PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION News Contacts: Despite role, Valley's likely to be forgotten

Some local residents are tired of the presidential press ads.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Some Mahoning Valley residents are divided as to whether Ohio will play a critical role in the presidential race.
The Vindicator asked its News Contacts if they think that Ohio is perhaps the key battleground state in the November election between President Bush, a Republican, and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee.
Also, the News Contacts were asked if they are tired or excited about the attention given by the Bush-Cheney and the Kerry-Edwards campaigns to Ohio and the Mahoning Valley.
Whether tired or excited, most who responded say the winner of the November presidential election will forget about the Mahoning Valley while they are in office.
"I truly believe that Ohio is the key state in the upcoming election," said Keith Hipple of Youngstown, a laborer and a Republican. "This election will be as close as the last one. The extra attention being given to our Valley is just 'smoke and mirrors' like every presidential election. Both Bush and Kerry are promising help we so badly need here. After the election, we will be forgotten again."
Not getting caught up
The Rev. Barry Knaub, the pastor at the Central Baptist Church in Niles, says Ohio is critical to both candidates. But he says the state shouldn't get caught up in the hype.
"If we are foolish enough to believe that they will do what they promise, as in past elections, then we will get just what we deserve," he said. "As Ohioans, we need to insist on specifics and hold them to it."
Until the Republican National Convention, held about a month ago, Bush and Kerry were in a statistical dead heat in most polls of Ohio voters. Since the convention, polls show the Republican president leading by 7 percent to 12 percent in Ohio.
Both sides continuously campaign in Ohio, including several stops in the Mahoning Valley. Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of the Democratic vice presidential candidate, was the latest campaigner with a Wednesday visit to Youngstown.
Bob Hogue of Boardman, an independent and associate professor at Youngstown State University, said Ohio is an important state in the November election, but disagrees that it is the key state.
"I also disagree that a victory in Ohio would ensure that either candidate would win the election," he said. "In a way, I am excited by the attention given to Ohio and to this region, but I am also concerned that all of that attention will go away after someone is elected. Those who claim to care about Ohio and this area need to convince us that they won't forget us once they are elected."
Kerry needs Ohio more?
George M. Kesner of Canfield, a retired educator and Democrat, contends Ohio is a battleground state, but Kerry needs to win it much more than Bush.
As for the attention paid to Ohio, Kesner said: "Personally, I feel both parties are spending way too much money in their campaigns, and I am sick and tired of hearing both candidates tell me what they are going to do for our country when you and I know they never follow through on their promises. The money spent on both campaigns and the money spent in Iraq would solve most of the problems the people of this country are facing."
Jim Spencer of Lake Milton, a steel millwright and a Democrat, said Ohio isn't essential to a presidential victory, but it is certainly an important state to win.
"And yes, I'm getting a little tired of all the political ads," he said. "They're beating us to death. Besides, George Bush hasn't told the truth in four years, so why would he start now?"
Laura Grohovsky, an Austintown Democrat, said tired isn't the word she would use to describe her feelings about this presidential race.
"Frustration is a better word," she said. "The issues are so complex and the candidates so distrusting and the economy so bad [that] we need Solomon's wisdom to sort it all out."
'Politics as usual'
As Alene Wilkins, a Boardman retiree and Republican, put it: "Hope springs eternal every election campaign in the Valley, and in four more years, no matter which candidate wins, we will question why none of the promises were kept. It is a cyclical event and politics as usual."
Marlene Johns of New Middletown, a retiree and a Democrat, said she's not excited about the attention paid to the state and the Valley by the presidential campaigns.
"Bush-Cheney have shown no concern for Ohio or the Mahoning Valley, and Kerry-Edwards could shower more empty promises upon us" with no results, she said.
Bobbie Ann Dunn, a Girard Democrat, also is skeptical about what the candidates say.
"The attention given to the Mahoning Valley during these campaigns echoes the same message as past candidates," she said. "The Mahoning Valley does not need more promises of a better tomorrow. We also do not need to hear some candidate itemize all the problems with our area, and then explain how our future will be better with a Democratic or Republican president."
skolnick@vindy.com