Just returned from Kerry Rally in Akron, OH.

[liberal N proud]

All the speakers lit-up the crowd, This is a crowd that has been hard hit by bush and co.s practices of outsourcing and 0 protection for US products (Steel and Rubber got hit hard).
For me: He hit on 4 of my 5 election topics:
Education - Fund "No Child Left Behind"
Employment - Create jobs and reward those companies that create jobs in the US while penalizing those who take them overseas
Environment - Restore the protection of government lands
Energy - Make America self reliant on Energy
He also covered a couple of other areas:
Health Care/Insurance for all
Medicare drugs at affordable prices allowing Medicare to by bulk like VA.
Iraq or WAR - Only send our young men and women to war when necessary and not because we want to.

This is my second Kerry rally, the first one was much more intimate but sure was nice to see larger crowds at these things even if I don't get to shake his hand.

[cthrumatrix]

1. nice to hear... thanks for sharing... the people can see the smear by bush

the smear keynote was ALL bush...i think it pissed off alot of people

[bigtree]

2. kick

[soothsayer]

3. what's your 5th election topic, out of curiousity? if you don't mind sayin

n/t

[liberal N proud]

6. Election - a fair and clean election

Something we should all be worried about with dibold and other companies that are doing the electronic voting and are big doners to dubya.

[soothsayer]

8. Ah, yes. thanks n/t

[Democat]

4. Thanks for the report - how many people were there?

Do you have an estimate of turnout?

[liberal N proud]

7. It was a large area, a small base ball stadium. I was up front

It would be hard for me to guess. I don't think they got as many as they planned for, most of the outfield was fenced off.
The stands were full.

[cthrumatrix]

10. the JK blog just posted 20,000 people...nice.

[flpoljunkie]

9. From the Kerry blog, a crowd of 20,000 in Akron, Ohio today!

http://blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archives/002704.html#002704



A crowd of more than 20,000 packed into Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The excitement didn’t let up as the Mayor of Akron Don Plusquellic and John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO introduced John Kerry.

As John Kerry told the crowd, “We are not going to divide America into Red States and Blue States – we are going to make it one America -- Red, White and Blue for all.

Posted by Ari Rabin-Havt on September 4, 2004 at 11:55 AM

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. "We are not going to divide America into Red States and Blue States

- we are going to make it one America -- Red, White and Blue for all."

That's a great line. Kerry needs to pound this concept. Bu$h as done everything he can to divide us and turn us against each other. If American really wants to stay on top, we need to get past Bush's fear and smear tactics and start working together, to solve the problems we face.

[quinnox]

5. Here is the AP story from it -

AKRON, Ohio - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) on Saturday slammed President Bush (news - web sites)'s record on job creation and health care as he pushed through central Ohio on his first stops in the fall campaign.

Kerry seized on news that Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise 17 percent next year, the largest in the program's 40-year history, saying Bush had done nothing to lower the cost of health care.

"Who are they going to send the bill to?" Kerry said to thousands gathered in a ballpark.

"Are they going to send the bill to Halliburton? Are they going to send the bill to Ken Lay and Enron? You bet they're not. They're going to send the bill to our senior citizens."

The campaign unveiled a new television ad on the Medicare premium increase to start running Tuesday in battleground states. The ad shows Bush saying in his convention speech that the nation has a "moral responsibility" to protect its seniors, then notes the hike was announced the next day.

[rfranklin]

12. That's great! "Who will they send the bill to?"

Get in the jabs about Halliburton and Enron. Beautiful!

[IndianaGreen]

11. Southern Ohio is the problem

There is a strong conservative base in places like Cincinnati that if properly energized can neutralize the votes from Northern Ohio. Turnout is critical! The key to winning Ohio is in having a large turnout in Southern Ohio, large enough to narrow the gap with the rightwing so that it makes it possible for our friends in Akron to swamp the polls.

This election will depend on who gets their people to the polls.

[jmknapp]

14. Turnout

The key to winning Ohio is in having a large turnout in Southern Ohio

In the electoral college it's winner-take-all. A northern Ohio vote counts the same as a southern Ohio vote. There is no need per se to win in each county.

Rather, from a turnout point of view the key to winning Ohio is boosting turnout from Democrats generally. A better target of opportunity is Cuyahoga County with a pathetic 53% turnout in 2000.

[sundancekid]

15. can you be more specific about where exactly in southern ohio?

regarding your suggestion:

"The key to winning Ohio is in having a large turnout in Southern Ohio, large enough to narrow the gap..."

[IndianaGreen]

16. I was thinking specifically of Cincinnati and the Dayton area

there are a lot of fundies around there, particularly in Cincy.

[bushwakker]

17. thanks for the report

:kick:

go k/e 04

[enigmatic]

18. Thanks for this..

Everytime I'm ready to bail on this forum I read accounts like yours and I'm glad I'm still here, even through the white noise.