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Do IT this week: Layering
Senator touts candidate to hundreds in Akron, says world watching primary
By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy told more than 200 Barack Obama supporters on Saturday something they already knew about the March 4 primary election: Ohio matters.
''On the day after March 4, the country, and really the world, are going to be looking at Ohio,'' Kennedy said at the Akron event. ''They're going to be looking at Akron. They're going to be looking all over Ohio to see what kind of message that you send to the country.''
The race for the Democratic Party's nomination between Sens. Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton remains close — and Ohio is a big prize.
''I tell you my friends, it's coming down to the wire. It's coming down to Ohio. And you, Ohioans, can make all the difference in the world,'' Kennedy said.
He praised Obama's positions on education, health care and the economy and got some of his loudest applause when he discussed Obama's early opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
Kennedy voted no on the 2002 vote to authorize the use of military force. Clinton voted yes with the majority. Obama, who was an Illinois state senator at the time, spoke out against the invasion.
''Barack Obama understood intuitively that America was not facing the imminent threat by Iraq, and if we are not facing an imminent threat, then you do not go to war,'' Kennedy said.
The event at the Alpha Center on Wolf Ledges Parkway was Kennedy's third Ohio stop on Saturday. He also spoke at rallies in Youngstown and Cleveland.
Clinton has received support from establishment Democratic politi
cians such as Gov. Ted Strickland and Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic.
At-large Akron City Councilman Michael Williams told the crowd — which was so large that some had to watch the rally on video in a downstairs room — that the establishment doesn't know what to make of Obama's campaign.
''They're scrambling,'' Williams said. ''They don't know what to do with this. They don't know how to handle this. They don't know how to counter this. Even here in Summit County.''
Williams named the politicians and judges who had come out Saturday for Obama, which included state Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, and his wife, Barbara Sykes, a former state representative and former chairwoman of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
Vernon Sykes said before the rally that Obama's campaign feels new and exciting.
''A lot of the old school is with the Clintons, but beyond that, we have a plethora of elected officials and precinct committee persons — a groundswell,'' he said.
Barbara Sykes, who was Bill Clinton's political director in Ohio in 1992, said Obama is the candidate she's been looking for who can unite the country.
Support crosses lines
Pamela Boon, a 60-year-old white woman from Barberton, said she knows she's part of a demographic that has tended to lean toward Clinton.
''I know, I know, but I'm not, I'm going for Obama,'' Boon said. ''Why not Hillary? I don't believe she's real. She's contrived and just because I'm a woman, I don't necessarily have to vote for a woman.''
Jesse White, a 65-year-old black man from Akron, said he believes Obama is the best candidate to keep more jobs from going overseas.
''I worked for Chrysler for 43 years and I saw this happen to my company,'' he said.
He said Kennedy's endorsement and stump speeches for Obama have made a difference in the campaign.
''It's his presence,'' White said. ''When he supported Obama, it had a crystallizing effect because of his stand over the years and his personality and who he is about.''
Kennedy said Obama's great strength is his ability to draw young people back to politics. Before the rally, he met with some of those young supporters, including 28-year-old Sarah Shorder.
The 2002 University of Akron graduate is working on her master's degree at George Washington University and has returned to live in Akron while she completes her thesis.
She said she talked to Kennedy about her frustration dealing with the health insurance industry.
She's been volunteering for the Obama campaign, which has opened a field office in Akron, and is excited about the chance to make a difference.
''Ohio actually matters,'' she said. ''We were afraid it wouldn't.''
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792, 800-777-7232 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy told more than 200 Barack Obama supporters on Saturday something they already knew about the March 4 primary election: Ohio matters.
Get the full article here.
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