Even though the national media plays games with Kerry, it seems that on a state level, his people are getting the job done.
At the dozen-seat Bean Counter Cafe, owner Jason Logero usually forbids any political talk to avoid the yelling. Then John Kerry came to town.Logero tuned in live television coverage of the Democratic presidential candidate.
``I thought I'd make an exception,'' said Logero, 30, watching the screen as cameras captured Kerry's tour bus roll into this economically ailing Democratic stronghold last Tuesday. ``This is big news for Youngstown.''
Media coverage in several Ohio stops along Kerry's ``Jobs First Express'' bus tour last week and the response from some voters were a politician's dream.
Television stations aired Kerry's speeches live. Radio stations previewed his appearances and dissected his economic proposals. The front pages of newspapers carried above-the-fold, four-column photos of Kerry and wrote thousands of words about his policies.
Jobs and the candidate's promise to create 10 million were the campaign's overriding message. It got just news treatment the campaign sought during his visit to Ohio.
[...]
Hours before Kerry's first Ohio appearance, his surrogates made the rounds on talk radio stations during morning drive time.
``We've had an administration that exports jobs. We need an administration that imports jobs, and that's what John Kerry's going to do,'' said Jim Ruvolo, Kerry's Ohio campaign chairman, on Cleveland's WTAM-1100.
