Celebrities and politicians fan out across the Tampa Bay area to promote Democrat John Kerry's campaign.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER and SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published October 27, 2004
[Times photos: Ken Helle, Stefanie Boyar]
Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland greets Diana Falvo as he enters Viva La Frida Cafe y Galeria in Tampa for a "Women for Kerry'' luncheon on Tuesday. Cleland lost an arm and both legs in Vietnam. ""This is it, this is for all the marbles,'' Cleland said. Kirsten Dunst (right), who spoke Tuesday at Viva La Frida Cafe y Galeria in Tampa, shows the front of a T-shirt that says, "Hello Kerry!'' on the front and "Goodbye George!'' on the back.
Actor Meg Ryan, concerned about the environment, introduces environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday at Tampa Theatre. Kennedy (right) greets supporters while signing his book Crimes Against Nature at the Tampa Theatre on Tuesday. The son of the slain presidential candidate blasted President Bush's environmental policies as ""stealth attacks'' against 30 years of environmental safeguards.
[Times photo: Bill Serne]
Waiting on democracy: Charlotte Kendall stands at the front of the line along with other folks waiting to vote early at the Supervisor of Elections office in the 501 Building in St. Petersburg on First Avenue N and Fifth Street on Tuesday. At times, the wait was an hour long. On Monday, officials said 854 people voted. Early voting continues through Monday.
TAMPA - In her capri-length jeans, white eyelet ballerina flats and Kerry T-shirt, she could have been any pretty, young woman just days away from voting in her first presidential election.
But she isn't just any young woman. She is Kirsten Dunst, the lithe Hollywood star whose upside-down, rain-soaked kiss in Spider-Man made male moviegoers swoon.
So when Dunst, 22, stood in front of more than 60 Kerry supporters at Viva La Frida Cafe y Galeria on Tuesday afternoon to stump for Democratic candidate John Kerry, they pushed aside their chicken mole casserole and listened.
"We are the secret weapon of the United States, and we can make a change!" she said, referring to first-time voters such as herself. "Go out and vote, because it's our lives on the line. We are a mess right now as a country, and John Kerry and John Edwards - my intuition as a woman tells me they can lead us where we need to go."
Across Tampa Bay, stars of politics and entertainment made appearances in support of Kerry, who according to recent polls is neck and neck with President George W. Bush.
At the Frida event, Vietnam veteran and former Sen. Max Cleland, Kerry's sister Diana Kerry, Seinfeld creator Larry David's wife, Laurie David, and former U.S. ambassador and Vietnam POW Pete Peterson all spoke with urgency as they described Nov. 2 as "the most important election of our lifetime."
"This is it, this is for all the marbles," said Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam.
A few hours later, that same sense of urgency shared the stage with two other big names at the Tampa Theatre: actor Meg Ryan and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Ryan was there to introduce Kennedy, the son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and author of Crimes Against Nature, a broadside against the Bush's environmental policies.
"Some of you are probably wondering what I'm doing here," Ryan began, after flashing her famous cute grin to the welcoming crowd. She had never lent her star power to causes like this before, she said. But this was a worthy exception, she said.
"I'm really scared about what's happening to the environment, among other things, under this administration," Ryan said. As a mother, Ryan said she worried about rising asthma rates in children and mercury levels from contaminated freshwater fish - both of which she and Kennedy said are exacerbated by coal-burning plants. She and Kennedy both said they have above-normal mercury levels.
Kennedy took the stage, blasting Bush's policies as "stealth attacks" against 30 years of environmental safeguards. Kennedy rattled off a list of environmental regulatory positions now overseen by lobbyists for the "worst polluters in America." He said the president has allowed corporations to police themselves and gutted protections for clean air and water.
About 1,100 coal-burning plants were burning coal illegally and, under the Clinton administration, were supposed to have cleaned up their acts within 15 years, he said. But when Bush came into office, he ordered the Justice Department to drop the lawsuits against the offending companies, he said.
The Bush re-election Web site maintains that the president's programs will cut power plant emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen by 70 percent over 15 years, and regulate mercury emissions for the first time, reducing them by the same amount.
"The administration does not support using confusing regulations and litigation to improve air quality," the platform states. "We do support better air quality for Americans by relying on American innovation. ... "
Asked after lunch whether she feels pressure to use her celebrity in the fight for Kerry's election, Dunst spoke like a true politician - from both sides of her mouth.
"I'm not here as an actor, I'm here as one of you guys," she said. "But I know I can get some cameras out here, so if I have to solicit myself for Kerry, that's fine. I'll do whatever I have to."
for a "Women for Kerry'' luncheon on Tuesday. Cleland lost an arm and both legs in Vietnam. ""This is it, this is for all the marbles,'' Cleland said. Kirsten Dunst (right), who spoke Tuesday at Viva La Frida Cafe y Galeria in Tampa, shows the front of a T-shirt that says, "Hello Kerry!'' on the front and "Goodbye George!'' on the back.
signing his book Crimes Against Nature at the Tampa Theatre on Tuesday. The son of the slain presidential candidate blasted President Bush's environmental policies as ""stealth attacks'' against 30 years of environmental safeguards.
