Kerry stumps in Baton Rouge for health care legislation

By Doug Simpson, Associated Press Writer | May 5, 2005

BATON ROUGE, La. --U.S. Sen. John Kerry came to a state where he was soundly beaten in last year's presidential race, campaigning at the Old State Capitol on Thursday for a health care plan he introduced in Congress.

Kerry said his KidsFirst Act would bring health care to America's 11 million uninsured children and save money for states by providing measures that would help prevent conditions such as asthma, obesity and diabetes. He urged the crowd to join a grass roots movement to call attention to the uninsured, saying the movement could be modeled on environmental activism of the 1970s that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act.

"Folks, that's what we've got to do on health care," he urged the cheering crowd of about 200 people, many of them school children and supporters of his presidential campaign.

The chances of his plan's passage are uncertain, partly because Kerry is a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The Massachusetts senator touched on his failed 2004 presidential campaign, saying that he saw promise in how much support he received even in states where he lost. In Louisiana, he lost to President Bush 57 percent to 42 percent, but received 30,000 more votes than the previous Democratic nominee, Al Gore, in 2000.

Kerry's stop in Baton Rouge was part of a weeklong series of events around the country to promote the Kidsfirst bill. An aide said he has a similar forum scheduled Friday in Miami.