Busted: Paul Ryan Pretends to Volunteer at Soup Kitchen

By Henry Blodget, Business Insider

16 October 12

t seemed like a good idea at the time?

The Romney campaign apparently spotted an opportunity to make VP candidate Paul Ryan appear helpful and caring last week at a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio.

But the head of the charity wasn't happy about the campaign's intrusion - or about a staged photo-op in the kitchen in which Ryan "washed" some clean dishes. And after the VP candidate left, the charity boss vented to the media.

Felicia Sonmez in the Washington Post:

The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall.

Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.

“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”

He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall...”

Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty.

Read more at the Washington Post