YOUNGSTOWN -- John Kerry's promise to create new jobs was met with enthusiasm yesterday in an area hit hard by unemployment.
A crowd of several hundred cheered wildly, waved tiny American flags and hoisted Vote Kerry for President signs as the Democratic presidential candidate criticized the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs in Youngstown and elsewhere.
We're here to put America back to work
Kerry said over the cheering crowd downtown. The one person in the United States of America who deserves to be laid off is George W. Bush.
Kerry used the now defunct Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. as an example of lost manufacturing jobs and how the loss of those positions triggers the elimination of other jobs in the community and forces people to move away.
Kerry said he could not promise to reopen the plant but if elected he would invest billions of dollars in creating job training and incentives for companies to keep from moving jobs overseas.
The message ignited the crowd of union members, school children and others. Many said they believe in Kerry's ability to help turn around the economically depressed area.
Kerry is going to focus on America. He is not going to focus on a war we don't need said 14-year-old Caleigh Flynn, of the Youngstown suburb Boardman. He is going to focus on jobs which is important to this area.
Ohio's unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in March, the same as the national rate. But Youngstown's rate was far worse at 13.7 percent and the city's Mahoning County had an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent.
Kim Henshaw, 34, said she hopes Kerry will get elected and keep his promise of bringing good-paying jobs to the area. She's worried she'll have to leave her native city to find work after earning a teaching degree from Youngstown State University.
I've lived here my whole life and I'd like to stay
Henshaw said. It's sad to think there are no jobs here.
The Bush campaign rejected Kerry's criticism, standing by the president's economic policy that campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said includes promoting job creation.
You can't continue to talk down the economy in an effort to gain political traction. That's the wrong message to send to people
Madden said. The president constantly talks about opportunity
building the economy up
making sure our economy moves in the right direction.
Kerry needs to do well this November in Ohio's big cities, where manufacturing jobs have declined and mayors are upset with the Bush administration for a lack of support.
Ohio's statewide offices are dominated by Republicans, but the state contains islands of blue-collar strongholds led by Democratic mayors.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman was to be one of the Ohio mayors meeting with Kerry later yesterday for a discussion about the state's manufacturing industry, which has lost 190,000 jobs in the last four years.
You know the old saying
'All politics is local?' You can apply that to the economy as well
Coleman said. In a presidential race
local economies are critical.
Cities also have complained about a lack of federal funding for demands such as homeland security and the No Child Left Behind education law.
