Sharon Stone voices support for Democrats
Sharon Stone came to Uniontown Thursday in support of John Kerry’s nomination as president and delivered a message of hope delivered to the people of Fayette County. “I am a proud Pennsylvanian and I am a proud American,” Stone said to a crowd of more than 600 people seated and standing on the main floor at the VFW Post 47, and to a handful more in the balcony. “I am a person who came from this area and I have seen this area go through many, many changes. It is these changes that I am concerned about.”
Surely, she said, some folks in this room have lost their jobs.
“I’m here because I’m not OK with that,” she added. “I stand before you embarrassed that I am a person who received a tax cut and many of you did not. I don’t understand that kind of thinking and that kind of thinking needs to stop.
“When you’re not doing favors for the people who should be receiving the favors, that’s not OK,” the 46-year-old actress said.
Growing up in Meadville with a strong Christian background, Stone said her father raised her to go out there and play ball and win, although she was playing with boys.
In revealing “a secret for the gals,” the famous actress said women are now 54 percent of the U.S. population.
“We’re not a minority anymore,” said Stone. “For the first time in history, we have the possibility of choosing the president. Women, if you vote thoughtfully, for these kids who are keeping us free, for lower taxes, for violence against women to be thoughtfully considered, then vote John Kerry.”
Stone, who was in Uniontown years before for the filming of “Diabolique,” said she traveled all over the world and has lived in Third World countries. But, she said when she identifies herself as an American and gets a negative response, it hurts.
Stone said she feels a mother’s pain when 18- and 19-year-old youths are being sent to war.
“We cannot send these people not covered,” Stone said. “If they are not in armored vehicles, if they are not in proper body armor, they are not safe. If they do not have the backing of the United Nations or the support from other nations, they are not safe.
“We need to restore the break we’ve had with the United Nations. We need to restore this break to remain the leader of the free world,” she added.
“Look around this room. I don’t know you, but I care about you,” Stone told the crowd. “Let’s get someone in office who cares about us. Let’s vote for John Kerry.”
Stone surprised the audience by showing up a couple of minutes late through a balcony entrance. The few who sat above the main floor in the balcony were lucky enough to shake the actress’ hand.
Candy Harvey of Brownsville was one of those lucky few. Stone motivated Harvey to spread a positive message.
“I’m going to go to work and tell the ladies there to go out and vote,” she said. “The ladies at work say they’re voting and doing what their husband does. I say, ‘It’s time you make up your own mind.'”
Harvey has a 15-year-old son. She said she doesn’t want George Bush sending him overseas.
State Sen. Richard Kasunic (D-Dunbar) said 1,000 men have lost their lives, while 7,500 people were wounded in a war “where weapons of mass destruction weren’t found.”
“George ‘Too Short’ Bush,” said Kasunic is too short on troops and too short on jobs.
“He started his term with a $5 trillion surplus and he’s ending it with a $3 trillion deficit,” Kasunic said.
Congressman Jack Murtha (D-Johnstown), who introduced Stone by noting she has an IQ of 154, said he talked to a lot of top military advisors and there was no plan before going into war. He said the country rushed into Baghdad in need of more military troops.
“That’s why troops are still going there,” Murtha said. “We lost 10 in this district. …We need to make a change. This is just as important for Europeans as it is for us, but they’re not going to help until there’s a change.”
Murtha directed children from the audience onto stage, saying, “I want you to see who these tax cuts are going to affect.”
He said the children will pay the bills resulting in the tax cuts the Republican Congress passed.
He noted that he voted against every tax cut the president proposed. He said he thought for sure the president and his Republican colleagues would change the non-negotiation status between the government and drug companies. A move like that, he said, can only benefit the drug companies.
Joe Hoeffel, state Senate hopeful, said this election is the most important in the name of change.
“It’s time for change. If you like the program in Washington and think Bush’s policies are working for Fayette County, then Arlen Specter is you man,” Hoeffel said. “If you want a change, then it’s me for United States Senate.”
Decorated Vietnam Veteran Jack Wagner, who is running for the state auditor general, noted the decline of manufacturing jobs within the state. He said the county where Sharon Stone was raised was home to tool and dye manufacturing, but not anymore.
“They’re shipping our jobs overseas, and it’s out of our hands because we have the kind of leadership in this country that doesn’t require fair trade,” Wagner said. “Pennsylvania is a battleground state. When we win Pennsylvania we will win back America.”