Published: October 31, 2008 11:53 pm      

Former senator visits region to promote Obama

EBENSBURG — Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, an early supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, visited a local personal care home Friday drumming up support for Obama.

Daschle, who represented South Dakota for 18 years and was a Senate majority leader, shook hands with and spoke before approximately 40 residents and workers at Rebekah Manor.

Following the stop in Ebensburg, Daschle made campaign stops before a labor group at Penn Gables Restaurant and at Obama Headquarters in Johnstown.

He said that Obama – in contrast to GOP contender John McCain – is a strong supporter of Social Security, Medicare, universal health care and closing a gap in coverage for drugs under Medicare’s Part D.

McCain has called for privatization of some of the Social Security program and cutbacks in some Medicare programs, Daschle said.

The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without health care for all regardless of their circumstances, he said.

“As you decide how you’ll vote, make sure you’re aware of those differences before you vote,” Daschle said.

Two residents said that they’ve already voted by absentee ballot. Democrat Leona Strittmatter, 89, a former Patton resident, declined to reveal who got her vote, but said that she’s been closely following the campaigns of both Obama and McCain.

Republican Minnie Davis, 88, a lifelong resident of Ebensburg, said she voted for Obama because “we’ve needed new blood. He’s the one who can do the job.”

But the decision was not an easy one, she said. She said she “weighed everything. The economy was a big factor, and the war, too. A lot of our boys didn’t come home.”

Over the years, Davis added, “I’ve always split my ticket for the one I felt was best able to do the job.”

Two aides at the home, Michelle Toth and Nancy Bodenschatz, both of Ebensburg, said they will be voting for Obama on Tuesday because “he wants to rebuild the middle class.”