McCain Treks to Chillicothe


By Joe Hallett, Columbus Dispatch
August 7, 2008

Article Excerpts:

CHILLICOTHE -- Republican John McCain yesterday joined history's parade of presidential candidates to Ohio's first capital, aware of this city's knack for mirroring the Election Day outcome of the state that could decide who wins the White House on Nov. 4.

On the first leg of a two-day trek through Ohio, a feisty McCain declared himself the underdog and told Democrats angry about his attack ads against Sen. Barack Obama to "keep smiling." That's exactly what the 71-year-old senator was doing when told that celebutante Paris Hilton had fired back with an Internet video calling him that "wrinkly white-haired guy."

McCain, who featured Hilton and Britney Spears in a ubiquitous attack ad against Obama last week, told reporters he had not seen the video, but was glad that "Paris Hilton has kind of a sense of humor, too."

The campaign is playing out at a feverish pitch in Ohio, where both candidates are blanketing the airwaves and hustling across the state. Since July 1, each has made four visits to Ohio and spent more than $5 million on TV ads.

Obama held town-hall meetings Tuesday in Austintown and Berea. But it was McCain who became the first of the two to campaign in Chillicothe.

McCain stopped yesterday for a 20-minute photo op and tour of the main fire station, carrying two large pizzas. As he glad-handed his way down a line of 24 firefighters, he told an aide, "I don't think I brought enough pizza for everybody. We'll have to send out for some more."

Chillicothe, focus of a Dispatch monthly series on the presidential race, has been a reliable predictor of Ohio's vote in recent elections. In the past two presidential races, the combined results from Chillicothe's 29 precincts varied from the state's by less than a percentage point -- 0.98 in 2004 and 0.05 in 2000.

Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry campaigned in Chillicothe in 2004. So did Bill Clinton in 1996, preceded by, among others, Richard Nixon, Harry S. Truman, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes and William Henry Harrison.

"Chillicothe is supposed to be a bellwether," said Fire Chief Bruce Vaughan. "How we think and do here is pretty much what goes across the state."

Before Chillicothe, McCain stopped in Jackson to tour Merillat Industries, a cabinet maker known for its effort to improve energy efficiency. He called anew for more offshore drilling, saying Obama is "out of touch" for not fully advocating nuclear power. While not ruling out nuclear power, Obama has been reluctant to expand it until concerns about proliferation and nuclear-waste storage are resolved.

Aboard his campaign bus, McCain brushed aside complaints by Gov. Ted Strickland and Sen. Sherrod Brown that his campaign is trying to "swift-boat" Obama with ads portraying him as self-absorbed and arrogant. One ad broadcast more than 4,000 times in less than a week in Ohio and 11 other states mocks Obama as a celebrity and compares him to Hilton and Spears.

McCain said Strickland and Brown should have a sense of humor, saying most objective viewers would see the ad as "pretty humorous." Yesterday, McCain released a 30-second spot in Ohio and elsewhere calling Obama "the biggest celebrity in the world," saying he would deter job growth by raising taxes and increasing federal spending. . . .

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