For McCain: Different Place, Same Message

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McCain Makes Campaign Stop in Kentucky

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited Inez, Kentucky Wednesday. The visit by McCain comes on the heels of new polling data that shows American voters have become more concerned about the economy than the war in Iraq.

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Yet, the signs of a worsening economy are everywhere. Shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, word spread that area gas stations were raising the price for unleaded from $3.45 to $3.59 a gallon, prompting some residents to rush to fill their cars.

James "Moose" Maynard, a retired school bus driver who sat sipping his morning coffee at Grandad's Diner, said he was hoping one of the presidential candidates would address financial hardships.

"I wish somebody would get in there and do something about these gas prices. I wish somebody would come in here and do something about the economy," he said. "I'm disabled, on a fixed income and diabetic. It makes it hard."

McCain has proposed a short-term salve: a summertime holiday during which the 18-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax would not be collected. For a family that fills a 20-gallon tank once a week, that could save about $43 over three months for each car they own.

McCain also proposed on Wednesday a "People Connect Program" that would encourage companies to connect rural communities to the Internet with high-speed access to spur economic growth and jobs. And he promised to support new programs to lure people into teaching.

He was greeted with whoops and cheers by a crowd in the courthouse as he pledged to return to Inez if he becomes president.

"If I'm elected, I will come back here in the course of my administration, hold another town hall meeting, and invite you to hold me accountable for the decisions I have made and the promises I have sworn to keep," he said.

But many locals said they were skeptical of whether McCain's policies would help lower-middle-class Americans. Even sympathetic Inez residents questioned whether McCain's economic policies would benefit the region.

Callaham, a Democrat, said he backs McCain because he believes the senator would be a more vigorous supporter of the region's coal industry. But Callaham said he remains worried that the senator's policies tilt toward the richest Americans.

"I'm not the top 3 percent, and that's an issue I really have a problem with Bush, who has catered to the top 3 percent of the country," he said.

When it comes to McCain, Callaham said, "That's an issue he's going to have to skate around."

Robert Gordon, a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, said the average family in Martin County would receive nothing from McCain's tax cut, which excludes families earning less than $25,000 a year. "It's admirable that John McCain is visiting 'forgotten places,' but his economic plan forgot about the people who live there," Gordon said.

Shear reported from Washington.