ONUMBA.COM – It goes without saying that no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio, which easily explains why the Romney campaign is pouring gobs of wampum in the Buckeye State.

But just how bad does Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney really want to win Ohio’s 18 electoral votes?

Apparently, bad enough that Romney said this, “We need to win Ohio. If we win Ohio, we take back America.”

And bad enough that his 42-year old running mate Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan last week took over a soup kitchen in Youngstown for a photo-op without gaining permission from the president of the facility.

But it wasn’t just Ryan being in the kitchen that was the kicker. It was what he did when he got there. While in the kitchen, Ryan, who was decked out in a white apron, was photographed washing pots and pans that appeared very clean.

It was a 15-minute visit to the soup kitchen for a photo-op that went terribly awry. It resulted in a pointless publicity for the Romney campaign, forcing it to explain why Ryan snuck into a soup kitchen pretending to be washing dishes without asking the president of the facility if it was OK to do so.

Ryan offered explanation for what he was doing in a soup kitchen.

“We just wanted to come by and say thanks for doing what you do,” Ryan said. “This is what makes society go. It makes it work. Helping people.”

That was a nice clarification , but the president of the facility didn’t appreciate it.

“We are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Brian Antal told the Washington Post, as he kvetched that Ryan pretty much
“ramrodded their way” into the facility without asking the people who runs the place.

It all begs the fundamental question: Why was it that important for Ryan to be seen in a soup kitchen to start with?

That’s easy. For one thing, for politicians running for office, it seemingly conveys, even if it is phony, a connection to struggling hoipolloi.

For another, especially in this case, it might be a continuation of Ryan’s effort during his debate with opponent Joe Biden to debunk the notion that the Romney campaign is only looking out for millionaires and billionaires and intrinsically detached from the pain and concerns of average folks.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2012 Onumba.com.

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