More Road Photos
"Our cross country research and campaign travels have taken us down some 250,000 miles of American roads, many of them back roads. It has been a "Listening Tour" in the purest sense of that phrase, as we've listened to 'experts' and 'average Joe' citizens' takes on the issues of the day. And our platform, as you will read in the longer position papers, can best be described as: An American People's Platform." --Joe
"Family Restaurant"
The Family Table Restaurant in Urbana, Ohio, is a real "family" restaurant. Owner Brian Waller told me his employees consist of his wife, step son, mother-in-law, niece... Waller said this has brought them closer together as a family, just like it did for families working together in the "old days." We would do well to take a page out of the past on this one, especially with the way nuclear families are so scattered, geographically and otherwise, these days. (photo by Joe)
"Family farms"
I told the Country Today newspaper in Wisconsin that the small family farm was once the backbone of the country. Yet now they are in danger of becoming extinct. In our travels, we've talked to so many small farmers who are being run out of business by the ever evolving big corporate farms. Likewise, because the outlook for the small farm is so bleak, the next generation is moving off the small farms in droves. Pictured here is a small farm we came across in rural Pennsylvania that's in foreclosure. Our administration would work to not only save the family farm, but make it a dominant influence again in our country. (photo by Joe)
Abortion protest
As we've traveled, we've regularly stood in solidarity with people protesting abortion. We've protested in: Fargo, North Dakota; Bakersfield, California; Marquett, Michigan; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Warrren, Ohio... to name a few. Here we joined a group protesting in front of an abortion clinic in Ocala, Florida. It is our belief abortion won't end until enough people take to the streets regularly to create a climate similar to what was created in the South to end Segregation. And I told the Lewiston-Argus News in Montana that as president, I'd be out on the streets regularly continuing to protest. (We're at the 50 million abortion mark in this country. It's a Holocaust.) (Photo by Joe)
Adoption
During our Original 13 Colonies Tour, we met with John and Loise Mathews. The couple had recently adopted an 11 month old Chinese baby girl named Maya. The baby had been abandoned at birth, left in a bus station. (China has a "One-Child" policy, and boys are at a premium in that society.) There are scores of forced abortions, babies also being left in rice paddies, rivers... to die. As we have traveled, we have quite regularly come across Americans who have undertaken international adoptions to help in the face of so much pain elsewhere. As president, I would lobby to make these international adoptions be as smooth, and expedient, as possible. (photo by Joe)
City gymnastics
This is our son Joseph attempting to fly. (Just kidding.) Our daughter Sarah and son Joseph participated in an inner city gymnastics class in Cleveland. There were many programs for latch key kids, and others, in the city. My wife Liz and I coached Rec. Center soccer and baseball teams there. After the first baseball practice, I told the kids to go home and practice on their own. One of the kids sheepishly asked. "Can we borrow a baseball.?" As president, I'd mobilize a lot more help for kids in these rough situations. (photo by Joe)
Some metropolises
Although it's been primarily a "Back Roads of America Tour," we have done campaign stops in a good number of metropolitan areas as well. We have stumped in Cleveland, Ohio; Savannah, Georgia; Sacramento, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Columbus, Ohio; Huntington, West Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Chatanooga, Tennessee; Winnemuca, Nevada (okay, Winnemuca wasn't that big)... to name a few. Pictured here is Keiner Plaza in St. Louis, Missouri. In the shadow of "The Arch," we had done a whistle-stop event here earlier in the day. (photo by Joe)
Akron Catholic Worker
In Akron, Ohio, we stopped at a cluster of Akron Catholic Worker homes in a hardscrabble area of the city. Volunteers live in community with people they've helped off the streets. We have visited Catholic Worker "Houses of Hospitality" in Duluth Minnesota; Siler City, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio... to name some. The ethos behind the Catholic Worker Movement is simple. People are in need of shelter, so the volunteers, well, provide shelter. Here Catholic Worker volunteer Joe May Sr., hammer in hand, helps shore up one of these shelters. (photo by Joe)
Route 61
This was early on in the campaigning. And to be honest, I can't remember which state the picture was taken in. But I can tell you Rte. 61 was another rural back road on our way to more of "small town America." And we've stopped at hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds...) of small towns over the years. Small towns replete with good conversation chock full of small town "common sense." In fact, we've built a lot of the platform based on information we've gleaned from these small town conversations. In fact, we learned: how to balance the National Budget in Atwood, Kansas (pop. 1,500); how to end global warming in High Springs, Florida (3,863); how to end Third World poverty in Bluffton, Ohio (pop. 3,850)... See position papers.
Alternative vehicles
In Mt. Vernon, Ohio, we talked with Walter O'Dell who had recently purchased this electric pick-up truck, to help the environment -- and to save money. In our travels we have looked at a variety of alternative vehicle options. In Santa Cruz, California, they have electric scooter charging stations and the city offers financial incentives to purchase an electric scooter. We looked at expanding bicycle trails that are linking more and more towns, like one in southern Ohio that covers a 150 mile radius between three intermediate size towns (with all kinds of small town stops in between). At Bowling Green State University, we learned about a hybrid shuttle bus that is powered, in part, by the friction created by the bus's braking action. Then there's the 'ultimate' alternative form of transportation, walking. Anybody remember that? In High Springs, Florida, we met with Dan Burden (who Time Magazine called one of the top environmentalists in the country). He has designed a model called Walkable Communities, which is all about making a town as walking, bicycling and alternative vehicle friendly as possible. (photo by Joe)
Festivals
We have stumped at festivals and county fairs all across the country in our campaign travels. This picture is of our daughter Sarah, then 8, at a Old Fashion Festival in Southeastern, Ohio. Sarah (right) is with her friend Abby Hoyt from tiny Scio, Ohio. Abby's sister has the pottery booth in the background. She is actually quite an accomplished potter. It is our belief that we would do well to move away from mind-numbing, mass-producing assembly line work in America, and go back to a time when the artisan and craftsman did things slower and more personalized. What's more, it would be a time again when these artists and craftsman would be valued in their local communities for providing the "stuff of life." Items "made in America." Items made locally. See our position paper on the economy. (photo by Joe)
"Jack"
I talked with Jack in Mt. Vernon, Maryland (pop. 300). He's one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of small town people we've talked to around the country. Jack had lived in Mt. Vernon all his life. He said the town used to have a general store, a small grocery, a clothing store, a restaurant... Now, practically nothing. He said the downtown died as some of the big box retailers started coming to nearby Salsbury, Maryland. And so did some of the town spirit. He told me in 1937 a big house up the street burned down. It was a big family and the father didn't make much. So for Christmas, the town built the family a new home. "You know what they call that today?" Jack asked. "They call it 'insurance."' (Photo by Joe)
Family
When we're not on the road, we're, for the most part, you typical average Midwestern family. One of the things we most enjoy as a family activity are sports. We play football, basketball, baseball... and soccer. This scene was is from the back yard of our home in Bluffton, Ohio. It was our Sarah's birthday and we arranged a neighborhood soccer game for the occasion. A good time was had by all, except for the parents who were a little stiff in the morning. (Photo by Sports Illustrated - Just kidding, Photo by Joe)
Hiscpanics (cont.)
While looking at rural poverty in the South, we talked with Sr. Nona Meyerhofer, site director for the EXCEL Program in Morton, Mississippi. This is an after-school program for Hispanic children to help them to keep up with their studies and assimilate better into the culture. And we have looked at programs to help Hispanic children (legal and illegal) in El Paso, Texas; Ottawa, Ohio; Eunice, New Mexico... How can we look into the eyes of these little ones and think about sending them back into a world of extreme poverty, or extreme violence? How? Our focus should be on helping them as much as possible. Period. And our administration would do just that. (photo by Joe)
Native Americans (cont.)
This is a mural painted on a downtown building in the Osage Reservation of Oklahoma. We have traveled extensively looking at the Native American issue from almost every angle, and what keeps emerging is: We made a huge mistake at the beginning of this country. There was "ethnic cleansing" of a people, consistent swindling (or just taking by force) of land, an unconscionable suppressing of culture... Our position paper on Native American issues argues for tangible amends to the Native Americans. It has to be made right. The position paper was featured in the college text book: "Opposing Viewpoints -- Social Justice" [Greenhaven Press]. It ran opposite an essay by conservative talk show host Michael Regan (President Ronald Regan's son). He argues against amends. (photo by Joe)
Christ Room
Over the years, we've set aside a bedroom in our places for the homeless. This is one of the fellows we took in for a time. He is, in essence, a modern day "hobo" who has been on the road the past 20 years. He has a mental disorder (bi-polar) that makes living in community for any extended period of time, difficult. We took him in for a month at our home in Bluffton, Ohio, where he became quite a good buddy to our son Joseph. He and Joseph are pictured here just before he was headed out for another hitch hiking trip through the country. People like this often need long term quality mental health counseling, a care team of, say, concerned church members and financial help, vocational training, educational training... in order to get solidly on their feet. But as a society, we seldom prioritize these things -- and the homeless continue to live in desperation. (Photo by Joe)
Camden Harbor
Here I'm giving a "stump speech" with Camden (ME) Harbor in the background. I said this opulence, whether expensive sail boats or million dollar homes on the hill, is keeping others sleeping under bridges in our cities, and children in the Third World starving to death. In Connecticut, on the way to Maine, we had heard about a Compassion International volunteer who relayed a story about a Third World mother who had recently drowned her two children in the sea -- because she couldn't stand to see them: slowly starve to death. There is only so much money (goods, resources...) to go around. And greed in one part of the global society, ripples through the rest. That simple. (Photo by Liz)
Wholesomeness
I walked in solidarity with a group protesting a "Gentleman's Club" in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The group was made up of people from area churches. Rev. Ron Lash of Corinthian's Baptist Church told me that the club sends the wrong message to area youth -- and it was time the adults took a public stand. And it is time 'the adults' took a stand across-the-board in America for wholesomeness on the streets, in the media... I told The Review newspaper in Alliance, Ohio, that we'd like to see the country go back to the 1950's, where there was a slower pace of life, neighbors helping neighbors more, a stronger sense of wholesomeness... (photo by Joe)
Truck Stops
While other presidential candidates may stay at The Hyatt, and so on... This is just one of hundreds of truck stops we've stayed in for the night over the years. (It's been a low-budget campaign.) Here our daughter Sarah is showing her younger brother, Jonathan, a row of "18-wheelers." As we've traveled, we've developed quite a camaraderie with truckers -- a modern day version of cowboys, continually riding their "steel steeds." (photo by Joe)
Terrorism
There have been hundreds and hundreds of stops at all sorts of "American points of interest." Few have been more poignant than the memorial to the Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, a result of domestic terrorism. Across the street is a statue of Jesus. He's crying. The inscription: "Jesus wept." (photo by Joe)
Americana themes
Our tours have, for the most part, had "Americana themes." Here we are pictured at the Washington coast after following the Lewis & Clark Trail during Campaign 2000. (It was Christmas time and we had put a wreath on the front grill of our rather well-worn campaign vehicle.) Some of the other tours have included: The Old National Pike Tour; The 13 Colonies Tour; The Deep South Tour; The Old Route 66 Tour; The Country Music Highway Tour; The Appalachian Tour; The Trail of Tears Tour... (photo by some guy who was walking by)
Grassroots democracy
Here I'm giving a stump speech (minus the "stump") at a downtown plaza in Newport, Rhode Island. Whether giving a talk, doing a media interview, conversing one-on-one in the street... a little more "grassroots democracy" takes place. Some version of this has happened thousands of times across the country in the past 12 years of our campaigning, and what America should be all about. I once told Ohio Magazine: "Hey, this is America. Anybody should be able to do this." (photo by Liz)