Article published November 01, 2008
OHIO IN FOCUS FOR FINAL DAYS
'Terminator' rallies McCain's faithful, predicts GOP win
Sen. John McCain stretches to reach supporters who greeted
his presidential campaign at a stop in Hanoverton, Ohio.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
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By TOM TROY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
COLUMBUS - Republican presidential nominee John McCain started his two-day campaign bid for Ohio's all-important 20 electoral votes with a plumber and wound up here with a terminator.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played a movie role as a robot from the future called The Terminator, yesterday predicted Mr. McCain can still win, contrary to what he said the media are predicting.
"Let me tell you something, when John was a POW, his Vietnamese captors didn't think he would survive. But he has proven them wrong and on Election Day he will prove the media wrong," Mr. Schwarzenegger told the crowd.
A McCain spokesman estimated the Nationwide Arena attendance at between 10,000 and 12,000.
The Obama campaign pointed out news reports from 2004 that President Bush jammed the arena to its capacity of 20,000 in a similar pre-election event with Governor Schwarzenegger.
The rally in Nationwide Arena capped a nine-city speaking tour of Ohio that began Thursday morning.Ohio's 20 electoral votes are important to both candidates, but especially to Mr. McCain, given that no Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio.
The Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, is also pushing for Ohio's vote as the campaign winds down. His Democratic running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, will be at Bowling Green State University tonight, the final stop on his two-day visit to the state.
And Senator Obama and his wife, Michelle, will rally supporters in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati tomorrow.
Polls show Mr. Obama leading the state of Ohio, but with enough margin of error and undecided voters to make the outcome unpredictable.
Senator McCain bashed away at his opponent's plans - as he sees them - for raising taxes, which he says would harm a weakened economy, and touted his own experience in national security.
And he was quick to jump on a comment Senator Obama made yesterday in Iowa, that "his faith in the American people was vindicated" by his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
"My country has never had to prove anything to me. I have always had faith in it," Mr. McCain said.
Mr. McCain was introduced in Hanoverton, in eastern Ohio, by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who said the national security issue has been overlooked.
"John McCain was right about the single most important decision that had to be made in the last four years, and that was to stick it out in Iraq, not to run away and run up the white flag of surrender," Mr. Giuliani said.
Mr. McCain contrasted his own experience with Mr. Obama's.
"Our friend Joe the Biden the other night warned that Senator Obama, because of his youth and inexperience, would be tested in an international crisis," Mr. McCain said.
"I will not be a president who needs to be tested. I know our enemies and I know our friends and they know me," Mr. McCain said.
The Obama campaign has cited Mr. Obama's endorsement by Republican former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell as evidence of confidence in Mr. Obama's national security preparedness.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said, "It's sad that John McCain's answer to the economic crisis is to continue the policies that caused it and make desperate, dishonest political attacks against Barack Obama."
"While John McCain said 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong' and supports $4 billion in tax giveaways for big oil companies like Exxon, Barack Obama will cut taxes for the middle class, invest in our manufacturing base, and bring the change our country needs," Senator Brown said.
In Steubenville, one supporter said Mr. McCain's short hops around Ohio are helping him, and he predicted that many people are still making up their minds.
"Honestly, I think people are going to be swayed in the next couple of days, especially if the economy picks up," said Neil Lynskey, 46, of Oakdale, Ohio.
Absent from the trail was Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher of suburban Toledo, who wowed crowds with Mr. McCain Thursday in Sandusky, Elyria, and Mentor.
Mr. McCain said Mr. Wurzelbacher "asked the question that needed to be asked of Senator Obama for small-businesspeople all over America who are going to see a tax increase, and what did Senator Obama say? He said we need to spread the wealth around."
Governor Schwarzenegger recalled his history in Ohio, which includes an annual body-building competition, as well as movie-making and business. He made fun of Mr. Obama's body, saying a body-building regimen would help him build up his "skinny legs" and "scrawny arms."
He claimed that Mr. Obama wants to introduce policies of wealth redistribution that Europe has given up.
"I left Europe four decades ago because socialism has killed opportunities there. In recent years Europe has realized its mistake and rolled back its spread-the-wealth policies," Mr. Schwarzenegger said.
He also blasted Mr. Obama for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act, a union-backed measure that would abolish the secret ballot by which employees choose whether to be represented by a union.
Mr. Schwarzenegger came back several times to Mr. McCain's experience as a prisoner of war from 1967 to 1973 in Hanoi.
"I only play an action hero in my movies, but John McCain is a real action hero," Mr. Schwarzenegger said. "John has been tested, we don't have to wonder if he's ready to be president of the United States. John McCain has served his country longer in a POW camp than his opponent has served in the United States Senate."
Mr. McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is to campaign in southeast Ohio tomorrow.
Contact Tom Troy at:
tomtroy@theblade.com,
or 419-724-6058.
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