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McCain wines, dines with supporters
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WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Sen. John McCain spent the last hour-and-a-half of his visit to the region Wednesday sequestered from the lights, cameras and rigors of life as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, away from the masses who will decide his fate in November.
McCain, R-Ariz., worked a room inside the Westmoreland Club on South Franklin Street, sharing one-liners and hors d’oeuvres with more than 200 local supporters at a private, $250-per-person fundraising luncheon that followed a public town-hall meeting at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, two blocks away.
McCain spoke briefly to the group, reiterating in bullet points the policy statements he detailed in paragraphs at the earlier session — his support of the surge of force in Iraq, his plan to reduce gas prices and his pledge to eliminate unchecked government spending. He spoke face-to-face with smaller groups of supporters, shook hands and posed for pictures that became instant personal mementos.
“It was very casual,” Ed Sieminski, a McCain supporter from Mountain Top, said. “He spoke off the cuff, then he mingled with people. It was just very warm, very social and, I thought, an excellent reception of the senator as he came to visit us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
As McCain walked to the Westmoreland Club from his campaign bus, nicknamed the “Straight Talk Express,” he waved with his right hand and gave a thumbs up in the direction of a smattering of onlookers and protesters who stood behind a line of police tape about 100 feet away, in front of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Store clerks and customers at the nearby Boscov’s Department Store watched McCain from behind the store’s large glass windows.
Supporters who arrived late to the event were jeered by the protesters and Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters, who encouraged passing motorists to, “Honk for Obama.”
Kurt Shotko of Scranton held a sign that cast McCain as a replica of President George W. Bush, blaming them, and their Republican supporters, for the tolls of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You’re co-conspirators!” Shotko yelled. “You conspired to kill our soldiers and little children! You tortured little children! I hope you enjoy eating your food with those bloody hands!”
Chris Hackett, the Republican candidate in the 10th Congressional District, drew a distinction between the policies and experience of McCain, who served in the Vietnam War and suffered for five years as a prisoner of war, and Bush, who served in the Air National Guard but never saw combat duty.
“First and foremost, George Bush is not on the ticket. John McCain is going to be on the ticket,” Hackett said. “As people look at John McCain the candidate and the learn more about where he stands and how he approaches life, based on his life experiences, they’ll become more and more comfortable.”
McCain’s visit to Wilkes-Barre — nearly four months after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Obama, and former Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the city on the same day — underscored the potential importance of Pennsylvania and the region in the general election.
Obama and Clinton made separate appearances in Wilkes-Barre before the Pennsylvania primary in April. Clinton won the primary by 9.2 percent and defeated Obama by a 3-to-1 margin in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, which both lean Democratic politically, and conservative morally.
“The key in any election is for voters to look at the man and to vote for the man sometimes over the party,” Hackett said. “You look at John McCain, he’s a natural leader. He has shown he’s always put our country first and that’s really what we need in politics today.”
msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061
McCain, R-Ariz., worked a room inside the Westmoreland Club on South Franklin Street, sharing one-liners and hors d’oeuvres with more than 200 local supporters at a private, $250-per-person fundraising luncheon that followed a public town-hall meeting at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, two blocks away.
McCain spoke briefly to the group, reiterating in bullet points the policy statements he detailed in paragraphs at the earlier session — his support of the surge of force in Iraq, his plan to reduce gas prices and his pledge to eliminate unchecked government spending. He spoke face-to-face with smaller groups of supporters, shook hands and posed for pictures that became instant personal mementos.
“It was very casual,” Ed Sieminski, a McCain supporter from Mountain Top, said. “He spoke off the cuff, then he mingled with people. It was just very warm, very social and, I thought, an excellent reception of the senator as he came to visit us here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
As McCain walked to the Westmoreland Club from his campaign bus, nicknamed the “Straight Talk Express,” he waved with his right hand and gave a thumbs up in the direction of a smattering of onlookers and protesters who stood behind a line of police tape about 100 feet away, in front of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Store clerks and customers at the nearby Boscov’s Department Store watched McCain from behind the store’s large glass windows.
Supporters who arrived late to the event were jeered by the protesters and Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters, who encouraged passing motorists to, “Honk for Obama.”
Kurt Shotko of Scranton held a sign that cast McCain as a replica of President George W. Bush, blaming them, and their Republican supporters, for the tolls of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You’re co-conspirators!” Shotko yelled. “You conspired to kill our soldiers and little children! You tortured little children! I hope you enjoy eating your food with those bloody hands!”
Chris Hackett, the Republican candidate in the 10th Congressional District, drew a distinction between the policies and experience of McCain, who served in the Vietnam War and suffered for five years as a prisoner of war, and Bush, who served in the Air National Guard but never saw combat duty.
“First and foremost, George Bush is not on the ticket. John McCain is going to be on the ticket,” Hackett said. “As people look at John McCain the candidate and the learn more about where he stands and how he approaches life, based on his life experiences, they’ll become more and more comfortable.”
McCain’s visit to Wilkes-Barre — nearly four months after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Obama, and former Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the city on the same day — underscored the potential importance of Pennsylvania and the region in the general election.
Obama and Clinton made separate appearances in Wilkes-Barre before the Pennsylvania primary in April. Clinton won the primary by 9.2 percent and defeated Obama by a 3-to-1 margin in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, which both lean Democratic politically, and conservative morally.
“The key in any election is for voters to look at the man and to vote for the man sometimes over the party,” Hackett said. “You look at John McCain, he’s a natural leader. He has shown he’s always put our country first and that’s really what we need in politics today.”
msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061
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