Kerry delivers message on the economy in Ohio

Kerry pledged to enlist more international help for American troops.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry says Ohio is key to his strategy to win the White House, and he hopes Ohioans will support his message.
"Ohio is very much a key state, a very critical state in this election," the Massachusetts senator said Wednesday after a union rally near Ohio State University. "You've been hurt so badly in terms of job loss ... your property taxes are up, your sales taxes are up. You're hurt by the Bush presidency."
Fresh off Tuesday's win in the Wisconsin primary and in advance of the Ohio primary March 2, Kerry stumped in the Buckeye State with organized labor appearances in Dayton and Columbus.
"I think there are better choices for Ohio. I think we can put people to work. I think we can balance our budget and be fiscally responsible, and I think that's what Americans want," Kerry told reporters.
'Super Tuesday'
With the departure of ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean from the race for the Democratic nomination, Kerry and rival Democratic candidate John Edwards of North Carolina will compete heavily in the Buckeye State and the other nine states that hold primaries March 2, known as "Super Tuesday."
"I'm convinced that the state of Ohio can be won, and I intend to compete in the state of Ohio," Kerry said.
Additional Kerry campaign events were expected later this month. An Ohio Democratic Party spokesman said Edwards is expected to take a campaign swing through Ohio later this week, but details are not yet available.
If he captures the Democratic nomination and defeats President Bush in the November general election, Kerry pledged to close what he called "loopholes" in the nation's tax laws that he said reward companies for taking jobs overseas, and he promised to "provide a fair-trade playing field."
"You give the American worker a fair playing field to compete on, we can compete," Kerry said.
Kerry said he would also roll back tax cuts for America's wealthiest citizens, if elected.
Iraq
On the military conflict in Iraq, Kerry pledged to enlist more international help for American troops.
"I would immediately move to internationalize our effort there in the way the president should have before he went to war," Kerry told reporters. "I would go to the U.N., to NATO, to any even ad-hoc group that you have put together."
"That's the way you can get other troops on the ground," Kerry said. "That's the way you enlist other countries in what they have a legitimate interest in, and that's the way you get the target off of American troops fast," Kerry said.
Before several hundred people at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 union hall, Kerry took aim at the president, saying the economic policies of his administration have hurt states such as Ohio.
Earlier Wednesday, Kerry spoke to workers at the United Auto Workers office in Dayton. Kerry aides said the candidate was expected to return to Washington, D.C., today, where he was expected to receive the backing of the AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of more than 64 labor unions representing 13 million workers.