Posted on 10/17/2004 5:11:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
XENIA, Ohio — Sen. John hunted for votes yesterday in the nook and crannies of the Buckeye State, telling crowds in farm country and jobstrapped southern Ohio that President Bush is deceiving them about the economy and the Iraq war.
Joking that he will be in Ohio so often before Nov. 2 that "I’m about to have my mail forwarded here," Kerry beseeched voters to believe their eyes, and not Bush, when assessing whether they are better off now than four years ago.
"George Bush has a very simple strategy when it comes to reality: Ignore it, deny it and then try to hide it," Kerry told a rowdy crowd of 2,700 in the Xenia High School gymnasium.
As the campaign rushed toward Election Day with an ever more negative tone, Kerry opened a new front in his attack, blaming the Bush administration for the flu-vaccine shortage, saying it ignored three warnings of an impending flu crisis from government agencies and health experts dating to 2001.
"Because of their failure to act, we’ve got a shortage of 48 million flu vaccines in America," Kerry charged.
Bush campaign spokesman Kevin Madden called Kerry’s charge "incredibly hypocritical" and said Kerry voted against a bill last year that would have encouraged more vaccine production.
Speaking last night to 8,000 people on 89-year-old Maggie West’s farm enveloped by autumn-colored hills near Wakefield in Pike County, Kerry renewed his criticism of Bush’s handling of the Iraq war, pledging: "I’ll make America safe, and I’ll get those troops home from Iraq with honor and success."
Kerry, clad in the barn jacket he wore last winter in Iowa en route to winning the caucuses, sought to connect with socially conservative Ohioans on a bus tour through areas Bush carried in 2000, making several "impromptu" stops thick with symbolism.
At the Garringer Family Pumpkin Patch 20 miles east of Xenia, Kerry bought pumpkins and gourds from Larry Garringer, a supportive Democrat, and his wife, Mick, an undecided Republican, to show he intends to battle for swing voters.
To illustrate his faith to voters guided by religion, the senator went to Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chillicothe and took communion, a rite at least one bishop has said he would deny to Kerry because of his support for abortion rights.
In Buchanan, a tiny Pike County village, Kerry stopped at the Village Grocery and asked owners Paul and Debra McKnight, "Can I get me a hunting license here?"
He plunked down $140 in cash for a nonresident Ohio hunting license so he can go duck hunting in the Mahoning Valley when he returns to the state Thursday. At the Wakefield rally, Kerry was given a 12-gauge shotgun and told the crowd he would "balance the rights and responsibilities" of gun owners.
The four-county route and events were calculated to tamp down Bush’s strength in conservative areas where many voters, political observers say, are motivated by "the three Gs" — God, guns and gays.
While Democrat Al Gore rolled up a comfortable margin in Ohio’s big six urban counties in 2000, Bush swamped him almost everywhere else, winning 72 of the 88 counties and capturing 55 percent of the vote in Ohio’s 82 small- to medium-size counties.
"We’re definitely going through areas where we feel we can outperform the Gore numbers of four years ago," said Mike McCurry, a senior campaign adviser, contending that "the breadth and scope of our ground operation" will make Kerry more competitive in Ohio’s GOP areas.
"We have to try to keep (Bush’s) numbers down," he said.
McCurry said Ohio’s dismal economy, including 237,400 jobs lost in the past four years, makes rural Ohio a "target of opportunity" for Kerry.
In an interview with Ohio reporters aboard his campaign bus, Kerry sought to align himself with moderate-to-conservative voters, refuting Bush’s incessant claims that he is an outof-touch liberal.
"I am not a liberal," Kerry said. "I’m a moderate, thoughtful, practical person who looks for solutions."
Madden, Bush’s campaign spokesman, referred to a 1991 St. Louis Post-Dispatch story in which Kerry said, "I am a liberal and proud of it."
In a yard across the street from Xenia High School, Kerry saw a huge sign with the message: "Vote the Bible! Take a stand for morality."
In the interview, Kerry said Bush "talks about values, but he doesn’t live values in his public policy." There is no morality in cutting 500,000 children from after-school programs and 390,000 from Medicaid health coverage "so wealthy people get a tax cut," Kerry said.
In Xenia, Kerry hammered Bush for sugar-coating Ohio’s flagging economy, holding up the Oct. 12 front page of The (Findlay) Courier which quoted Treasury Secretary John W. Snow saying claims of job losses during Bush’s tenure were "myths."
Pointing to Michael F. Adams, recently laid off after 10 years at General Motors’ Delphi plant in Vandalia, Kerry said, "Mr. President, the people who lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle-class Americans."
Kerry burnished his hunting credentials during stops in Pike County, which along with eight of the 13 other counties in Appalachia-dominated southeastern Ohio, supported Bush in 2000. Bush’s win in the region was attributed, in part, to a strong effort by the National Rifle Association to portray Gore as antigun. The NRA has targeted $20 million through Election Day in Ohio and other battleground states to do the same to Kerry.
Kerry said he is determined not to let that happen: "I believe in the Second Amendment, and I’m not going to take a back seat to anybody in protecting that right."
jhallett@dispatch.com
I really hope we carry OH... we really need to.
Kerry was given a 12-gauge shotgun and told the crowd he would "balance the rights and responsibilities" of gun owners.
"responsibilities"...even as he panders for votes, he can't help but to default to the liberal code talk for gun rights loss. Does he really think that we don't know what he means when he says "responsibilities"?
This photo offers a target rich Photoshop environment!
Not to worry. Bush will win in Ohio.
Try to make it happen if you are in OH. The Rats have directed a lot of lies to the voters of OH, hopefully the good people of OH reject them.
I know they have. President Bush is SOARING on the Iowa Electronic Markets right now, Although not a poll, it was VERY accurate in 2000 at predicting the outcome of the voting. The "Presidential 2004 Winner Takes All" updates every 15 minutes. Click on the link below and watch it climb.
Thanks, but we shouldn't take anything for granted. i'm not complacent at all. I think we could lose this thing if we don't work our a$$es off. There is a lot of media bias and a lot of fraud.
NOBODY should underestimate the DemocRATS! We all will do whatever we can to ensure victory on Nov. 2nd. IEM just went past 62.5 for Bush. It was around 70+ pre debates. Kerry just dropped to 36.5. He was under 30 pre debate. Is there a trend here? Possibly.
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