Last week, Paul Ryan made a stop at a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio ... about 50 yards from where I work. I was on vacation and out of touch, so I didn't even know he was going to be there.

I'm not sure if what happened during his visit got any play outside of our area, but here's a couple stories about it. What happened isn't terribly important as far as the election goes, but I thought I'd post it anyway ...


Soup kitchen visit by Ryan stirs anger

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN

The president of Mahoning County’s St. Vincent de Paul Society is “shocked” and “angry” that Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan used the soup kitchen for a “publicity stunt.”

Brian J. Antal, who runs the society, said the campaign “ramrodded themselves in there” without getting proper permission for the visit Saturday that followed Ryan’s town-hall meeting at Youngstown State University.

“They said they got permission from the right people, but that would have been me, and I never would have given them permission,” Antal said Monday.

Juanita Sherba, St. Vincent’s Saturday coordinator for the dining hall, said she gave the Ryan campaign approval that day for the visit by the candidate and his family.

Sherba say she now realizes it wasn’t her call to make.

The event “was a photo op,” she said. “It was the phoniest piece of baloney I’ve ever been associated with. In hindsight, I would have never let him in the door.”

http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/oct/1...n-stirs-anger/
And then the backlash ...

Soup kitchen takes financial hit after Ryan photo-op flap

YOUNGSTOWN — The president of Mahoning County’s St. Vincent de Paul Society says the agency has taken a financial hit after his criticism of Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s visit to the soup kitchen made national news.

“The amount of people who called and said they were donors who would stop contributing is substantial,” said Brian J. Antal, who runs the society.

When asked for specifics, Antal said “donations are private,” but of the people who’ve called, “dozens have identified themselves” and are donors.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/oct/1...yan-photo-/?nw