Kerry woos middle class

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The battle for middle-class voters in November’s presidential election reached full pitch yesterday as Sen. John Kerry campaigned here, promising universal health coverage and an expansion of after-school day care.

“The wealthiest people in America are getting a huge, walk-away-with-the-store tax break,” said Mr. Kerry, who is worth millions. “But a whole bunch of kids who need to have after-school adult input aren’t getting it.”

The Massachusetts Democrat went on to tell a group of parents at a day care facility, “My choice is to make certain that every child in America has an opportunity to be able to be nurtured, to be loved, to be safe, to be cared for and to be able to go through school.”

Perhaps no state will be more bitterly contested in this year’s presidential election than Ohio, targeted by both campaigns as among the most significant bellwethers. The state also has backed the winner in every presidential election since 1964.

Mr. Kerry has been organizing in the state since he effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination earlier this year, capping his team this week by naming Democratic operative J.B. Poersch as state director. President Bush’s campaign has been organizing in Ohio for more than a year.

The intense political rivalry between otherwise neighborly households played out dramatically here Tuesday evening at a lush park with tall trees and verdant playing fields.

Mr. Kerry was telling a crowd of loyal supporters how the middle class built America and how the tax code should show proper appreciation for this when the faint tunes of an old familiar song first could be heard.

Initially, only a few people turned around. But as the sound grew louder, many in the crowd began shifting, turning around and asking one another about the music.

Just across the street, a couple of Republicans had wheeled massive stage speakers out into their tidy front lawn and blasted toward Mr. Kerry the theme song to the 1960s family TV show “Flipper,” presumably a criticism of Mr. Kerry’s taking more than one side of issues.

“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning / No one, you see, is smarter than he,” screamed the music set to its happy jingle.

Campaign workers fumbled for their phones to order the bus hauling reporters to back up and block the sound. Columbus police were dispatched to see whether an agreeable solution could be reached.

During the imbroglio, Mr. Kerry continued speaking without pause, accusing Mr. Bush’s economic policies of hurting the middle class and making a TV reference of his own.

“If that’s compassionate conservatism, ladies and gentlemen,” he said at one point, “then Dick Cheney is Mr. Rogers.”

Eventually, the Republicans — one wearing a straw cowboy hat and another wearing a green John Deere ball cap — agreed to turn the music down, but by then, their point had been made.

This week’s events were part of a two-week tour by Mr. Kerry to highlight what he sees as financially desperate conditions facing the middle class, along with his solutions for fixing them.

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