Less than a million moms march for Kerry

Diane Davis Santorella knew exactly why she was in Frick Park on Saturday.

“I am here for my… Diane Davis Santorella knew exactly why she was in Frick Park on Saturday.

“I am here for my son,” said Santorella, a Penn Hills resident.

Lt. Neil Santorella, her son, was killed in combat outside Fallujah, Iraq, in August.

His mother was one of hundreds of mothers who gathered on the corner of Forbes and Braddock avenues in Regent Square Saturday to support Sen. John Kerry’s, D-Mass., bid for the presidency. The event was part of a grass-roots campaign called Moms for Kerry, which culminated in an estimated 100,000 mothers attending rallies in 65 cities last weekend.

On the day before Halloween, peace activist Molly Rush said, “We are here as George W. Bush’s worst nightmare.”

City Councilman Bill Peduto served as master of ceremonies.

“In 2004, Mother’s Day is Nov. 2,” he said, referring to tomorrow’s election.

Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president, joined politicians, activists and veterans at the rally.

Ferraro said in a speech that her 1984 campaign sent the message that “women wanted to be at the table where decisions are made, and have a chance to participate.”

She was introduced by Pennsylvania Treasurer Barbara Hafer, who switched to the Democratic Party and is now planning a campaign against Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., when he runs for re-election.

Hafer was one of many mothers present whose children served or are serving with U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan or Iraq.

“We need a president who will go to war only when absolutely necessary,” Hafer said.

Pamela Stewart took the stage to read sections of her son Brian Rethage’s journal. Rethage is currently in Iraq with the 84th Army Corps of Engineers. The journal, a testimony to the country’s current crisis, describes the deaths of U.S. soldiers and brutality committed by Iraqi people.

Several women spoke about environmental and economic issues, as well as about the war in Iraq.

Ferraro called the upcoming election a chance to leave behind “the wrong choices and failed policies of President Bush.”

“It’s time for a president that will aid the squeezed middle class, not just dole out goodies to his millionaire friends,” Ferraro said. She also outlined Kerry’s plans to give a tax cut to 98 percent of Americans, with a focus on the middle class.

Turning to health care, Ferraro brought up her fight against cancer.

“I was lucky to get early diagnosis,” she said. “I was lucky because I had health insurance.”

Ferraro and others blasted Bush’s plans to aid the increasing number of families without health insurance by creating health savings accounts. In addition, Ferraro questioned Bush’s appointments of judges who have made what she described as statements against women’s parity in social and political life.

“Kerry has a fundamental dedication to the total equality of women,” Ferraro said.

Nearly every speaker reaffirmed the importance of voter turnout in tomorrow’s election, saying that the fate of the country is out of the hands of pundits and politicians, and is now in the hands of the voters.

“I want to be able to say, when I’m finished working on Election Night, that Pennsylvania is in Kerry’s column,” Ferraro said.