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Analysts, Democrats, Dispute Value of McKelvey's Endorsement"
By Andrea WoodYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- So how many votes is George McKelvey's endorsement worth? In a battleground state considered a must-win for the Republicans, in a presidential election where a few hundred votes could tilt the balance, yesterday's announcement that the Democratic mayor of the largest city in this Democratic stronghold supports George W. Bush could have an impact. Then again, it might not. "I don't think it really matters," said Paul Sracic, a professor of political science professor at Youngstown State University and a Republican. Conventional wisdom suggests a Democratic presidential candidate needs to carry 65% of the vote in the Mahoning Valley to have any chance of carrying Ohio. If McKelvey's support subtracts votes from John Kerry and adds them to George W. Bush, his endorsement could have 2-for-1 impact. But that's a stretch, Sracic said."If you compare McKelvey's endorsement to the Democrat Primary, when Al Gore -- who got more votes than anyone in 2000 -- endorsed Howard Dean, it didn't matter," he noted. "In this heated climate, it doesn't make a difference."Sracic's conclusion was echoed by William Binning, chairman of YSU's political science department and former chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party. There are few votes in any endorsement, he told WFMJ-TV, but "it does create a buzz" -- for one or two days.McKelvey, completing the final year of his second term as mayor, announced his endorsement of President Bush at a news conference Monday afternoon. "What has our community received in return for the past century of our loyal support for Democratic presidential candidates?" he asked rhetorically. "Dare I speak the answer? Nothing! The strong Democratic vote in the Mahoning Valley is taken for granted. During the campaign, they promise us they will deliver the beef and after we give them our overwhelming support, not only do they not give us the beef, we don't even get the bun."The endorsement announcement was made in the Commerce Building offices of attorney Joseph Houser, a part-time judge in Mahoning County Court and a Republican. McKelvey was joined by Clarence R. Smith, chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party, and Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio Valley regional chairwoman for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Greeting reporters as they entered the downtown building for the press event were three pickets, including Harold Nichols, an official in the state IUE/CWA Union who's also active in John Kerry's presidential campaign. Nichols said organized labor has endorsed McKelvey throughout his political career and vowed political retribution against the term limited mayor should he seek another elective office. "It's a slap in the face to labor -- we were betrayed," Nichols said."He's acting like a jackass...he's wrong to turncoat on us."Nichols scoffed at McKelvey's notion that his support for Bush will benefit the area. "I think he sold the Mahoning Valley out just for the price of dinner at the White House," he said.McKelvey and his wife dined with the president and his wife -- and 20 other guests -- May 26, one day after Bush held a semi-scripted town meeting at Youngstown State University to discuss the role of community health centers. At the time, Democrats speculated Bush was cozying up to the mayor in hopes of using him to reduce Kerry's margin of victory in the Mahoning Valley.McKelvey said yesterday that he plans to attend next week's Republican National Convention and left open the possibility that he might be given time to address the party faithful from the dais."I hope they told him it's not prime-time," joked state Sen. Robert Hagan, D-33 Youngstown. "I was hoping George's cutting a deal with the president would generate some sort of benefit for Youngstown. So far as I know, the only thing George will bring back home from the Republican Convention is an autographed hatchet from Karl Rove."Rove is President Bush's top political adviser and has been tied by the Kerry campaign to the money people behind the attack ads that accuse the Democrat of lying about his war record. Hagan went on to say that McKelvey was "acting out of great frustration. The city has deteriorated exponentially under his watch. We have among the highest unemployment rates in the country with no economic recovery in sight."Also criticizing the mayor's record in reacting to his endorsement of Bush was Harry Meshel, who represented the Mahoning Valley in the Ohio Senate for decades and served a term as chairman of the Ohio Democrat Party. "It's to be expected from someone who has done literally nothing for the city of Youngstown to support a president who has done literally nothing positive for this country," Meshel said."The mayor is just like Bush," he continued. "The amount of time he spends in City Hall is about the amount of time the president spent in the Oval Office during his year as president.In his endorsement speech, McKelvey said he looks forward to working with the Bush Administration to keep open the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, secure more federal dollars for "job creation and improvement initiatives," and complete the Youngstown Convocation Center. McKelvey said he has been promised nothing by the Bush Administration, that he's "never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate" until now -- "the most important [election] of my lifetime."Sracic, the political scientist, said McKelvey is "probably looking at a future congressional bid" in Ohio's 6th district -- should the Democratic incumbent, Ted Strickland, decide to run for governor in 2006. "If McKelvey switches parties, and becomes a Republican, this would lead the Ohio Republican Party to make sure no one runs against him. He would be the favorite to get the [congressional] nomination," Sracic observed.Good riddance, said Lisa Antonini, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party. "George McKelvey is at a point in his career where he can't be elected to anything else. He's looking to be appointed to something."Antonini said McKelvey and the Bush-Cheney campaign are "overestimating" the mayor's standing in the Mahoning Valley and the value of his endorsement."I think voters in this community are smart," she observed. "They see the city has fallen behind. On the national level, we're falling behind as well. So McKelvey and Bush teaming up truly reflects what they truly represent -- a lack of vision for our country and for our local community."Contact Andrea Wood at [email protected]"