RNC 2016: Paul Ryan to Ohio delegates, ‘We need to show a better path’

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was the featured guest at the Ohio delegation’s breakfast event this morning at the DoubleTree Hotel.

Ryan, who spoke for 16 minutes, touched on a number of topics during his talk.

“This country is heading in the wrong direction,” Ryan said. “We need to go back to our founding principles; take those principles and apply them to the problems of the day and find solutions. … We need to show a better path.”

Ryan said if Hillary Clinton is elected the next President, it will be a third term of Barack Obama.

“We’re all on the same team. We all want the same thing,” Ryan said. “Voting for anybody other than Donald Trump means you’re voting for Hillary Clinton.”

Ryan commended Ohio’s legislative leaders, calling them “workhorses. They just get things done.”

“This is the core of the country,” Ryan said. “Ohio is middle America, the determiner of where this nation goes.”

CLICK FOR COMPLETE CONVENTION COVERAGE

Trump sealed the Republican nomination Tuesday night.

Ohio — which voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich during the state’s March primary — cast its 66 votes for Kasich.

” … Now we move forward and see what can happen in the state of Ohio,” said former Congressman Dave Hobson, a first-time delegate, from Springfield. “It will be very difficult for some of the things that happened in this state for Trump to win this state.”

Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said if Trump and his campaign continue to criticize Kasich in Ohio, “(Trump’s) going to lose.”

"The conventions are the time to come behind the nominee, and that's exactly what we came here to do," Borges said. "The Trump campaign got things off to an incredibly bad start. (Trump's campaign manager) Paul Manafort made a terrible mistake at the beginning of the week, but look, people make mistakes. Sometimes they're really stupid mistakes. But then you get an opportunity to recover from those mistakes."

According to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Trump must redirect his message this week for the GOP to regain the White House. Trump needs to change his tenor by the time he wraps up his acceptance speech Thursday night, Husted said.

Trump “has effectively tapped into the frustration and anger that’s out there among people who have been left behind in this economy,” he said.

“But I think this week he has to turn that into also tapping into the hopes and aspirations and making people feel that America’s best days are ahead of it — to push an optimistic view of the future that will help bring more people into the full,” Husted added. “That he understands that when you’re the president you have to be the president for everybody, and not just certain groups of people.”

In Ohio, the New York real estate developer needs to focus on the economy and national security in order to gain the majority of support, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel said.

“I think a lot of his path to victory is focused on a vision for economic prosperity,” Mandel said. “When he talks about bringing back jobs from overseas, that’s part of it. But also it’s about fighting radicalism and keeping the American people safe and secure.”

Trump’s campaign speeches about a need for greater awareness of terrorist threats have been more than rhetoric, Mandel said.

“I think every time another one of the incidents happen — whether it’s in Orlando or Nice, France, or somewhere else — it makes people just a little more worried about the safety of their family,” Mandel added. “And I think he’s been on the front end of predicting what would happen.”

Jay Mohler, a delegate from Troy, said support for Trump is growing in Ohio.

“Obviously, Kasich was our guy,” Mohler said. “(But) folks realize that Kasich is no longer part of the plan. It is Trump. We have to focus on keeping Hillary out of the White House. And Trump is our guy and people are getting behind him.”

U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, attending his first Republican National Convention, said “not helping (Trump) in a lot of ways is helping” Clinton.

“We can’t have her as our President, and we certainly can’t have her as our Commander in Chief,” he said.

For updates and more news click here to download our free apps.

About the Author