Kerry Hears Supportive Voices in a Bush Bastion in Ohio
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: October 17, 2004
UCHANAN, Ohio, Oct. 16 - On a day when he rallied thousands of supporters deep in Republican territory and bought a hunting license to show off his credentials as a sportsman, Senator John Kerry's search for the political center brought him on Saturday to a Roman Catholic church where a very supportive priest chided bishops who have assailed him over abortion rights.
Celebrating a specially arranged Mass for Mr. Kerry in Chillicothe, Ohio, the Rev. Lawrence Hummer noted that the Catholic church was "steadfast in proclaiming that all life is sacred," but said in his homily that "too often the church's proclamation is in conflict with its practice."
The priest said the church ought to persuade those who support abortion rights and otherwise oppose its teachings "by word and example," not "ostracize them or treat them like lepers."
Mr. Kerry is the focus of a raging debate within the Catholic church in the United States, with some bishops refusing to grant Communion to Catholic politicians, like Mr. Kerry, who support abortion rights. Some are actively opposing his candidacy and promoting President Bush.
As a supporter outside held a seldom-seen sign saying "Christians for Kerry," the candidate thanked Father Hummer for the chance to "stop the hurly burly, get away from the wildness, have this moment of tranquility and worship." He also spoke of the religious basis for working for the environment and against poverty, recalling President Kennedy's reminder that "on Earth, God's work must truly be our own."
The visit to the church, St. Mary's, came late in a day-long bus tour through southern Ohio, where George W. Bush overwhelmingly defeated Al Gore four years ago. Democrats are hoping that Mr. Kerry's performance in the region on Nov. 2 will resemble that of Bill Clinton, who carried 19 of 21 counties in 1996, rather than that of Mr. Gore, who won just 4.
Kerry aides said that while some of those counties were bedrock Republican territory, others proved to be swing districts in the last election only for lack of trying: Mr. Gore never contested this part of the state, said Allison Dobson, a Kerry spokeswoman.
So on Saturday, Mr. Kerry set out from Dayton through the region's small towns and farmland, full of picturesque stops calibrated to touch emotional chords in this swath of middle America.
At a farm stand in Jeffersonville, he hoisted a little girl in the air, picked out bags of gourds and Indian corn for his wife, and paid $10 each for two mammoth pumpkins. And at a grocery here in Buchanan, he paid $140 cash for a hunting license to shoot ducks and geese in the Mahoning Valley.
Or, as his spokesman, Mike McCurry, joked, "To go kill defenseless animals somewhere": a reminder that, even while courting middle-of-the-road voters, the party's base is never entirely out of anyone's mind.
Mr. Kerry will indeed be back to hunt very soon, aides said, underlining both how hard he is fighting to carry Ohio and his approach to the gun issue: supporting a ban on assault weapons while showing off his skill as a marksman.
For all the day's demonstrations of godliness and manliness, Mr. Kerry was in full high dudgeon before some 2,500 people in a packed high school gym in Xenia, where Mr. Bush won in a 20-point landslide.
Mr. Kerry listened as Michael Adams told how he and his 138 coworkers at a factory had been given pink slips in September 2003, how he had no savings to draw on because he had been helping his cancer-stricken parents, and how he was still out of work and furious at President Bush.
Then Mr. Kerry picked up an Ohio newspaper from Tuesday and read from its front page how Treasury Secretary John W. Snow had come to town and called reports about job losses under Mr. Bush nothing more than "myths."
"Is your job loss a myth, Mike?" Mr. Kerry said, turning to Mr. Adams. "Mr. President, the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths; they are our neighbors, they're middle class Americans, and they deserve better."
"Tell us, John!" someone yelled.
Mr. Snow has said his remarks were taken out of context.
Mr. Kerry had listeners springing from their seats every few moments as he went through his agenda: when he promised to end "in a nanosecond" what he called tax incentives for companies that move jobs overseas; when he vowed to put domestic security ahead of tax cuts for the wealthy; when he vowed to support alternative and renewable energy sources and stem-cell research.
But this was an audience ripe for a negative message, and they roared more loudly when Mr. Kerry scoffed at Mr. Bush, saying "This guy's never in doubt, but frequently in error."
Later, at church in Chillicothe, Father Hummer seemed ready to endorse Mr. Kerry in his homily, too. "We have heard the clarion call," he said, echoing the Kerry-Edwards slogan, "that hope is on the way."
The priest's sister, Anne Hummer, said Father Hummer had a few things in common with Mr. Kerry: both men opposed the first Gulf war, and after the priest was criticized for speaking against it from the pulpit, he entered the Navy as a chaplain and served two rotations.
After the service, Father Hummer urged Mr. Kerry on. "God bless you," he said. "And win, will you?"
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