OH-16: Interview With State Sen. John Boccieri (D)

UPDATE: AUDIO OF 15 MINUTE INTERVIEW NOW AVAILABLE HERE

When I attended the Ohio Democratic Party State Dinner on May 12th I thought the brief appearance on stage by state senator and recently declared congressional candidate John Boccieri, along with decorated WWII veteran and longtime Monroe County Democratic Chair Herman Zerger, was one of the more powerful and stirring moments of the event. The two of them led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance and introduced the singer of the national anthem, but Boccieri also took the opportunity to forcefully lay claim to the themes of patriotism and national security for the Democratic party. Boccieri described Zerger's Bronze Star for courage and valor, and how he cast his first vote (for Franklin Delano Roosevelt) from a foxhole in France. "America is strong because so many like you before us have been strong," Boccieri said to Zerger, and then to the crowd, "When our beliefs and ideals were threatened, people like Zerger have stepped forward to defend them." Sounding like he was sketching out a campaign stump speech based on tying his opponent to the missteps of the Bush administration, Boccieri declared that "patriotism isn't clever slogans like 'Mission Accomplished'" but instead consists of making sure that our troops have the right equipment, providing good care to wounded veterans (with specific reference to the scandal concerning outpatient conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital), and "making sure that our troops return home honorably and soon."

Boccieri is a Major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who served four rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan flying C-130 aircraft. He served three terms as State Representative for District 61 before his recent election to the Ohio Senate in District 33. He was born in Youngstown and now lives in New Middleton. He was a stellar student and athlete at Ursuline High School in Youngstown and St. Bonaventure University in New York, where his baseball accolades included leading NCAA Division I in stolen bases. After tryouts with major league teams and a year in the Frontier League, he began his career in government by becoming a paid intern to then-State Representative and current State Treasurer Rich Cordray (D-Grove City), and subsequently working on Cordray's unsuccessful campaign for Congress. Boccieri has received the Merle Shoemaker award for integrity in office from the Ohio Democratic Party and the Legislator of the year award from the Ohio League of Sportsmen for his efforts on behalf of conservation. He is running against 32-year veteran Congressman Ralph S. Regula (R-Navarre) in the 16th Ohio Congressional District, which includes Stark, Wayne, Medina and Ashland Counties. Boccieri's campaign web site is here.

I began our interview by asking Boccieri what inspired him to get into politics in the first place and what motivates him today. He responded first by talking of how "incredibly blessed" he feels for the opportunities he has had, relating this to his strong family and his grandparents who emigrated because of the "hope and promise that is America." They believed that in our country, "with a little hard work and perseverance, you could accomplish whatever your heart desired." Boccieri said that for too many Americans that dream "is becoming harder and harder." He also linked his military service to his desire to give back to the community, which "comes with a bit of service, a bit of sacrifice," and said that he entered politics "out of a strong desire to serve my country." If anything, he said, what he can give back to people is a sense that this is a wonderful country. "It only takes one step outside the border of our great land to recognize that," he added, "but we've got to work hard, we've got to be diligent to assure that this democracy, this fragile shell of a democracy, is preserved." Preserving democracy comes with participation and with "believing and being inspired by" elected officials, and with "believing this democracy is worth fighting for."

Asked about his relationship to his former employer, Boccieri said they he and Cordray are close, that he is proud of Cordray, and that Cordray is "a wonderfully talented individual and a very capable leader." Boccieri pointedly expanded the discussion to newly elected Gov. Ted Strickland (D-New Lisbon), who was Boccieri's congressman and with whom Boccieri "has had many conversations about the direction our country is going." Boccieri added that Strickland "feels, like I do, a great desire to step forward and lead." Like Boccieri, Strickland "has come from humble beginnings and that has inspired us all the more."

As to why he has decided to run for Congress now, so soon after his election to the Ohio Senate, Boccieri said that after his four rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan he shares with many in the 16th Congressional District a deep frustration that this country is headed in the wrong direction. "We seem to have a president who is out of touch with middle class workers" and also out of touch with "the direction this Iraq War has taken our country" both in foreign affairs and domestically, and the great sacrifice of those who have fought over there, as well as the tremendous cost to this nation. "We've got to put our country back on track and concentrate domestically - protecting our borders and making sure that we are protecting our own people from another September 11th." He also mentioned the need to address unfair trade agreements and to "wrap our arms around health care," which has "been one of the big factors where many businesses have said we can't continue along with these legacy costs." Those are issues that "really matter to the people."

I asked Boccieri to talk more specifically about Iraq and his campaign. He noted that too many issues in Washington become about Republicans and Democrats, but "when we talk about the troops it strikes a personal chord with me." This is "about putting our sons and daughters in harm's way," he continued, "and how dare any member of Congress who would send them to war without the appropriate body armor and equipment that they need" and "not provide them with the most ample resources that they need to transition back into civilian life if they've been injured." He is speaking from personal experience as a legislator and a soldier, he said, because a resident of his district who "came back disfigured from a roadside bomb" has had to pay $15,000 in medical expenses after the Army discharged him. "This is truly unacceptable," he continued, when you think of the conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital and the fact that injured soldiers have had to pay for their meals after coming back from fighting. "When you think of strong Americans like Herman Zerger," who "put his life on the line for our country and was a POW," who has been a "steady and tranquil voice for democracy" for a lifetime, "that is patriotism, not these short frenzied burst of emotion that you hear from the 'party of patriotism' as they like to call themselves." Boccieri said that he gets extremely frustrated "when you pat veterans and servicemen on the back and on the same token you are taking away some of the basic necessities they need to accomplish their mission and to transition back into the civilian world." That has "been a large motivation to seek Congressional office in this district."

Asked about ties to the 16th District and his suitability to represent it, Boccieri noted that his state senate legislative district partly overlaps the congressional district and "the people of Stark County know me." He said he is "running because I want to make a difference," and over the next year and a half will "articulate our issues, the things that really matter to people, like putting America first." Growing the economy "so that our children can have affordable health care and quality education" are issues that matter to the voters of the region. Also, "what they will expect of me as a Congressman is to protect our country from terrorist threats, to restore accountability to our government and to put an end to the rampant corruption that we've seen in Washington." Returning to the topic of the Iraq War, he said that "we have to find a solution and a way that we can bring our troops home honorably, safely, and soon, and keep our commitment to all the veterans" of this and previous conflicts.

Confirming his interest in veterans affairs in the state legislature (he has been appointed to the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Ohio Senate), Boccieri described two pieces of legislation that he sponsored and which have become law. The Military Injury Relief law created a fund, to which Ohio taxpayers can voluntarily contribute, that is a source for grants to injured veterans, including the disfigured constituent that Boccieri had mentioned earlier. "Ohioans have been very generous," he said, "and this fund to date has far exceeded my expectations." The other is a law that prohibits demonstrating or picketing within 300 feet of a funeral, a measure aimed at a right-wing fringe group from Kansas which had been engaging in anti-gay protests at military funerals. When military casualties came back "after paying the ultimate sacrifice for their country," Boccieri said, their families were subjected to being spit upon and enduring other disrespectful acts, "which I find extremely unacceptable." He added that "I believe in free speech, but they need to be at a distance because they have to respect [the families'] right to privacy as well."

Asked about other legislative interests that he expects to carry over into his congressional campaign, Boccieri said that the congressman he is running against has lost sight of the "need to put America first," which includes not only our troops but our economy and energy policy. "These unbelievably high gas prices have put a ripple and cascading effect throughout our entire economy," he said, and more and more Ohioans are struggling "just to make ends meet and to put gas in their cars just so they can go to work." Considering that the United States has four percent of the world's population and consumes about 40% of the world's natural resources, "we have got to take a new direction with our energy policy in the United States." Boccieri said that as a state legislator he has tried to promote building of new refineries in abandoned industrial brownfields, which preserves green space while increasing capacity for refining fuel, "which is truly the problem here in the United States." He also spoke in favor of shifting energy production to alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel. It's not just some "pie in the sky policy," he remarked, but something real and tangible. "How remarkable would it be for Ohio to grow its own fuel and export it to the rest of the country and to the rest of the world for that matter," he added. This is "a reality that I know Governor Ted Strickland would like to achieve and I would like to as a Congressman as well."

Before concluding, I asked Boccieri about his continuing activity in the Air Force Reserve, including a training exercise the prior weekend. He explained that as a C-130 pilot he has "a certain number of training requirements and currency obligations" that he must maintain. "The government is handing over a $45 million dollar airplane to me" and needs to make sure that its investment is well cared for. "I take that as an important commitment not just to the country but to the men and women who will be flying with me," he added. "We were training this weekend as a mode of operational readiness exercise, to train us in the event that our airbase was attacked, and to go through the types of procedures we need to be familiar with." That type of training will continue as long as he is a member of the Air Force Reserves, he said.