Kerry returns to Democratic strongholds where Bush has made inroads

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - Former state Rep. Mike Verich of Warren is the kind of northeast Ohio Democrat candidates like John Kerry have been able to depend on.

"I've grown up Democrat, was raised Democrat, voted Democrat. My family voted Democrat," Verich said. "We never thought of anything else."

But this Election Day, Verich is voting for President Bush, the Republican who has visited Youngstown and other Ohio Democratic strongholds several times during the campaign.

On Sunday, Kerry returned to the region to stake claim to what should be solid support. The Massachusetts senator was to rally his base at a town hall meeting about the economy and job losses at Austintown near Youngstown, then visit a church in Cleveland.

"The Bush people have been working the Democratic part of the state very hard. They probably won't win in very many of these counties up here, but the idea is to keep the margins down," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.

"That might make a difference in the long term," Green said. "The job of Sen. Kerry will be to offset that."

Sunday, Bush supporters were scarce as about 1,000 people filled Austintown Fitch High School, where Kerry was to outline his tax plan to discourage outsourcing.

George Brown, a 19-year-old Youngstown State University student from nearby Warren, stood with a friend near the parking lot with a life-size cutout of the president, showing their support.

Jack Canavani, 53, a truck driver from Cortland, said he thinks the nation needs a new direction.

"We've got to the kids home from the war, and in this area, the economy is real bad," he said. "It's seems like there is no turnaround happening except with the Youngstown mayor, who turns around to support the Republicans."

Bush's Democrat converts, including Youngstown Mayor George McKelvey, say they've been won over by the president's visits and his stances on issues such as protective steel tariffs and homeland security.

"The thing I think a lot of us like about George Bush is that he's a straight-talking man," Verich said.

Bush's inroads, no matter how small, may be enough in what's expected to be a close election, Green said.

"All the votes in Ohio are added up together. If you're a Republican, you want to keep the Democrats' margin down. If you're a Democrat, you want to do the reverse," he said.

Kerry leads in polls in typically Democratic areas such as Youngstown, Akron and Cleveland, "but not as much as you might have thought," Green said.

Appearances in northeast Ohio have allowed Bush to get his message out through the state's largest media market and reach conservative voters in the surrounding region.

Kerry has taken advantage of the reach, too, using Canton and other northeast Ohio cities hit hard by job losses as the backdrop for his criticism of Bush's economic policies.

Traditional wisdom dictates a statewide Democratic candidate must win stronghold Cuyahoga County including Cleveland by at least 125,000 votes to offset GOP strongholds downstate. However, that wisdom is evolving: Gore won Cuyahoga by more than 167,000 votes in 2000 and still lost Ohio by 3.6 percentage points.

The region's blue-collar cities overwhelmingly voted against Bush in the 2000 presidential campaign. But several suburbs are controlled by Republicans, as are fast-growing "outer-ring" suburban counties like Geauga and Lake.

Polls released before the debate showed Bush with a slight lead over Kerry in Ohio, which has 20 electoral votes.

DNC Video of debate BACKFIRES! LA Times Poll Bush's Favorability Up

http://www.ejsmithweb.com/fr/faces_fr_fast.wmv

Watch this DNC video to see what an idiot Kerry is! LOL

LA TIMES POLL SUNDAY: Bush's favorability rating among debate viewers actually improved slightly (although within the survey's margin of error). Before debate, 51% of watchers viewed Bush favorably, 49% unfavorably; after, numbers were 52% and 47%...

KERRY VS. KERRY
Kerry’s Top Ten Iraq Flip Flops
From First Debate

ONE: Claimed “I’ll Never Give A Veto To Any Country Over Our Security.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Preemption Must Pass “Global Test” First. “No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you’re doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Would Wait On French And Russians To Defend America. SEN. JOHN KERRY: “I would have done what was necessary to know that you had exhausted the available remedies with the French and the Russians.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 10/20/03)

TWO: Claimed “Reason For Going To War Was Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Not The Removal Of Saddam Hussein.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Said “Greatest Threat” Was Saddam’s “Miscalculation,” Not “Actual” WMDs. KERRY: “I would disagree with John McCain that it’s the actual weapons of mass destruction he may use against us, it’s what he may do in another invasion of Kuwait or in a miscalculation about the Kurds or a miscalculation about Iran or particularly Israel. Those are the things that – that I think present the greatest danger. He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 9/15/02)

THREE: Claimed “This President Has Made, I Regret To Say, A Colossal Error Of Judgment. And Judgment Is What We Look For In The President Of The United States Of America.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Questioned Judgment Of Those Claiming Saddam’s Capture Didn’t Help U.S. Security. “Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein and those who believe today that we are not safer with his capture don’t have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president.” (CNN’s “Capital Gang,” 12/20/03; Anne Q. Hoy, “Dean Faces More Criticism,” [New York] Newsday, 12/17/03)

FOUR: Complained “We Are 90 Percent Of The Casualties And 90 Percent Of The Cost: $200 Billion – $200 Billion That Could Have Been Used For Health Care, For Schools, For Construction, For Prescription Drugs For Seniors, And It’s In Iraq.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Pledged To Fund Reconstruction With “Whatever Number” Of Dollars It Took. NBC’S TIM RUSSERT: “Do you believe that we should reduce funding that we are now providing for the operation in Iraq?” SEN. JOHN KERRY: “No. I think we should increase it.” RUSSERT: “Increase funding?” KERRY: “Yes.” RUSSERT: “By how much?” KERRY: “By whatever number of billions of dollars it takes to win. It is critical that the United States of America be successful in Iraq, Tim.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 8/31/03)

FIVE: Claimed “You Don’t Send Troops To War Without The Body Armor That They Need.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Said It Would Be Reckless And “Irresponsible” To Vote Against Funding For Troops. LOS ANGELES TIMES’ DOYLE McMANUS: “If that amendment does not pass, will you then vote against the $87 billion?” KERRY: “I don’t think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops and recklessly leave Iraq to whatever follows as a result of simply cutting and running. That’s irresponsible. What is responsible is for the administration to do this properly now. And I am laying out the way in which the administration could unite the American people, could bring other countries to the table, and I think could give the American people a sense that they’re on the right track. There’s a way to do this properly. But I don’t think anyone in the Congress is going to not give our troops ammunition, not give our troops the ability to be able to defend themselves. We’re not going to cut and run and not do the job.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 9/14/03)

ü Kerry Voted Against Senate Passage Of Iraq/Afghanistan Reconstruction Package That Included “Money For Body Armor For Soldiers.” (S. 1689, CQ Vote #400: Passed 87-12: R 50-0; D 37-11; I 0-1, 10/17/03, Kerry Voted Nay; “Highlights Of Iraq, Afghanistan Measures,” The Associated Press, 10/17/03)

ü ‘“I Actually Did Vote For The $87 Billion Before I Voted Against It,’ [Kerry] Said.”(Glen Johnson, “Kerry Blasts Bush On Protecting Troops,” The Boston Globe, 3/17/04)

SIX: Said Americans In Iraq Not Dying For “Mistake.” PBS’ JIM LEHRER: “Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?” KERRY: “No, and they don’t have to, providing we have the leadership that we put – that I’m offering.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Earlier In Debate, Kerry Called Iraq War “Mistake.” “We can’t leave a failed Iraq. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake of judgment to go there and take the focus off of Osama bin Laden. It was.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü “But The President Made A Mistake In Invading Iraq.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

SEVEN: Said Knowing What He Knows Now, “Would Not” Have Authorized Use Of Force. “What I think troubles a lot of people in our country is that the president has just sort of described one kind of mistake. But what he has said is that, even knowing there were no weapons of mass destruction, even knowing there was no imminent threat, even knowing there was no connection with al Qaeda, he would still have done everything the same way. Those are his words. Now, I would not.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Said Knowing What He Knows Now, “Would Have Voted For The Authority.” SEN. JOHN KERRY: “Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it’s the right authority for a president to have. But I would have used that authority as I have said throughout this campaign, effectively. I would have done this very differently from the way President Bush has.” (CNN’s “Inside Politics,” 8/9/04)

EIGHT: Claimed “The President Says That I’m Denigrating These Troops. I Have Nothing But Respect For The British, Tony Blair, And For What They’ve Been Willing To Do.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Dismissed Coalition Partners As “Window Dressing” And Claimed They’re Not Sharing Burden Of War And Reconstruction. CNN’S BILL HEMMER: “The White House would say that dozens of countries are helping now in the effort on the ground in Iraq and they are engaged with the U.N., as well, how would more international involvement prevent the violence we’re seeing today?” SEN. JOHN KERRY: “Well, the fact is that those countries are really window dressing to the greatest degree. And they weren’t there in the beginning when we went in, and they’re not carrying the cost of this war.” (CNN’s “American Morning,” 3/2/04)

NINE: Claimed “I’ve Had One Position, One Consistent Position, That Saddam Hussein Was A Threat.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü Kerry Said, “We Now Know That Iraq Had No Weapons Of Mass Destruction, And Posed No Imminent Threat To Our Security.” (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks At New York University, New York, NY, 9/20/04)

TEN: Claimed “My Position Has Been Consistent: Saddam Hussein Is A Threat. He Needed To Be Disarmed.” (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)

ü “Saying There Are Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Iraq Doesn’t Make It So.” (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks To Democrat National Convention, Boston, MA, 7/29/04)

ü “I Have Always Said We May Yet Even Find Weapons Of Mass Destruction.” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 12/14/03)

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