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McCain makes three stops in Youngstown
John McCain at YSU
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The visit was part of the candidate’s tour to ‘forgotten’ communities.
YOUNGSTOWN — Even if he fares poorly on Election Day in the Democratic-dominated Mahoning Valley, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, says it’s important to make his presence known in the area.
“I want them to know I’m not leaving anyone behind,” McCain said Tuesday in an interview with The Vindicator and The Columbus Dispatch.
“Second of all, when I am president, I want to be the president of everybody — so I’m going to go all over America to places that I may not win in the election.”
But McCain said he doesn’t plan to surrender any area to the Democrats, including the Mahoning Valley, one of the most Democratic areas of Ohio.
“I’m going to compete, and I think this gives me an opportunity to, at least, have contact with people who, frankly, may not ever see a presidential candidate, much less a Republican presidential candidate,” he said.
In the weeks leading to the March Democratic primary, the party’s two presidential candidates visited the Valley — U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., came three times, and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., held one public rally.
McCain made three stops Tuesday in Youngstown, including a public town-hall forum at Youngstown State University.
On a ride from Fab Art Inc., a heavy-metal fabricating plant on Martin Luther King Boulevard, to YSU, McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, spoke to reporters from the two newspapers.
McCain said he isn’t concerned that Democrats will succeed in defining who he is during the campaign.
“The American people know me,” he said. “The American people know who I am and what I am and what I stand for and believe in. Finally, the American people will make a judgment as to who they want to lead this nation based on the future and not the past.”
McCain said he’s proud of his past, which includes 25 years in the U.S. Senate.
But when voters decide on the next president, they’ll select the person they believe can do the best job to help the nation’s future, he said.
McCain has enough delegates to easily capture the Republican presidential nominee at the party’s convention in September.
The Democratic race is still ongoing and may not be decided until that party’s convention.
When asked if a lengthy Democratic contest — one that has the potential to divide that party — helps his campaign, McCain said he didn’t “necessarily agree with that.”
He then added that he’s “not qualified to judge” the validity of the Democratic primary on his election effort.
The senator makes no apologies for his support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 agreement that a number of Valley politicians and labor leaders say devastated the area’s economy.
“Oh, I understand” their feelings about NAFTA, McCain said. “... I can’t tell people I’m against free trade. That would be a contradiction of everything I fundamentally believe in.”
McCain said the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada isn’t perfect, but it would be a disaster to cancel it. Clinton and Obama are proposing canceling NAFTA if it’s not reopened and changed.
“The problem is not free trade; the problem is providing an educated and trained work force that can compete in the world’s economy,” he said.
McCain said he has faith in places such as YSU that can train and educate people for the jobs of the future.
“The struggles of this community and others like it matter, when we talk about our nation’s economy — they are not just a problem, they’re a priority,” he said to a crowd of about 500 at YSU.
“What matters most of all is that you didn’t give up. You didn’t give up and you won’t give up. Many of you are receiving training here at Youngstown State, at a time in life when learning new things doesn’t come easy.”
Jack O’Connell, a former Valley labor leader, asked about NAFTA in a question to McCain, saying, in part: “There’s four letters out there and that’s NAFTA.”
McCain politely corrected O’Connell saying, “I’m prone to make a mistake myself, but NAFTA is five letters.” The audience, including O’Connell, laughed.
The Youngstown visit was day two of McCain’s five-day “Time for Action Tour,” in which he’s visiting “forgotten” communities.
“The men and women of Youngstown know what it feels like to be counted out,” he said. “You’ve been written off a few times yourselves in the competition of the market. You know how it feels to hear that good things are happening in the American economy, but they’re just not happening to you.”
Officials with the Ohio Democratic Party criticized McCain, saying electing him would continue the President Bush administration for another term.
“John McCain offers Ohioans four more years of the same failed trade and economic policies,” said Doug Kelly, the party’s executive director. “... Sen. McCain is completely out of touch with the lives of middle-class Ohioans.”
Ohio and national Democratic leaders also blasted McCain for comparing Youngstown’s economic woes to his presidential bid.
McCain’s visit persuaded Tyler Eucker of Hartford, a recent YSU graduate, to vote for the Republican.
“I liked a lot of things he said,” Eucker said. “I was undecided before I came. But I liked what he said about health care and the global economy.”
McCain made a few mistakes during his YSU speech as well as during brief remarks outside Fab Art.
He described the Youngstown 2010 plan as something being put together. But the redevelopment plan was adopted about three years ago by city council.
When talking about the population decline in Youngstown, Mc-Cain said the city’s “lost nearly half of its population over the previous 10 to 15 years.”
Actually that decline occurred over the past 35 years or so.
The city’s current population is about 80,000. In 1990, the population was about 95,000, according to the U.S. Census. In 1970, the city had about 140,000 residents.
McCain also struggled with the name of the company he visited after the YSU event.
McCain’s final stop in Youngstown was at Fireline Inc., an advanced-materials developer.
In succession, McCain called the company “Fairlawn,” “Firelawn,” and finally its correct name when talking at YSU.
He joked that he was “close” with the other two names.
skolnick@vindy.com