BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
CLEVELAND -- Flanked by Vice President Al Gore and local leaders, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lee Fisher sought Thursday to boost Election Day turnout among an influential group of black ministers.
At a revival-like gathering at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church on Cleveland's near-east side, Mr. Fisher cast his plans for health care reform and school improvement as tools to improve the lives of people across the state.
But he implored the crowd that he can't help them unless they show up at the polls on Tuesday.
"A lot can happen in five days," Mr. Fisher said. "The bottom line is this: Bad things only happen when good people stay home."
With some opinion polls showing a third of the electorate remains undecided about the race for governor between Mr. Fisher and Republican Bob Taft, turnout of key supporters is crucial for both parties. Democrats need strong support from black voters and union members in traditional Northeast Ohio strongholds like Cleveland and Youngstown. To win statewide, conventional wisdom holds that Democrats must win Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County by at least 100,000 votes.
Gore scorns GOP
While Mr. Fisher relied on his message of health care reform and safer schools, Mr. Gore tried to motivate voters tired of the Republican-controlled Congress' investigation of President Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
"We say legislate, they say investigate," Mr. Gore bellowed in a cadence akin to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's. "We say educate, they say castigate. We say enterprise, they say vilify."
Mr. Fisher has been spending the last days of the campaign trying to motivate his base of supporters in churches like Mount Sinai and at plant gates.
If turnout at the late-afternoon church gathering was any indication, Mr. Fisher could be in trouble.
Despite an appearance by the vice president, the church was barely half full. Many of those in attendance were campaign workers, local elected officials and ministers.
Before the rally, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Gore met privately with a group of black ministers who can play a key role in getting out the vote by cajoling their congregations during their Sunday sermons. U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Cleveland, noted that he wouldn't have become the first black congressman from Ohio without the support of clergy members who preached on his behalf and showed up outside polling places to remind parishioners about who they support.
"The last word they got was to vote for Louis Stokes," said Mr. Stokes, who is retiring this year after 30 years in Congress. "I'm asking you to turn out this vote on Nov. 3 like we have never seen before."
The Rev. Otis Moss, the influential pastor of the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, reminded the crowd they can make history by electing Michael Coleman as the state's first African-American lieutenant governor and Charleta Tavares as the first black to serve as secretary of state.
Some national surveys suggest voter turnout will be low across the country. But the Rev. C.J. Matthews, senior pastor at Mount Sinai, vowed the number of black voters who show up on Election Day will surprise the pundits.
"I think people are tired of the soap opera," Rev. Matthews said, referring to President Clinton's troubles. "They are going to take out their frustration on Nov. 3."
Earlier in the day, Mr. Fisher watched John Glenn's historic return to space along with third-graders at Fernway Elementary, the Shaker Heights grammar school Mr. Fisher attended as a child. As his wife, Peggy, and son, Jason, looked on, Mr. Fisher recited an entry in his 5th-grade diary from Feb. 20, 1962, the date Mr. Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.
"It was one of the most exciting days of my life," Mr. Fisher told the children. "Remember you were here and saw another moment in history."
After watching Mr. Glenn and the rest of the Discovery crew lift off safely, Mr. Fisher asked the class if they knew why he came to visit them. Most thought he wanted to watch the launch at his old grammar school, but one boy knew the real purpose of the trip.
"You're here," the boy said, "because you want our mommies and daddies to vote for you."
"You're right," a bemused Mr. Fisher responded. "Just as John Glenn was counting down to go into space, I am counting down to the election for governor on Tuesday. Five more days and counting."
