April may bring with it spring flowers in bloom, but there is something else that continues to pop up like weeds – 2020 Democratic Candidates!
Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio just announced that he is throwing his name into the already crowded 2020 field of Democratic candidates that, with Ryan, now boasts over a dozen – and still growing.
Ryan made his announcement on the web just before appearing on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” to discuss his candidacy. Ryan says he plans to hold an official campaign kickoff rally with local union leaders in Youngstown, Ohio, on the 6th, which his campaign says is “a celebration of his longstanding ties with the working-class community and an indication of the kind of labor-friendly campaign he plans to wage.”
When asked by NBC News what sets him apart from other Democrats running for president, Ryan pointed to his ideas to rehabilitate the economy, adding that thinks he can win the Rust Belt states that President Donald Trump flipped in 2016.
“I believe in the free enterprise system,” Ryan added. “I think we’re not going to solve these national problems without them, but I also believe that we need to reform government and get the government working because I think government can be instrumental.”
In a statement that bemoaned the impact of globalization and technology on the working class, Ryan, a political centrist, said he was committed to uniting the country and invigorating the economy “with a renewed respect for the dignity of work.”
Ryan Says He Is Running to “Restore Dignity”
“I’m running for president because we have a real shot at uniting again — to restore the dignity of work and the feasibility of the American Dream,” he said in a statement to the press. “We have a chance to once again unite this country under our core principles and ideals.”
“We can restore the dignity of a secure retirement and respect for those who shower after work,” his statement continued. “We can lift our children to reach higher, to seek academic and vocational excellence. We can climb out of our vicious cycle of insidious debt and reach higher, competing together in a global market — not against one another here at home.”
Ryan, 45, was first elected to Congress in 2002 and has been a long-term fixture in the House Appropriations Committee. As a lawmaker from Ohio’s automobile manufacturer region, Ryan has free trade and taking on China a central theme of his congressional career.
The Ohio lawmaker was widely seen as one of the instrumental people in delivering House Democrats their congressional majority in 2018, actively campaigning and fundraising for competitive seats throughout the Midwest and beyond that ended in wins for his party. Ryan is probably best known as the member of the House who led the unsuccessful revolt against Nancy Pelosi in 2016.
The White House has not released any reaction to Ryan’s announcement yet, however, many think of all of those in the crowded democratic field, he has the best shot of flipping the “rust belt” back blue, so President Trump ought to keep his eye on Ryan.
Ryan joining the race makes him the 17th major candidate seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
