Brian Peach
Daily Egyptian
With more than 100 people blocking any sight of Jim Ryan, Pearl Field sat in her wheelchair near the back of the Williamson County Airport and carefully listened to the gubernatorial candidate address his fellow Republicans.
Field, an avid supporter of Ryan, showed up with her husband and granddaughter to hear what the candidate had to say on issues such as Medicare and Medicaid.
"I would have liked to see him, but it's just too crowded," Field said. "We're out here because [the gubernatorial election] means a lot to us."
Ryan is campaigning for governor by traveling throughout the state and sharing his views and ideals with anyone who will listen. He said that two major issues he wishes to address in Southern Illinois are health care and education.
"I'm doing a fly-around and talking about my pledge to make health care more accessible," Ryan said. "A governor has to be truly connected with the people."
Field and her family are Republicans from Saline County who, along with nearly 120 others, came out to cheer on their favorite gubernatorial candidate. The cheers and clapping echoed throughout the airport waiting area where the only place left to stand and still be able to see was on a stairwell where Murphysboro resident Nick Glavin watched Ryan from 10 feet off the ground.
"I've supported Ryan since his first days as attorney general, and I'm just here to show my support," he said. "It'd be nice to be up front, but I can hear just as good from up here."
The gubernatorial election is not until November, but Ryan is wasting little time trying to make himself look better and his opponent look worse. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, is the only other candidate running for governor, and Ryan used a portion of his time pointing out all the negatives about him. Some campaign workers and supporters of Ryan also passed out numerous anti-Blagojevich flyers to the crowd as they left the airport.
Field's husband, Chas, who goes by simply "Dude," said he was unhappy with government as a whole and looks forward to a change. He hopes Ryan will be more successful in passing legislation on education and veteran's rights.
"[Ryan] says he's going to turn government around," Dude said. "We definitely need that."
One of the issues Ryan said he wants to tackle as governor is corruption among politicians. He thinks a negative image of those in politics has developed because of the actions of a select few.
"In order to restore trust in government, we must get at all the sleaze problems," he said.
After he addressed the crowd and answered questions regarding everything from the veteran's home in Anna, to the string of prison closings taking place throughout the state, Ryan shook hands with supporters and paused for a token photo opportunity with a baby.
Grady, who will be 1 year old on Aug. 17, came with his dad, Lindsey Powell, to Ryan's conference, and Powell was pleased that Ryan picked his son to take a picture with. Powell works at Vienna Prison and hopes Ryan will help improve education so his son will benefit as he grows. He brought Grady to the airport with hopes to share his Republican beliefs with his son.
"It's never too early to get them active in politics," Powell said.
Reporter Brian Peach can be reached at bpeach@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
