McCain hits the road again to connect with struggling Americans

Fresh off his biographical tour to reintroduce himself to voters, John McCain kicked off another one yesterday to show he is in touch with some of America's struggles and challenges.

His first stop on his weeklong tour of places that suffer from poverty and inattention: the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. - one of the most important sites in the civil rights movement. The savage beating of voting rights marchers on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965 helped lead to passage of the Voting Rights Act.

"There must be no forgotten places in America, whether they have been ignored for long years by the sins of indifference and injustice, or have been left behind as the world grew smaller and more economically interdependent," McCain declared.

McCain's appearance drew about 100 people, most of them white, in a town that is 70 percent black. And the presumptive Republican nominee acknowledged it will be difficult to win over black voters who have supported Democrats for generations.

"I am aware the African-American vote has been very small in favor of the Republican Party," McCain told reporters. "I am aware of the challenges, and I am aware of the fact that there will be many people who will not vote for me, but I'm going to be the president of all the people."

McCain, who had Secret Service protection yesterday for the first time during the campaign, also stopped in Gee's Bend, Ala., home to famous quilters whose works have been exhibited in museums across the country, and in Thomasville, Ala., where he will highlight rural and workforce development.

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It was definitely one of the more unusual venues for the presidential hopefuls to make their pitches: World Wrestling Entertainment's "Monday Night Raw."

And in trying last night to attract voters who happen to be wrasslin' fans, the candidates came off looking a little, well, silly.

Hillary Clinton, telling fans to call her "Hill-Rod," said in her videotaped message: "This election is starting to feel a lot like King of the Ring. The only difference? The last man standing may just be a woman."

Barack Obama gives his spiel about special interests and lobbyists, but then borrows the signature line from former WWE champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. "You smell what Barack is cooking?" Obama asks with a grin.

John McCain says that it appears the two Democrats want to settle their battle in the ring. "That's fine with me," he says in his message, warning both that they're toast in November.

"Let me tell you, if you want to be the man you have to beat the man," McCain says. "Whatcha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on ya?"

FOON RHEE

Last week's Democratic debate in Philadelphia could very well be the last between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama because they could not agree on a date to face off again.

The North Carolina Democratic Party announced yesterday that it has canceled its scheduled April 27 forum, to be broadcast on CBS and moderated by news personality Katie Couric nine days before the state's May 6 primary.

The party cited logistical issues, but also noted "there were also growing concerns about what another debate would do to party unity."

Clinton had accepted the April 27 date. Obama had not, but had agreed to last Saturday. The two Democrats, who have debated 21 times, are scheduled to attend North Carolina Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner May 2.

FOON RHEE

Voters who watch cable news coverage of today's Pennsylvania primary will probably see the Democratic National Committee's first TV spot going after John McCain.

With the struggling economy topping voters' issues list and with the economy seen as McCain's vulnerable spot, the ad tries to tie the presumptive Republican nominee to President Bush's record on the budget and jobs. It shows McCain saying that Americans have had a "pretty good prosperous time" over the last seven years and contrasts that assertion with a list of statistics on rising unemployment, inflation, job losses, and gas prices. "Do you feel better off?" the narrator says in the ad, which ends with these words on screen: "Is John McCain the Right Choice for America's Future?"

The Republican National Committee said that the DNC, following the lead of Barack Obama last week, is taking McCain's comment out of context and that McCain has acknowledged the economic troubles.

"Howard Dean's new ad recklessly distorts John McCain's statements and represents the sort of dishonest campaigning voters are sick of," RNC chief Mike Duncan said in a statement. "Echoing Obama's discredited attacks on John McCain will not make voters forget the Democrats' plans to raise taxes on hard-working Americans."

The ad is the latest variation on the "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" benchmark introduced to much effectiveness by Republican Reagan against President Carter in 1980.

FOON RHEE