Kerry consoles hurricane victims on Fla. trip
Assesses damage in hard-hit areas
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- Senator John F. Kerry, assessing the destruction from Hurricane Charley, consoled residents here yesterday on a low-key trip in which the Democratic presidential candidate tried to set aside politics for a day and give moral support to families putting their lives back together.
Kerry toured some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods at the invitation of Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, who said the damage will take years to repair. Kerry was clearly moved by the plight of residents who showed them their upturned homes and trailers.
"I'm here to see," not to be seen, Kerry said, indicating that the tour was not a campaign event in this key battleground state in the November contest against President Bush.
The Massachusetts senator arrived in nearby Fort Myers in the early afternoon after a campaign stop in North Carolina. After receiving a 15-minute briefing at the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office from federal and local emergency management officials about the recovery efforts, Kerry greeted aid workers and volunteers.
Accompanied by Nelson and Florida state Senator Dave Aronberger, Kerry's caravan pulled into a community with a makeshift spray-painted sign that read "pine acres."
Kerry greeted Brenda Neighbors, saying, "Hello there." They walked around her trailer, its roof gaping, and through the debris-strewn yard.
"We're not being picked on," Neighbors said after Kerry left. "We're not the only ones." She said she has no insurance.
Kerry told her that he was sorry and thanked her for allowing him to visit.
"He acted very concerned," she said.
"They assured us the government was going to help us out."
After Kerry walked away he gave Barbara Timpf, an older woman in shorts, a hug and walked arm in arm with her for a moment before helping her navigate a soggy part of the lawn.
"Well, take care and thank you for your nice comments," he told her. Timpf said, "As far as I'm concerned, you're going to be the next president."
Kerry walked up to an elderly couple, Marge and Dale Webster, carrying umbrellas, and chatted a little.
"Good luck to you," Kerry told them. He cited the Marines' Latin slogan, "Semper fidelis," which means, "Always faithful," and added, "If you're a Marine, you never forget." Then Kerry gave the man a gentle punch on the shoulder.
Kerry also walked down the street with a male resident surveying the damage. They walked over felled palm trees and stopped at a lot where there was no trailer left, just a pile of chairs, mattresses, other furniture, and unrecognizable items.
Kerry told the man: "Take care of yourself. God bless."
Willie Emerson, 8, walked up to Kerry with an inflatable football and a piece of paper for an autograph. After getting the autograph, he emerged with a big smile.
The autograph said, "To Willie -- good luck."
The boy's mother, Debra Emerson, remarked, "That's our next president, baby."
The woman protested to a reporter that although Bush, too, came to Punta Gorda, he did not visit the black neighborhood.
A few moments later, Willie went back to Kerry, who this time signed Willie's football. Kerry threw the football, and Willie made a leaping catch.
While Kerry tried to keep politics out of the tour, earlier in the day he traveled to the heart of conservative North Carolina to tout his jobs plan in one of the hardest-hit manufacturing states that remains up for grabs in November.
A day after forcefully responding to recent attacks on his Vietnam War record, Kerry chided the Bush administration for allowing 2.7 million manufacturing jobs to disappear or be shipped overseas over the past four years, and he pledged to enforce trade agreements and stop subsidizing companies that send jobs to foreign countries.
"We can keep on subsidizing companies who send jobs overseas, or we can reward companies who keep them here in America, where they belong," Kerry said at a rally at Central
"We can keep on letting countries break the rules, or we can lay down the law and tell them: 'If you don't play by the rules, you'll pay for it. End of story.' "
The Kerry campaign hopes to make inroads in battleground states such as North Carolina, which voted for Bush in 2000 but has lost 162,000 manufacturing jobs in the past four years. 