WAKEFIELD, Ohio -John Kerry continued his effort to let no stone go unturned in the search for Buckeye-state voters Saturday, traveling through four counties President Bush easily won in 2000.
In two major events that served as book-ends for his day -the rally here and a town hall meeting in Xenia -the Massachusetts senator focused largely on domestic issues.
At the town hall meeting Saturday morning, Kerry seized on comments made last week by Treasury Secretary John Snow, who called the job losses that have occurred in the last four years a myth
to draw a contrast between himself and the administration.
Kerry held up a copy of The Courier, a newspaper in Findlay that first reported the comments last Tuesday, and pointed to other stories that shared the front page, including one about local school budget cuts and another about the rising number of working poor families.
That's this administration's sense of what's happening he said, accusing Bush of being out-of-touch. The people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths; they're our neighbors.
Kerry also unveiled a new offensive in his campaign, blaming Bush for ignoring warnings three years ago that led to the shortage of flu vaccines the country now faces.
The Bush campaign immediately hit back against both accusations, sending at least four e-mail responses to reporters within 15 minutes of the end of the meeting. The campaign said Snow's comments were taken out of context and accused Kerry of voting against a bill in 2003 that would have increased vaccine production.
His incredible hypocrisy just demonstrates again his willingness to say whatever will benefit him politically no matter how out-of-touch his rhetoric is with the facts
said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt in an e-mail statement.
Throughout the trip, Kerry tried to connect with rural voters. He bought pumpkins at a farm in Jeffersonville, attended a specially arranged church service in Chillicothe, and in Buchanan he bought a hunting license, which he will use later this week when he goes hunting in the Mahoning Valley, near Youngstown.
Can I get me a hunting license here? Kerry asked the owners of the Village Grocery before paying $140 in cash for the out-of-state license.
Kerry also was presented with a 12-gauge shotgun by Pike County Commissioner Jim Burshart at the Wakefield rally.
Kerry's emphasis on his hunting, particularly during stops in Ohio and West Virginia, might help insulate him against criticism from the National Rifle Association, which announced it is planning to spend $20 million on pro-Bush advertising and voter outreach in 10 to 15 states, including Ohio.
Many Democrats fault former Vice President Al Gore, who did not visit southeast Ohio in 2000, for not fighting back hard enough against criticism from the NRA and others who sought to paint him as out-of-touch with rural voters.
We can balance rights and responsibilities
and I think every one of you know that
Kerry told the crowd after receiving the gun.
The Kerry campaign is targeting rural counties in southern and southeast Ohio where his advisers say the Massachusetts senator can pick up enough votes to carry the state when voters go to the polls in two weeks.
Kerry is spending so much time in states that went solidly for Bush in 2000 in an attempt to outperform Gore, said Mike McCurry, a senior campaign adviser, speaking with reporters at the Jeffersonville stop. Voters in the 29 Appalachian counties in Ohio favored Bush by 12 percent in 2000; statewide the president won by 3 percent.
Saturday's trip began in Xenia, county seat of Greene County, which went for Bush 58 percent to 38 percent in 2000. It continued through Fayette (Bush 61, Gore 36), Ross (Bush 52, Gore 44) and Pike (Bush 50, Gore 46) counties.
Kerry aides are optimistic about their chances in southern Ohio because of the region's history of switching support between the political parties. In 1996 Bill Clinton carried 20 of the 29 Appalachian counties in Ohio. In 2000, Gore carried four.
Now Kerry advisers hope that woes in the region about jobs and health care will spur a switch back to Democratic support among rural voters.
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Nick Juliano
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