It's a circus outside the debate

Who would have thought a governor's debate in downtown Youngstown, nearly 300 miles from Cincinnati, would attract throngs of protesters and supporters?

Just outside WFMJ 21 Action News studios, where Republican Ken Blackwell and Democrat Ted Strickland are about to square off in their first of four face-to-face debates, a couple dozen members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and supporters of the Secretary of State from Cincinnati were exchanging chants and words.

"Taxing Ted, Taxing Ted," one group carrying a three-by-six foot "Blackwell for Governor" sign was shouting.

"We're here to support Ted Strickland," said Jack Hayn, assistant to the general president of government affairs for the IUPAT union, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

A block away, a giant inflated 20 foot tall elephant, with the sign "The New Republicans. Restoring Conservative Values" was jamming a parking lot. Kathy and Greg Badger, supporters of Blackwell, carted it from Middleburg Heights before inflating it here.

Reporters from all corners of the state filled a second floor waiting room to watch on a bigscreen TV. Donuts, soda pop and water was available, but reporters and TV crews were scurrying for computer and electric lines and trying to get wireless connections to work. Because of the interest and chaos, the TV hosts allowed the spillover crowd to work off tables with landlines in their main newsroom.

Because there is no access to the candidates before they appear on live television, some reporters lamented it would be easier to cover from elsewhere.

"I could have stayed in the office to do this. I could have stayed at home and done this," one groaned.