Gov. Kathleen Sebelius may not have been in Kansas anymore, but she seemed right at home Saturday speaking to a crowd of excited, and motivated, Democrats in Lancaster city's Binns Park.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius speaks at the county Democrats' Rally for Change event Saturday in Binns
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The two-term Kansas governor, representing the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, was the main attraction at the county Democrats' Rally for Change, which also featured speeches by state and local candidates, and performances by several entertainers.
The speakers covered a variety of topics, from economic distress to the health care crisis, but they all delivered the same basic message: Democratic candidates and officeholders, from Obama on down, care about average Americans, and are poised to make the changes necessary to turn this country around.
No to the status quoSebelius was here as part of a weekend push to register voters statewide before Monday's deadline. The governor was an early backer of Obama and widely reported to be on his short list of vice presidential contenders.
Since 2004, when John Kerry won Pennsylvania by 144,000 votes, Democrats have expanded their statewide registration edge over Republicans from 580,000 to about 1.1 million.
The county party has played a major role in that, recently registering its 100,000th Democrat, Steve Williams, who spoke at the rally. Lancaster County has recorded the fastest growth in Democrats of any large county in Pennsylvania in the last two years.
Nancy Kearns, of Lancaster city, was one of the Democratic voters who attended the five-hour rally, which drew perhaps a couple thousand people total throughout the day, said Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray.
"I considered myself an independent for many years," Kearns said. "But the last eight years convinced me I'm a Democrat."
She originally supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton but was happy to switch her allegiance to Obama once he clinched the nomination, she said.
Kearns' husband, Jon Walker, favored Obama early on. "I think he's intelligent, he's insightful, and he really seems to know what the problems are and will do his best to fix them," Walker said.
In addition to Gray, Democrats speaking at the rally were county Commissioner Craig Lehman; Norman Bristol Colón, executive director of the Governor's Advisory Council on Latino Affairs; Deputy House Speaker Josh Shapiro; Auditor General Jack Wagner; attorney general candidate John Morganelli; state treasurer candidate Rob McCord; Bruce Slater, candidate in the 16th Congressional District; José Urdaneta, running for the 13th state Senate seat; Dan Stephenson, candidate in the 98th House District; and state Rep. Mike Sturla, who represents the 96th District.
In his remarks, Gray sharply contrasted the campaigns, policies and philosophies of Obama and Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
McCain simply represents a change in personnel at the top, but an Obama presidency means change in the way government does business in Washington, Gray said.
"McCain hasn't been a maverick on anything that matters," he said.
County Democratic chairman Bruce Beardsley also had some cautionary words for the crowd.
While they're right to be optimistic about Obama's chances in November, given his lead in the national and battleground state polls, including Pennsylvania, local Democrats should be prepared for the polls to narrow as the GOP launches its character attacks on Obama, he said. So Democrats need to work extra hard in the next four weeks, Beardsley said.
Sebelius, who was introduced by Sturla, began her speech by listing a litany of depressing numbers.
Forty-eight million people are now without health insurance, and 800,000 Americans this year alone have lost their jobs, she said.
As President George W. Bush's second term winds down, the GOP reign must end, Sebelius said.
"Eight is enough," she said, echoing Obama's convention speech. "Enough is enough. It's time to turn in a new direction."
Sebelius said that 10 months of paying for the Iraq War would cover the cost of universal health care, a goal Obama is committed to.
She also portrayed McCain as out of touch with ordinary Americans. Obama will work hard to keep the problems on Wall Street from further trickling down to Main Street, she said.
McCain, on the other hand, "doesn't even know how many homes he owns," Sebelius said, drawing laughs from the crowd.
In a brief interview afterward, the governor spoke about the role Pennsylvania, a major swing state, will play in deciding the next president.
Obama's strategy is to win the states John Kerry did in 2004 while expanding the electoral map enough to capture the White House, she said. Kerry's margin in Pennsylvania was relatively narrow, so keeping the state in the Democratic column is key, Sebelius said.
She's optimistic that'll happen. "The energy here is really palpable," she said.
Following the Binns Park rally, Sebelius attended an Obama campaign event at Franklin & Marshall College's Steinman College Center before heading to the Valencia Ballroom in York for the York County Democrats' fall banquet. Sunday morning, Oct. 5, she's scheduled to be in South Philadelphia for a voter registration drive.
Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.
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