09:08 PM PDT on Monday, August 9, 2004

By JIM PARKER, kgw.com Staff

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, will appear at public rallies in Portland's Waterfront Park and at the Jackson County Fairgrounds near Medford later this week, his campaign announced Monday.

AP photo John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

The Oregon rallies will mark the culmination of what Kerry's dubbed his coast-to-coast "Believe in America tour," which began after the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month and is covering over 20 key campaign states.

The Kerrys will arrive in Oregon on Thursday, with the Medford rally set for late afternoon that day. Campaign officials said gates at the Jackson County Fairgrounds would open at 3 p.m. No start time for the rally was provided.

The following day, the Kerrys will travel north to Portland for a late morning rally in the Bowl at downtown's Waterfront Park. The campaign said gates at the park for that event would open at 10 a.m. Friday, but once again provided no exact start time or other details.

Both rallies will be open to the public and people can sign up online to get tickets, said campaign spokesowman Lisa Sohn. In addition, tickets for the Medford rally were being made available through the Jackson and Josephine County Democratic parties as well as at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland.

Oregon's Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has said Kerry will talk about economic issues like jobs and the affordability of health care and education during his Oregon stops, as well as national security.

Retired Air Force Gen. Tony McPeak of Lake Oswego and Vietnam swiftboat veteran Jim Rassmann of Florence will be appearing with Kerry at both rallies, Sohn said.

McPeak, a longtime Republican turned independent -- who served as Air Force Chief of Staff during the first Iraq war during the senior Bush administration, has been openly critical of the second Iraq war and appeared on stage at the Democratic convention with other military leaders backing Kerry. He has called the current President Bush “incompetent” when it comes to foregin policy.

Lt. Rassmann, a retired Green Beret and also a lifelong Republican, credits Kerry with saving his life. In a story he recounted in his introduction of Kerry at the Democratic Convention, Rassmann said an explosion knocked him off of Kerry's swift boat in 1969. Kerry, under enemy fire, went to the bow of the ship and pulled Rassmann back into the boat. Kerry received a Bronze Star for his actions.

The Portland Kerry rally will coincide with a visit by President Bush to the Rose City for a roundtable discussion with small business owners scheduled during the noon hour that same day. Both the Kerry and Bush campaigns had announced last week their intentions to campaign in Portland Friday, setting the stage for a war of words over the economy -- with Oregon being the battleground.

The two presidential contenders caused a commotion in Davenport, Iowa, last week when they accidentally campaigned within blocks of each other.

In Davenport, bank robbers struck three times while Bush and Kerry were stumping for votes in the eastern Iowa city. Thousands of political supporters attended the two same-day events, sapping police strength.