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McCain to lead town-hall forum at YSU
This is the presidential candidate’s third visit to the Mahoning Valley.
YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Sen. John , the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will visit the Mahoning Valley on Tuesday. He will lead a public town-hall forum and talk to recently displaced workers and to those going through job retraining and education.
McCain, R-Ariz., is expected to spend about four hours in the Youngstown area during Day 2 of his five-day “Time for Action Tour.”
McCain’s campaign announced Sunday that he will be at Youngstown State University for a public town-hall meeting at noon Tuesday in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center. He will visit locations before and after the YSU stop. Those stops are expected to be announced today.
“There’s a lot of talk about change,” said Jeff Sadosky, a McCain campaign spokesman. “But we need action. We need a candidate with the toughness and credibility to bring about change.”
McCain is spending hours in the places he’s visiting this week to learn about the problems people face and how to help them, Sadosky said.
“If you’re really going to get into the issues, you have to spend the time,” he said. “It’s not just laying out your plan. Many candidates have their nine points, make a speech and then go. This is going to be a talk, a conversation. It’s getting past the sound bites and getting to the issues.”
McCain’s visit to Youngstown is the same day as the Pennsylvania primary. McCain’s already secured enough Republican delegates to receive his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican convention in September.
This will be McCain’s third visit to the Mahoning Valley.
He was here in October 2005 and August 2006 to raise money for then-U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican and a friend for more than 25 years. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Avon Democrat, defeated DeWine in the 2006 race for the Senate.
McCain’s tour includes locations Republicans typically don’t visit, Sadosky said.
McCain starts the tour Monday in Selma, Ala., and Thomasville, Ala. After spending Tuesday in Youngstown, he goes the next day to Inez, Ky., where President Johnson first announced his “war on poverty” initiative in 1964.
McCain spends Thursday in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and ends Friday in Little Rock, Ark.
McCain’s campaign is airing a commercial in Youngstown touting his economic agenda.
In response to McCain’s visit to Youngstown, the Ohio Democratic Party will air a commercial against the Republican. Ohio Democratic officials say it’s the first commercial by any state party in the United States against McCain.
skolnick@vindy.com