Edwards returns to Kansas — in daylight — to rally suporters

On Friday, they stood in the dark as the John Kerry-John Edwards train sped through town.

Disappointed but not ignored, supporters of the Democratic presidential slate got their chance Sunday to spend time with half the ticket when Edwards and his family made a rare Democratic foray into a traditionally Republican stronghold.

“Y’all called this rally, and we’re glad to be here with you,” Elizabeth Edwards told more than 750 supporters packed into an old barbed wire factory turned restaurant on the banks of the Kansas River.

Early Saturday morning, the train carrying Kerry and Edwards from Kansas City, Mo., to New Mexico was scheduled to slow down in Lawrence, with the candidates saying a few words to the more than 1,000 supporters.

Edwards said Sunday that everyone knew the plan except for the conductor, prompting the Democrat to carve time out of the schedule to return to Kansas.

The rally was scheduled for outdoors, but heavy rain throughout the morning in Lawrence washed out plans. The smaller venue forced several thousand supporters to listen from a parking lot.

Joshua Duringer, 30, an unemployed Internet technical support worker, was part of the crowd Friday and Sunday. He brought his 3-year-old daughter Jadyn to the rally and said he liked Edwards’ plan for getting the economy revived.

“I’m doing daddy day care. We can’t afford it with my wife working,” said Duringer, who didn’t mind coming back a second time to see Edwards. “They didn’t have to come back to honor us. I don’t think people there took offense.”

Edwards gave his usual stump speech, touching on recurring themes of improving health care for Americans, raising the minimum wage and restoring the U.S. reputation among allies by asking for help in Iraq.

Kansas traditionally has voted Republican in presidential elections, with President Bush beating Democrat Al Gore by 21 percentage points in 2000. Edwards dismissed history.

“There is no red state, there’s no blue state, only one United States,” he said, the crowd erupting in cheers.

The Bush campaign did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Kerry and Bush both were in Kansas in May for dedication of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, though they did not share the stage. Kerry held a pro-education rally with fellow Democrat Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on the Statehouse steps.

Edwards and his wife encouraged supporters to tell their neighbors about Kerry and then “get in your car and drive to Missouri and tell them, too.”

Kathy and Brian McCrink, retirees from the Kansas City suburb of Bonner Springs, wore “Kerry for a stronger Missouri” T-shirts. The couple has been manning telephone banks and enlisting volunteers in Missouri, where the state is expected to play a key role in deciding the election.

“Kansas is a lost cause and to take a busy day out of his schedule, you can’t buy that,” said Kathy McCrink, 57, a retired nurse.

The couple attended the Kerry rally at Kansas City’s Union Station and were amazed with the level of support.

Jon Stone, 21, a student at the University of Kansas who is from the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, said he liked Kerry’s plan to give a $4,000 tax credit for tuition. He was at the Lawrence depot Friday and understood that sometimes plans go wrong.

“I think they realized that they had more people than they expected,” Stone said.

Standing near the rear of the gathering in the restaurant was Kathy Decker, whose son, Sgt. Michael Decker, spent 15 months in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division.

Decker said the continued role in Iraq was a big reason she was supporting Kerry. She hopes more Kansans take the election seriously and ignore the state’s history.

“Coming back, that’s a huge step,” Decker said.

Added Elizabeth Tally, also of Lawrence: “I hope it sends the message that these guys really care about us and want to change the country.

“(Republicans) should be scared knowing that this many people showed up.”