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.”
Local News
Former senator visits region to promote Obama
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Boil-water notice issued in Upper Yoder Township
A boil-water notice has been issued for a portion of Upper Yoder Township as crews work to repair a leak along Route 271. -
No NDIC jobs to stay in city
After years of political clashes and fiscal uncertainty, these are the facts of the National Drug Intelligence Center’s final days:
• 87: The number of employees losing their jobs as NDIC operations wind down this year.
• 57: The number of staffers, aside from those 87, who will be offered jobs in Washington, D.C.
• Zero: The number of NDIC-related jobs that will remain in Johnstown. -
Blogging with heart
I had a couple of interesting interviews over the past 24 hours. The first was with an ambitious Forest Hills High School junior who organized a Red Out across the district today in support of American Heart Association. Like many of those involved in Heart Association benefits, Spencer Ivock was inspired by his own family members' experience with heart disease.
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Forest Hills junior puts his heart into Red Out
Forest Hills junior Spencer Ivock is “redding out” the schools today for his senior project.
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Local pair accused of robbing home twice
A Johnstown couple has been charged with breaking into a Lower Yoder Township home twice in a four-month period – and then selling, for $103, some of the thousands of dollars in goods they alleged swiped.
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Steel firm considers coal mine near Que
Cambria Somerset Authority officials plan to meet this week with representatives of an Ohio-based steel company about a plan that could put a coal mine south of the Quemahoning Reservoir.
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In brief: Somerset motorist dies in crash
A 28-year-old Somerset man was killed Thursday morning when his vehicle left the road, hit a drainage ditch and rolled over.
- Births 02/03/2012
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[VIDEO] Party in Punxsutawney: Groundhog Day is about more than seeing shadows
For the thousands who show up at Gobbler's Knob as early as 8 p.m. on Feb. 1, Groundhog Day is about more than whether or not Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow: It's an excuse to party.
The Tribune-Democrat's Justin Dennis spent the night among the masses and captured all of the festivities on film. -
[VIDEO] Punxsutawney Phil makes his prediction
More than 18,000 people – some representing states as far away as Arkansas and Oregon – crammed into the outdoor amphitheatre of Gobbler’s Knob on Thursday for the annual weather party known as Groundhog Day.
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