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Saturday, October 30, 2004
Kerry urges ‘fresh start’ for America
By RON HURTIBISE | News-Journal Staff Writer
ORLANDO — Calling this year’s election “the most important” of his supporters’ lives, Sen. John Kerry said Friday voters must choose between failed policies of his opponent and a “fresh start” he’s promising.
Kerry, during a rally at the Orlando Centroplex that was heavily peppered with young adults, portrayed incumbent George W. Bush’s first term as a failure.
“We have a fundamental choice,” he said. “Four more years of the same failed course or a fresh start for America that takes us in a new direction.”
The president will offer a sharply different view when he courts Orlando voters at 8:05 tonight during a Victory 2004 Rally at Tinker Field. But the Orlando stage Friday belonged to Kerry.
Under the first Bush term, he said, middle-class Americans have seen health-care and college tuition costs rise and prospects for high-paying jobs shrink.
Meanwhile, Bush has ignored the middle class by awarding tax breaks to companies that export jobs overseas, he said.
In the Middle East, Bush’s “catastrophic management” of the Iraq war has resulted in more than 1,100 lost American lives and a bill of $225 billion. Efforts to capture Osama bin Laden and win the war on terror have fallen behind, he said.
Fortunes wouldn’t improve under a second Bush term, he said.
Kerry pledged to involve new allies in the Iraq war, train Iraqis to secure their own country, bring U.S. troops home, then turn his attention to running a “tougher, smarter war on terrorism.”
Based on reactions from the crowd of several hundred at the ticketed event, the Democratic challenger didn’t have to try very hard to sell his vision of a Kerry presidency.
The audience comprised the party’s traditional mix of labor union members, blacks, whites and Hispanics of all ages. The crowd featured a large percentage of young people.
After the Kerry rally, two University of Central Florida students offered a possible explanation for the increased interest among young voters.
“I wanted to hear what Kerry was going to do about the war, because on TV I didn’t think he was too clear,” said Robert Lutter, 20, of Orlando. Lutter said he came away satisfied with Kerry’s plan.
Ivan Ivanov, 19, said he came to the rally despite earning his American citizenship too late to register to vote this year. The Bulgarian native said he “still wants to make a difference” and is urging his friends to vote for Kerry.
“I’m at the age where I can be drafted,” he said, touching upon a common concern among young adults, even though Bush has said he will not reinstitute the draft. “A lot of young people don’t agree with the war — especially young people who could have to go and fight. That’s why I think it matters.”