Jim Slattery, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, made a campaign stop in Emporia Monday during a marathon tour of the state that began last week.
“Good to see you folks, thanks for coming today,” Slattery said to volunteers gathered at Democratic headquarters at 829 1/2 Commercial St. “We’re going to spend some time campaigning here today, so it’s good to be here.”
The Senate hopeful spent a few minutes talking to volunteers before heading out to walk along Commercial Street to talk to local business owners and members of the public. Slattery, who was Representative for Kansas’ second district from 1982-1994, is running to unseat long-time Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.
“What we’re doing, we’re going through about 35 counties, and we started last Thursday. We’ve been literally all over eastern Kansas,” Slattery said, describing stops over the weekend in Newton, Arkansas City and Wichita. After his stop in Emporia, he planned to head to Iola, then Pittsburg and Kansas City.
“Okay, well let’s go down and we can walk the streets and say hello to the folks out here,” Slattery said.
Slattery stopped at the Chamber of Commerce and a few businesses downtown, including the Granada Coffee Co., where he bought a coffee, and the Sweet Granada, where he picked up some chocolate for the road.
“Let’s get some chocolate, guys, what do you say?” Slattery said as he walked into the store.
He next went into the Granada Theatre, where he looked over the newly renovated building.
“It’s incredible what they’ve done here,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
While at the Granada, Slattery took a few moments to speak about the state of his campaign at this late stage of the election.
“We’ve got an uphill battle, and we’re closing this thing strong,” he said.
“The bottom line is that, as the people of Kansas go to the polls here in just a few days, they have a choice,” he said. “If they like the direction the country has been headed in the last few years with our fiscal policy, if they’re satisfied with the way our financial institutions have been regulated, if they’re satisfied with foreign policy, then they should be voting for my opponent, because he has been supportive of this administration’s fiscal policy, he supported deregulating our financial markets and he’s been very supportive of this administration’s foreign policy. And I sharply disagree with him on a number of issues. ...”
“We have known from the beginning that this is a campaign that would be a David versus Goliath campaign. We’ve understood that from the get-go. But we also believe very strongly ... that with the enthusiasm that we’re seeing out on the campaign trail, this campaign is closing and people are tired of the very negative ads that my opponent has constantly been running against me. ...”
Slattery returned to Democratic headquarters, where he addressed a group of about 20 supporters before getting back on the road. In his address, he outlined his differences with Roberts and spoke about several issues, including health care, energy policy, fiscal policy and foreign policy.
“You all don’t have any idea how encouraging it is for me to come to Emporia today and to see so many of you out and encouraging me as we head into the last week of this campaign,” he said. “... We believe that the wind is shifting. The wind is moving to our back. ...
“This nation is in very perilous times,” he went on. “And it’s a result of the fact that we are stretching our nation’s credit card to the limit. And we have got to change this terrible borrow-and-spend policy.”
Speaking on health care, Slattery supports giving Medicare the authority to negotiate lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies.
“Sen. McCain agrees with me. Sen. Obama agrees with me. Sen. Roberts disagrees with me,” he said. Slattery also is a supporter of the State Child’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.
On energy policy, Slattery wants to “keep the heat” on automakers to increase the fuel efficiency of their cars. “The Ford motor company is making cars for Europeans that get 60 miles per gallon. We should have those kind of vehicles here in the United States.” He also supports domestic drilling, solar and wind power, nuclear and clean coal technologies. “I want to do everything possible to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” he said.
Slattery pointed out Roberts’ “three trillion-dollar mistakes” since 2001: he’s voted for $3 trillion dollars of new debt, he voted to deregulate financial institutions and he supported the war in Iraq.
“I’ll tell you something, friends. Wherever I go all over Kansas, the people of this state are saying, ‘We want change in Washington.’ And I’m saying to my friends, independents and Republicans especially, that if you want to change Washington, you better change the people you’re sending there. And that’s the bottom line.”