McCain Visit

John McCain was in Erie yesterday. I know this because not only did I talk to my mother about it, but I read it in the Erie paper – online, of course.

Yeah, I asked my mom if she was going to go hear McCain speak, but she told me that the visit wasn’t open to the public, it was only for (select?) GE employees.

Note to McCain: If you’re going to go into the sickeningly blue Erie, you’d better do something a bit more public. And if you want my parents’ vote, ditch Tom Ridge. You do not want to hear what my parents think about that man!

Anyway, here’s what the left leaning Erie Times-News had to say about McCain’s visit:

McCain gives GE workers pep talk

Sen. John McCain got a firsthand look at the jobs performed by GE Transportation workers at the Erie-area locomotive manufacturing plant.

And some of those GE workers sized McCain up for the job he’s seeking.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, toured two buildings and held a town-hall forum at the GE Learning Center, which is part of the sprawling plant in Lawrence Park Township.

McCain was trailed by former Gov. Tom Ridge as a limited pool of national and local media, including the Erie Times-News, recorded the visit.

The event was not open to the public, nor did McCain hold any other public events in Erie.

Outside the plant, four people from the Erie Peace Initiative, led by Vietnam War veteran Robert Johnson, held signs calling for an end to the Iraq war. Ridge and McCain are also Vietnam veterans, and McCain was a prisoner of war.

McCain has said the U.S. is finally winning the war in Iraq, but he did not talk about the war during his GE stop.

Gov. Ed Rendell and other Democrats seized upon McCain’s trip to Pennsylvania to criticize his economic record.

Erie was the first stop for McCain and Ridge as the two longtime friends embarked on a campaign swing that took them to Harrisburg later Monday, with a scheduled public town-hall meeting today in York. They ate dinner together Sunday night in Erie with Ridge’s wife, Michele Ridge, and the Ridges’ daughter, Lesley, 22.

The joint campaigning has fueled speculation about a possible McCain-Ridge ticket.

But McCain might have doused some of that speculation when he answered a question at the GE employee forum about what he would do during his first 90 days in office.

“Um, call Tom Ridge to Washington from whatever vacation he is taking and get him to work,” McCain joked, a comment that drew applause from an estimated crowd of 125 in the small room.

Sitting on stage, near McCain, were Tom Ridge, Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., and Lorenzo Simonelli, the new chief executive of GE Transportation.

Afterward, the campaign did not respond to the VP talk. “We do not comment on vice presidential nomination matters,” said McCain’s regional spokesman, Paul Lindsay.

During the tour, McCain shook hands with workers in Building 10, where locomotives undergo final assembly, and in an adjacent test building.

“Good to see you,” McCain said to employees. “Great job you’re doing.”

Employee Luke Grolemund greeted McCain while wearing a white T-shirt bearing an image of the presidential contender.

The locomotives are part of GE Transportation’s Evolution Series, which the company calls the most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient and low-emission locomotive to date. The company invested $400 million and eight years to develop it.

Each locomotive saves 300,000 gallons of fuel over its life and generates 40 percent lower emissions than previous locomotives.

A prototype of the Evolution Hybrid locomotive, a product that GE Transportation spokesman Stephan Koller said should be ready for commercial sale in 2010, served as a backdrop for McCain’s speech. It will reduce fuel consumption and emissions by another 10 percent.

Tom Ridge, who spoke briefly before McCain addressed the gathering, said it was nice to be back in Erie and at GE. Tom Ridge still maintains a home in Millcreek Township.

He said it was particularly good to be back with a friend “who will be the next president of the United States.”

During McCain’s nine-minute speech and the 16-minute question-and-answer session that followed, he never mentioned presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

Introduced by Immelt in a room adorned with two large American flags and red, white and blue bunting, McCain’s speech touched on issues that included energy and the global economy.

McCain praised the work done by the 5,500 employees at GE, Erie County’s largest employer, and the company’s commitment to evolving technology.

“The most productive and most competitive worker in the world resides in the United States of America,” he said.

McCain described his energy plan as “all of the above,” including wind and solar power, more nuclear power plants, research and development tax credits, and temporary offshore drilling.

“Drilling offshore isn’t the answer either, but it’s a bridge. It’s an important bridge to exploit our own oil and natural-gas reserves while we’re making this transition that we must make to energy independence,” he said.

Some employees were trying to make up their minds about a McCain presidency after his visit.

Erie resident James Williams, 58, a locomotive assembler who’s worked at the plant for 40 years, said that both Obama and McCain have good views on the issues. Williams, a Democrat, said he wanted to keep an open mind until hearing from McCain, but tends to agree more with Obama on health-care reform and energy issues.

He has almost decided on his vote, but said he would pay close attention to the campaigns.

Erie resident Ron Holden, 60, who installs electronic brake systems on GE locomotives, also attended the forum. He’s a Democrat but quickly pointed out: “I vote for the person. I don’t vote party.”

Holden, a 37-year employee, said he probably wouldn’t decide until a week before the Nov. 4 election.

He doesn’t like the bickering in the race, he said, and wants to hear more about the issues — particularly affordable health care and reduced energy costs.

“I liked what he had to say today. I want to hear more of what he’s going to do to solve our issues,” he said.

Holden takes his vote seriously.

“It’s a very important thing to do in life — vote for someone that’s going to run your future,” he said.