Cleveland Plain Dealer - Coleman Hits The Road

(Cleveland Plain Dealer)Governor hopeful steps out on trail to hear from voters Sunday, March 20, 2005 Sandy Theis Plain Dealer Reporter Bowling Green, Ohio -- At the Grounds for Thought coffee shop, college sophomore Niki Messmore gave Ohio's political leaders something to chew on. "Tuition is too high," said Messmore, an undergraduate education major at Bowling Green State University. And jobs are too few, she added. With a hint of resignation, she confessed a desire to stay in Ohio but a belief that the wobbly economy will force her to leave her family and friends. "I don't want my children growing up like this," she said. "Things have to change." Messmore was among hundreds who showed up in cities and villages in Northwest Ohio to chat with Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, who came to seek their views on solutions to Ohio's problems. "She is the essence of this campaign," said Coleman, the lone Democrat to announce plans to run for governor next year. "This is why I'm running." Saturday marked the first day of Coleman's three-day swing though 16 counties in Northwest Ohio, a trip that began in front of his boyhood home in Toledo, where nearly 100 former neighbors, friends and family vowed to help him end the Republican dominance of Ohio politics. But after leaving the solidly Democratic city, Coleman headed into a string of mostly rural "red" counties, visiting the very places that helped George Bush win Ohio and the White House last fall. "I want to be the governor for everyone," Coleman said during every stop. "Colum bus has ne glected this re gion of the state, and when I go to the governor's mansion, I'm taking you with me." At a Fulton County restaurant, voters debated whether it was about 25 years or nearly 40 years since a Democrat running for statewide office had stopped in for a visit. Rather than tell voters his plans for governor, Coleman sought the voters' advice. Most of them began to give it slowly, then eventually unleashed a litany of complaints. In Napoleon, they talked of mega-farms that consume too many water resources. In Wauseon, they asked why Ohio does not invest more in higher education. In Bryan, they groused about underfunded public schools that lead to endless property tax levies and divide neighbors who can afford higher property taxes from those who cannot. Everywhere, they talked of jobs -- the good ones they've lost, the low-wage ones that replaced them and the jobs they fear their children will never have. Coleman promised more-detailed policy initiatives after he has toured the state to hear what voters have to say. He did, however, say what he would not do -- live beyond the state's means. From 2001 to 2004, the city of Columbus saw its spending increase by just 1 percent, Coleman said. During the same time, the state of Ohio's spending went up by 25 percent. He talked of a state government mismanaged by 12 years of Republican rule. He said his record as mayor positions him well to understand the challenges the next governor will face. Democrats gave him a warm reception, but he also won over a few Republicans. Outside of Spengler's restaurant in Napoleon, Phil Brown stopped to stare at Coleman's campaign bus, the same bus Bill Clinton used during his 1996 re-election campaign. Eyeing the sign on the side of the bus, "Mike Coleman -- Making a Difference for Ohio," Brown stopped and asked "Who is Mike Coleman?" After learning of Coleman's run for governor, Brown volunteered that he's a Republican -- always has been. And he's not going to change parties, not now, not ever. So what does Brown think of Ohio's present governor, Republican Bob Taft? Republicans in Columbus need to learn a lesson, he said: "They don't listen. They're a bunch of know-it-alls.' " Brown said that perhaps he will listen "to this Coleman guy" and if he likes what he hears, he "might vote for a Democrat -- just this once." To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: stheis@plaind.com, 1-800-228-8272