Apr 17, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 3 min read

Approximately 75 supporters, elected officials and Democrat party faithful attended a get-out-the-vote rally for gubernatorial candidate Robert P. Casey Jr. on the Fayette County Courthouse steps Thursday afternoon. They lavished praise on Casey as a trustworthy person who understands the needs and problems of working people – and singled him out as a sure-fire thing when it comes to completing the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

“The idea of integrity and trust burns in this guy like a blue flame,” said state Rep. H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg), who added that he is “pleased to be joined at the hip” with Casey. DeWeese also called state Rep. Larry Roberts (D-South Union) “a zealot” for Casey in the campaign.

State Sen. Richard A. Kasunic (D-Dunbar), who introduced Casey and his lieutenant governor running mate, state Sen. Jack Wagner of Allegheny County, said a strong turnout in Fayette is critical to a Casey win over former Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell on May 21.

“This is where we’re going to stop the charge out of southeastern Pennsylvania,” said Kasunic, who called the Fayette-Greene-Washington county area a “battleground” in the race for the Democrat nomination.

Edward Yankovich, president of United Mine Workers District 2, noted that Casey was long ago endorsed by the AFL-CIO and is an advocate of raising the minimum wage, as well as a champion of expanded health care and workers’ right to organize.

Fayette County commissioners Vincent A. Vicites, Sean M. Cavanagh and Ronald M. Nehls each enthusiastically urged people to not only vote for Casey, but to work on his behalf to get others to vote for him in the upcoming primary.

“Bob Casey’s a man of honor and integrity, and a man you can trust,” said Vicites, who noted that while Casey has spent “countless hours” in Fayette in the past three years, his opponent spent only two hours during a campaign tour “drive-through” that involved a stop at Uniontown Mall.

Cavanagh said that the “common man” will determine who wins the election, not the pollsters or the advertising agencies, and urged voters to give Casey the biggest victory margin among the commonwealth’s 67 counties.

Nehls added that it’s “rug-cuttin’ time” for voters, and said that while no one has all the answers right now, voters should be “darn sure that we have a person in that (governor’s) position who can provide those answers when needed.”

Wagner and Casey each reminded voters that turnout is crucial to their chance of success. Casey said that his father, the late two-term Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr., was a devoted ally of Fayette County who believed in the history and the future of this area and its people.

The younger Casey said that he would continue in that tradition with an agenda that includes tackling major issues of the day, along with a commitment to finishing the Mon-Fayette Expressway that his father started.

“The only way that we can get to that agenda is by winning on May 21,” said Casey. “We need (your) help again. We need you to call everyone that you know (and get him or her to vote).”

Michael J. Cavanagh, Fayette County coordinator of “Rendell for Governor,” watched the rally from near his vehicle parked on the opposite side of Uniontown’s Main Street.

He gave the media a copy of a letter entitled “Correcting the Rendell Record” and said he would be available for rebuttal comments if needed.