I’ve been the mayor of the Village of Trimble for a long time. Trimble is a small Appalachian town in SE Ohio. And I’ve watched with some amusement as well as distrust as our Ohio Senator, JD Vance, has caught the limelight. While JD’s claim to fame started with his book, Hillbilly Elegy, the story pigeonholes people in our region as lazy, and unable to lift themselves out of the poverty because they lack character. I’ve lived in Athens County my entire life and this is simply not true of the people I know. My town is filled with people who are working hard to support their families – not people trying to game the system, like using food stamps for cigarettes, as Vance tries to portray us.
My good friend and the former Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland , grew up in a poor family, nine children on Duck Run Rd in Scioto County. He was the son of a steel worker and the family home was lost three times, first from flooding, then fire, and last-the bank! Ted knows Appalachia with an intimacy JD Vance does not. Vance moved far from his Kentucky home as a boy and much further after High School. He ended up becoming a Venture Capitalist and only moved back to Ohio when he saw a political future here.
Ted called the book narrative out for what it is: a lens that allows this pervasive myth to prevail: just pull yourself up by the bootstraps to seize the American dream. In reality it is often government policies that provide the springboard for a better life whether it is the GI Bill, FASFA grant, HUD housing, a Medical Card when private health insurance isn’t an option, free preschool for children, etc.
Recently Ted Strickland visited Athens on behalf of Sherrod Brown, our senator who has always stood for the working class, and someone who I support 100%. When Ted spoke up about JD Vance and his disdain for the rhetoric he has used since campaigning as Trump’s running mate, I couldn’t stop thinking what it means to have our backs in SE Ohio. Ted had our backs. Sherrod has our backs. Vance doesn’t.
Ensuring we are voting for people we can trust is essential. I do not base my votes on TV ads, or false narratives. I intend to mark my ballot for those who truly support our constitution, working class people, and democracy. That would not be JD Vance nor his aging, befuddled TV star running mate whose biggest bragging rights is being a bully. We are better than that!
– Trimble Mayor Doug Davis
