The Road from Boston

“Believe in America” Tour 

"Will cover 3,500 miles and over 20 states, taking Kerry and Edwards by bus, boat, train and plane from the birth place of America all the way West.  Campaigning together and separately, the Democrats will share their plan to make America stronger at home and respected in the world."

According to the campaign, on the tour the two candidates:

travelled 8877.22 miles
through 82 media markets
in 22 states
with 312 electoral votes
making 43 scheduled stops
using 43 buses, 17 train cars, 7 helicopters, 3 planes and 1 ferry
during the 15 day tour.

Summary of the Kerry-Edwards "Believe in America" Tour
July 30: Boston, MA - Scranton, PA - Harrisburg, PA. 
July 31: Greensburg, PA - Wheeling, WV - Zanesville, OH. 
Aug. 1: Springfield, OH - Bowling Green, OH - (Edwards splits off; see below) - Taylor, MI.  
Aug. 2: Grand Rapids, MI - crosses Lake Michigan by Lake Express High Speed Ferry - Milwaukee, WI. 
Aug. 3: Beloit, WI - Dubuque, IA. 
Aug. 4: Davenport, IA - Hannibal, MO.  
Aug. 5:  (Washington, DC) - St. Louis, MO (Kerry and Edwards re-unite) - Jefferson City, MO.
Aug. 6: Smithville, MO - Kansas City, MO.
Aug. 7: Lamar, CO - La Junta, CO - Las Vegas, NM.  (Edwards splits off, see below)
Aug. 8: Albuquerque, NM - Gallup, NM - Flagstaff, AZ.
 Aug. 9: Grand Canyon, AZ - Kingman, AZ.
Aug. 10: Las Vegas, NV.
Aug. 11: Henderson, NV.
Aug. 12: Carson, CA - Central Point, OR.
Aug. 13: Springfield, OR - Portland, OR.

Edwards
Aug. 2: Miami, FL - Orlando, FL - Jacksonville, FL.
Aug. 3: Baton Rouge, LA - Alexandria, LA - Shreveport, LA.
Aug. 4: Little Rock, AR - Memphis, TN.
and
Augl 8: Lawrence, KS.


The Kerry-Edwards Special in Las Vegas, NM.                 Photo Courtesy RailCruise America
Kerry traveled from St. Louis, MO to Kingman, AZ via the Kerry-Edwards Special, a  15-car train headed by three locomotives.  AMTK 138, a GE P42DC, served as the lead locomotive.  Six of the cars (Missouri River, Mississippi River, Osage River, Columbia River, Cuivre River and Current River) were provided by RailCruise America, which also handled catering.  Also included were three other private cars--Pullman coach No. 403, built in 1913 and used by Harry S Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton, the Georgia 300 car used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to get to Warm Springs, GA, and the Metis out of Kansas City.  Amtrak cars rounded out the train.

Here's the Kerry-Edwards press release summarizing the tour >>
Here's how the Bush-Cheney campaign interpreted the tour >>

Copyright © 2004  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.