Who paid for the gas?

John McCain has been traveling to every village and city in Ohio. However, McCain just can't get the big crowds to his rallies and has resorted to bringing in school children to his events. As an Ohio taxpayer, I'd like to know if the McCain campaign is paying for the gasoline for the school buses that are bringing the children to his events. Budgets are tight in Ohio and school budgets are even tighter. Some districts have had to do without field trips, camps, and even some teachers in efforts to trim their budgets. John McCain's campaign should have reimbursed these districts for providing audiences for him. I do not like the fact that McCain is using the children for his own political gain.

According to the L.A. Times....."For the second day, McCain's campaign padded his relatively small crowds with schoolchildren -- more than 1,000 in Hanoverton....."

Here is a similar story from the Washington Post about McCain rounding up school children for a rally in Defiance, Ohio: ....." Yesterday, the fire marshal estimated that 6,000 people had attended McCain's event in Defiance, Ohio. But then NBC News learned from a local school district official that 4,000 of those people were children bused in from area schools, including the entire 2,500-student Defiance School District......"

I sincerely hope that the people in these districts and others check to see if McCain paid for the bus gasoline.
Ohioans and their children do not deserve this kind of abuse.

___________

This evening our family enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Cheesecake Factory on Polaris Parkway. During dinner, we had a discussion about the presidential election. After dinner, I almost lost my entire dinner when I saw an entire family wearing "McCain-Palin" gear and name tags that read "Joe" for the McCain's pal, Joe the Plumber (not really named "Joe" and not a real plumber). Apparently these people had just left the McCain rally at Nationwide Arena. (I'm soooooo glad I missed it.) Reports say that the arena was less than half filled with supporters.

The original McCain rally was scheduled to begin at 5:00pm, but because of a major fire on the west side of Columbus, McCain and the entire city were involved in a major traffic jam. The rally started later and the lead story was not McCain, but the fire.

Why is McCain wasting his time and money in Ohio? Ohio's citizens have been devastated by Bush's economic policies. McCain promises a near carbon copy of Bush's failed policies. McCain will continue to give huge tax cuts to the rich and regular citizens will get just a small pittance.

It is time for change. Vote Obama. Vote Democratic.