UrbanLegends calls that "mostly false".
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When I read it I rather seriously doubted that Kerry COULD do most of what was claimed. He has his rights; we have ours. A sudden declaration of "eminent domain" isn't in his rights, wouldn't be legal, and would open him and his campaign to a slew of lawsuits. And the bad press would kill him.
Comments: Mostly false, according to news coverage from a variety of standard sources.
It's true that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made a campaign stop in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on Labor Day, holding a "front porch meeting" at the home of local firefighter Dale Rhome.
It's also true that the block was closed to traffic by the Secret Service for security purposes. But Kerry did not invoke the government's power of eminent domain (misspelled "imminent domain" above) to "claim the street" as is alleged in the email, nor were neighbors excluded from the rally or required to remove Bush/Cheney signs from their lawns. (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a photograph, viewable here, of pro-Bush resident Beth Soucie, who "stood in a yard filled with Bush signs" throughout the event.)
When Kerry was challenged by hecklers he responded by addressing the substance of their complaints, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Did he call them rude? Yes, more than one source confirms — but only after they tried to drown out 70-year-old Canonsburg resident Patricia Romano as she recounted her problems getting adequate health care:
At one point, protesters tried to drown out an elderly woman who was straining to have her question to Kerry heard because of 11 surgeries on her throat. "While Bush people were rudely shouting, a 70-year-old woman . . . was telling the story about how she has had to go back to work because she needs to take pills at such a rate that she can't afford to pay for them because of the prescription drug costs," Kerry said. He pledged to lower the cost of prescription drugs, by allowing seniors to import drugs from Canada, and by offering Medicare an opportunity to purchase drugs in bulk to reduce costs. (Washington Post)
News reports:
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