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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Kerry Rallies Mahoning Valley Democrats"
By Andrea WoodYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The war in Iraq was never mentioned. Instead the message to the Mahoning Valley was jobs, jobs, jobs.No specific job creation programs were offered -- "I'm not here to pay lip service," John Kerry said -- nor was trade protectionism served up to the pro-labor crowd gathered this morning for a rally at Phelps and Federal streets downtown.But the presidential candidate's strong indictment of George W. Bush for the loss of 2.8 million manufacturing jobs, 170,000 in Ohio and 9,000 in the city of Youngstown, was all he needed to secure the support of the Democratic Party faithful.Kerry's appearance in the Mahoning Valley came in the second day of his six-city bus tour dubbed the "Jobs First Express -- On the Road to a Stronger Economy.""We're here to put Americans back to work and make America fair again," he said as he began his remarks here, localizing his stump speech by placing himself in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy."Here in Youngstown, more than 40 years ago, on a crisp fall day," Kerry said, "another senator and presidential candidate from Massachusetts delivered a speech across the street from where we're standing today. It was a far different time. Youngstown was a different place, and that senator was better looking than me," he joked, warming up the crowd."Back then, the assembly line at Youngstown Sheet & Tube was still humming. Nearly everyone in town worked or knew someone who worked there," he said."Today all that comes off the line at Youngstown Sheet & Tube are memories, memories of a past when steel was center of life in America. I'm here in Youngstown, in Ohio, to make it clear that manufacturing should not and must not be a part of American's distant past. It must be a part of the present and we have to put America back to work."Kerry indicted George W. Bush for caring more about "people at the top" than the working men and women of the Mahoning Valley. The incomes of working Americans went up during the Clinton Administration, he said. But the opposite is true under the Bush Administration as the cost of college tuition, health care and gasoline all skyrocketed, take-home pay declined."This president, after the shock of 9/11 and the loss of lives, after the interruption to our economy, after the recession was over, this president said, 'If you give me tax cuts, we're going to create 5.1 million jobs.' Well, he got tax cuts three times. The lion's share of the tax cuts went to wealthiest people in the country, and we lost 2.8 million manufacturing jobs," Kerry declared."Common sense says when you're digging a hole and the hole is getting deeper and deeper and you're not getting out, you stop digging...The one person in the United States of America who deserves to be laid off is George W. Bush and that's what we're going to do."Kerry said the president cannot defend his record on the economy so instead, "All they do is attack. They've spent $70 million in the last few weeks trying to destroy my record, my reputation."The reference was to the Bush campaign's television ads that depict Kerry as taking both sides of controversial issues and being soft on defense. The advertising campaign coincides with partisan questions about Kerry's service in Vietnam and his participation in an anti-war protest 33 years ago.The controversy, which has been covered by the national news media rather than his Kerry's "Jobs First" bus tour, was not alluded to by the presidential candidate during his remarks.In introducing Kerry, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17th Ohio, said, "We have before us a hero and a patriot."You left it all on the battlefield for us, and the Mahoning Valley is going to leave it all on the battlefield for you," Ryan vowed.Ryan, the only politician tall enough to meet Kerry eye-to-eye, was in turn saluted by likely Democratic presidential nominee.As Kerry's speech wrapped up -- it lasted just over 30 minutes -- he summarized how he intends to stop the exporting of American manufacturing jobs. His program, outlined yesterday at the bus tour's first stop in Wheeling, W.Va., combines stepped up enforcement of trade laws with ending tax breaks that encourage businesses to move jobs overseas, expanding the middle class by cutting taxes for 98% of all Americans and 99% of U.S. businesses, providing tax credits for creating jobs and reducing health-care costs to business.Kerry's job-creation program would result in 417,000 new jobs in Ohio, he said.At the conclusion of his speech, the presidential candidate spent about 30 minutes shaking hands before getting back on the campaign bus and heading for Cleveland where he was to meet with Ohio mayors to discuss the economy. Tonight he will attend a fund-raiser at a downtown Cleveland hotel. Tomorrow the "Jobs First" bus tour travels to Toledo and Ann Arbor, Mich.The Kerry campaign today released a report (READ REPORT) that concluded the decline of manufacturing jobs is the largest drop in 80 years. The report tracks, state-by-state, the number of lost jobs. "Manufacturing is not only critical for America's economy," it states, it is also responsible for producing the critical components of the national security systems that keep America safe."Most polls show that jobs -- or the lack thereof -- is the No. 1 issue in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. But the national news media has all but ignored the jobs and trade message the candidate has put forth on the bus tour through those states and instead focused on Kerry's participation in a 1971 Vietnam War protest."God, they're doing the work of the Republican National Committee," Kerry said Monday morning following an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, presumably thinking his microphone no longer was active. Questioned by Charles Gibson about reports he was not entirely honest 33 years ago when he claimed to have discarded his war-hero medals as part of the protest, Kerry said it was a "phony controversy...I'm not going to stand for it."Following the interview, Kerry began his bus tour, making his first stop in Wheeling, W.Va., where he said it was time to "get our economy back in line with our values," and not reward companies that send jobs overseas, "but reward those that keep jobs here." But his message, crafted for key states the Democrats must win -- states where the loss in manufacturing jobs is the greatest -- was not covered by the national news media.The media disconnect was noted last night on CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown. After a report on the medals controversy, Brown asked reporter Candy Crowley if the public has paid attention to the controversy. Crowley replied the public does not care about many of the issues the national news media discusses. Instead, she said, just about everyone she meets on the campaign trail is only concerned about the war in Iraq and the economy.Contact Andrea Wood at [email protected]"