DAYTON — An advocacy group brought the Bush Legacy Bus to Dayton on Wednesday, June 25, the first stop on a five-month, 150-city tour designed to bash President George Bush's record and to paint presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain with the same broad brush.

"It's very powerful to see the timetable and cause and effect of so many of the administration's failed policies," said Marlene Ostrow, 49, who traveled from Cincinnati to see the bio-diesel-powered rolling anti-Bush museum at Courthouse Square in downtown Dayton.

Displays in the bus include timelines, videos and photographs outlining what the advocacy group, Americans United for Change, believes are the Bush Administration's disastrous policies and actions.

Displays covered Iraq, the economy, Hurricane Katrina, health care, workers' rights and education. A large old-fashioned style gas pump sat at the back of the bus, with an electronic display that could determine the annual cost of gas to a consumer. Atop the pump was a round sign with a large "W" in the middle and the words "Bush Cheney Oil," and at the bottom, and one that said "GOP Grand Oil Party."

Asked to react to the group's message, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Blair Latoff said, "The last thing Ohioans want or need is a bus full of professional partisans rolling into town and tearing people down. Ohio needs leadership and they are looking for someone like John McCain who has demonstrated the capability and willingness to work on both sides of the aisle to get things done."

McCain was targeted along with Bush in speeches by local government officials and union and civil rights leaders. They asked the lunchtime crowd to support Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president and they took particular aim at gas prices.

McCain is on the side of "big oil and corporate greed," said Wesley Wells, executive director of the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO Regional Labor Council.

"I agree with Senator Barack Obama. It's time for change. Don't you agree?" Wells said.

Keith Lander, 45, of Dayton came downtown to see the tour bus and hear the speakers. Given the state of the economy, high gas prices and the war in Iraq, Lander said he doesn't see how anyone could vote for Republicans in the fall. Those that do are "setting themselves up for their own demise," Lander said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7455 or lhulsey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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