By Anna Krejci
News-Chronicle
The day after the Republican National Convention concluded, Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, rolled into Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay.
He disembarked from a campaign bus and addressed a crowd from a stage in front of a billboard-sized sign that read, "A stronger America begins at home."
A child raised above one supporter's head was seen bobbing up and down among a sea of signs, some reading, "Nurses for Edwards," and other signs showing the support from the International Association of Firefighters and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
Ready to respond to four days of pro-Republican speeches, Edwards said the Bush administration is trying to disguise the country's problems. Right now, the country lacks enough jobs to employ those entering the work force, he said.
"But there's one thing you can count on, this administration, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, they're going to try every way they know to put lipstick on this pig," he said, adding that in the end, it's still a pig.
During Bush's presidency, more than 1.5 million private sector jobs have been lost, corporate profits are at record highs while low-to-middle class families are struggling financially, Edwards said.
"Here in Green Bay, you understand something about whether you rehire or hire somebody with that kind of record, don't you. You gotta coach here in Green Bay who's got a 2-and-14 record, and he wants to be rehired. What do you say? You're gonna send him to coach the (Dallas) Cowboys right?" Edwards said, adding, "We're gonna send George Bush back to Texas."
Edwards chimed in with familiar promises of the Kerry-Edwards campaign; tax cuts for companies that keep jobs in America, upholding trade agreements; the same quality health care of U.S. members of congress available to everyone, tax breaks for businesses and families; and a patients' bill of rights giving an individual more control over his or her health care options.
Edwards said he and Kerry have a plan for Iraq. They will strive to involve NATO and more countries into rebuilding Iraq to alleviate the cost to U.S. citizens. Iran and Syria will be barred from interfering with Iraq's restoration and other companies besides Halliburton will rebuild the country.
At the end of the speech, Edwards appealed to listeners to tell neighbors or relatives in financial hardship or faced with barriers to higher education, that "Help is on the way." Jennifer Welty of Allouez said she signed up to be a Kerry-Edwards volunteer after hearing Edwards speak.
"I like hearing something that supports what every day Americans live," she said.
Welty, a medical assistant in a cardiology clinic, called health care costs "ridiculous." Fred Jacobi, a retired public school teacher from Manitowoc, said he agrees entirely with the Kerry-Edwards platform.
"It had just a little bit of humor, but mostly it was to the point," he said of Edwards's speech.
"I hate to say something negative about the present president, but he simply isn't getting the job done," he said.
The country is in need of jobs and he led the country to war without backing from the country's historical allies, Jacobi said.
Pam Honold of Sturgeon Bay verbalized what she said is Edwards's outlook for the good of everyone.
"To have something good for us, it has to be good for others as well," she said. She had a photo taken with Edwards as he made his way through the crowd after his speech. Honold added that she hopes new voters exercise their political rights.
"Not voting is a vote for what we've had for the last four years," she said. Edwards drew attention to what he said are some of the Bush administration's failures; the lack of accessible health care and the lack of jobs.
Gail Chimenti, chairwoman of the Republican Party of Brown County, said the present unemployment rate under Bush's leadership is lower than what it was when former president Bill Clinton, was in office.
She added that she believes in Bush's plan to allow small businesses to collectively purchase health care plans to increase access to health care.
Speakers preceding Edwards included Wisconsin's Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and Democratic State Sen. Dave Hansen.
The event ran smoothly except for a period of minutes when one audience member seemed to have a dizzy spell because of the heat, said George Twigg, Kerry-Edwards campaign organizer. The visit started a two-day tour of Wisconsin by Edwards that included a visit to a farm in Newport Saturday.
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, said in a statement released by the Bush campaign that "John Kerry and John Edwards will say anything to anyone at anytime if they think it will help them politically, but Wisconsin farmers aren't going to believe Kerry's misleading rhetoric on the Northeast Dairy Compact. John Edwards showing up at a Wisconsin farm doesn't change the fact that Kerry voted for the Northeast Dairy Compact, said he would fight to keep it alive and even advocated extending it to other regions of the country. Kerry then created a real credibility problem when he said he'd no longer support it if elected president."
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