At 5:43 PM ET, on Thursday, October 24, 2019, Congressman Tim Ryan, representing Ohio’s 13th District, officially ended his Presidential campaign.
It has been over a month since the last Democratic candidate dropped out, but with the recent reveals from the FEC filings, it looks like a handful of more are on their last legs. However, Tim Ryan is the first candidate to drop out who actually had an enthusiastic email campaign.
Over the past 157 days, Tim sent a total of 477 emails, with 290 of them hitting my non-donor inbox and 187 hitting my donor inbox. This came to an average of about 1.8 emails a day. Wednesday was his most frequent emailing day, with 76 total emails.
Tim sent most of his emails between the hours of 11 AM and 4:59 PM ET. He did not send very many after 9:00 PM ET, though he sent 66 between 12:01 AM and 10:59 AM ET.
Nearly 3/4ths of Tim’s emails were asking for money. He asked for luck and birthday wishes, and then after the Dayton shooting, he asked for us to call our Senators and demand action.
Tim made it into the first two debates and never hit the qualifications for September, October, or November. He talked frequently about his policies, and he held a contest to win a chance to do yoga with himself and some yoga instructors.
Even after one of the cities he represented was a victim of horrible gun crime, even when he failed to make debate stage after debate stage, Tim did not go negative. He got spicy and angry at the lack of progress on gun laws, but for the debates, he talked about how this gave him an opportunity to speak with voters directly instead of performing in the drama-stirring debates.
After Tim sent the above email, I sent him a $5 personal donation. I really appreciated how he was representing the hurting Dayton and Ohio and still trying to look after all of us. This email convinced me that Tim would be a good President. Maybe not a great one, but he would try. And really, trying to be better is what I see as the heart of America.
When Tim did go negative against his fellow Dems, it was almost always the barest whisper of negativity, things like saying unlike others, he doesn’t need political tricks or gimmicks. Another time, he called them “well-financed.” His biggest negativity toward his fellow Dems was after an exchange with Bernie Sanders on the debate stage.
It is worth noting that Tim was calling Bernie out for his Medicare for All bill not allowing union workers to keep their negotiated insurance. Bernie said that wasn’t true, and that he should know, he “wrote the damn bill.” He then released stickers with that statement.
Later, Bernie informed union workers that he would be revising his bill so that union workers could keep their negotiated insurance. In other words… Tim was right. Bernie just shouted louder. You may have noticed “I wrote the damn bill” coming up repeatedly in Bernie’s debating.
In comparison, Tim attacked the Republicans, and specifically Mitch McConnell, for blocking common-sense gun reform bills that could have saved the lives of the people in Dayton. He repeatedly called on Congress to do its job.
Tim was unusually creative in his political emails. He never asked me to give him a moment to explain what he was really asking for. He almost never told me about his childhood or used the first/then/now way of framing things. He never said he was humble. Tim tried to keep his emails short and honest, and he thanked me a fair amount. I know I griped about how much he was emailing me at one point, but really, his emails were at least not the same-old, same-old.
All in all, Tim ran a positive, hopeful campaign, and I appreciated that. He felt out of his depth many a time, but he always tried to do what was right and to do good by the people of Ohio. I hope he continues to stay and fight for Ohians for many years to come. Clearly, Ohio is where his heart is and where he can do a lot of good.
Thank you, Tim Ryan, for your run.
