In CNN town hall, Ryan paints himself as the candidate for the working class

WASHINGTON 2019--WASHINGTON -- Pitching himself as the Democratic presidential candidate most in touch with the country's working class, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan told a CNN town hall Sunday night that "in many ways, I believe I'm the only one in the campaign who understands what those workers are going through."

"When these plants close, I know who's working in them," said Ryan, a Niles Democrat whose experience watching a General Motors plant in his district close this year helped spur his decision to run. "They're my family. They're my friends."

"When I walk into the White House every morning, when I walk into the Oval Office every morning, no one's going to have to explain to me why I'm there or who I'm there for," he vowed.

Ryan, the only Ohioan seeking the White House in 2020, said that as president, he would rework the tax codes and trade agreements that have "devastated our country," benefiting corporations at the expense of workers.

He would turn efforts to fight climate change into a "jobs" program by making the U.S. dominant in making and selling batteries, charging stations and electric vehicles.

And he said he would address the "economic despair," which he says has helped feed the opioid addiction, by pushing to increase wages to motivate workers.

Ryan, who is one of 21 Democrats running for president in 2020, was one of three featured individually in hourlong CNN town halls Sunday night; Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Eric Swalwell of California were the others. All three are polling at 1% or less.

In positioning himself as a candidate with an appeal to the middle class, Ryan appears to be working to occupy the same lane that former Vice President Joe Biden has occupied. But Ryan argues his life experiences give him a real-world perspective others lack.

The CNN town halls have proven extraordinarily helpful to Democrats such as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose solid showing during his town hall helped draw donations and attention among the crowded Democratic field.

For Ryan, part of his town hall was spent clarifying his evolution on issues such as guns and abortions.

Ryan started his congressional career with an A rating from the National Rifle Association that plummeted after his change of heart in the aftermath of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 children and six adults dead. He said the most recent mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where a gunman killed 12 Friday, raised questions about whether silencers and extended magazines should be banned.

"That should not be a partisan issue," he said, saying the federal government should "consistently be helping states ensure gun owners pass background checks" and ban assault weapons.

Similarly, he has also changed his position on abortion during his 17 years in Congress. Though he started Congress as an opponent of abortion rights, he said his time in Congress has turned him into a "pro-choice member of the Democratic Party" -- one who would have a litmus test to nominate judges who would support Roe v. Wade.

"I just don't believe in these very complicated circumstances that the federal government or state government should in any way, shape or form be between a woman and her doctor," he said.

Those stances and others spurred sharp criticism from Mandi Merritt, Columbus-based regional communications director for the Republican National Committee, who said Ryan's "radical rhetoric" will repel voters.

"Despite pitching himself as a Midwestern moderate, Ryan has fallen in line with the most extreme ends of the Democrat platform," she said.

Ryan also reiterated comments he made on NPR last week urging Congress to "move forward" with impeaching President Donald Trump, saying if Trump were not president, he'd be prosecuted for his efforts to thwart investigations of his campaign's links to Russia.

"I take no joy in this at all," he said. "But I have a duty and a responsibility and that duty and responsibility has led me to think that we have to do this."

Contact Jessica Wehrman at jwehrman@dispatch.com. On Twitter: @jessicawehrman.

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