of reporters telling stories like this every day. Their mission is to report how Washington’s policymaking affects real people like you.
Your Feedback Matters to Us
How do we know if we’re succeeding or failing? We count on your feedback—emails are the best, but we’ll take it however you’d like to send it.
One of my favorites arrived in July after publishing the story from Ohio’s county fairs.
Douglas wrote: “Rarely is good research and reasoning combined with entertaining storytelling … with accomplished literary skill. I was on the ‘edge of my seat’ while I read the article … You are part of the solution.”
Bruce added: “Great story. Hopefully in four years you can return to these counties but with a different angle. Two counties that went Republican in 2016.”
In fact, Bruce, they did just that. Crawford was never in doubt. Ottawa County, which supported Obama twice, went for Trump by 20 percentage points in November.
Galen noted: “Yours was an impressive story detailing the mindsets of people in Ohio about Obama, Democrats, and the general disillusionment Americans have with our economy, failure to protect our borders, encroaching government into every aspect of our lives, and the fact that significant numbers of people are opting for Trump.”
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