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WQED is broadcast upon a magazine is made possible by grants from the Howard Heinz endowment Foundation and the Richard Mellon Foundation to the McEwen foundation the Pittsburgh foundation the Henry L. Gilman Foundation and the Jewish Health Care Foundation. Corporate funding is provided by you PNC health system. The difference in communities throughout western Pennsylvania. Each and every day we go beyond our walls and reach out to the neighborhoods we serve UPMC Health System 1 8 8 8 3 8 3 UPMC. And by the members of WQED. Q Is the race for the White House heats up. Things are getting a little crazy. Also tonight we're going to have a little therapy session with political analyst John Delano. We'll look at who's ahead what they saw or heard and whose campaign is just playing next.

Plus we have the story of yet another Pittsburgh first disposable bit for kids. They're called and you'll meet the local mom who came up with the idea. Also ahead live music with grapevine one of Pittsburgh's most popular bands. Stay with us on q starts right now. He's with us. Chris Moore and I'm Carol Lee. Welcome to On Q We're back live this week as we mark the beginning of season two. On cue Tonight a great vine one of our area's most popular local

bands is here to perform. And we're also going to introduce you to a local mom who came up with a great new idea disposable could use one too. First though let's move toward tonight's cover story. All right thank you Chris tonight's cover story is about politics and specifically presidential politics. That is why on cue political analyst John Delano is here tonight John we must be talking politics we both have on blue suits and red ties. That has to be politics where you are talking presidential I want to talk about Pennsylvania's role in just a moment but right now as you see it. How is the presidential race shaping up nationwide. Well certainly Stacy this is shaping up to be one of the most competitive presidential races I think since 1960 when John Kennedy and Richard Nixon went at it a long time ago. This could come right down to the wire. And that's why Pennsylvania is such a keystone state in this election year. All right well let's talk about Pennsylvania. Obviously Al Gore's been here nine times since the spring George W. Bush has been here five times is just the most recent was

just last week. They're putting a lot of emphasis on the state and specifically also southwestern Pennsylvania where you know they better do that because Pennsylvania has voted for the winner really all times except once and since World War Two. That is if you look at every presidential election since the Second World War if you don't win Pennsylvania you're not going to win the White House. And the truth is that both these candidates know it. They also know that southwestern Pennsylvania is very key. Why. Because traditionally we in this region vote for the Democratic nominee. Early polls earlier this year suggested that George Bush was winning and winning fairly handily in this region. That's not true today. But the fact is that both candidates need this region if they're going to win Pennsylvania Well let's break it down geographically and we'll be doing this again before the election also but if you break it down geographically. First of all on the east Ed Rendell the former mayor of the party the coal Party Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He has to help deliver a big

number for Al Gore from Philadelphia. There's no doubt about it Philadelphia really provides the base the ball work for the Democratic Party a margin of between 200 and 300000 votes is really necessary out of that big city. But Philadelphia alone won't elect the next president. We in this region really do count. I think that's why we're seeing these guys go off and that's the second part of the equation is that if this area is up for grabs and we're not saying necessarily that it is but if it doesn't deliver a high number for Al Gore that kind of cuts into that big lead that he may have from Philadelphia which then leads us to what you heard about before called the tea the central part of the state's right. And that's probably where Governor Ridge is really going to play a major part. Yes that's exactly right. Governor Ridge is going to be very key to George Bush in this election. Just a back up a second Pittsburgh and this region ought to go Democratic. All the polls suggest it will. But the two Democratic strongholds are usually offset by the central part of the state. And Governor Ridge has really signed on board the Bush

campaign from the very beginning. I think he has the ace in the hole for the Bush campaign. And this past week Governor Ridge has announced that more of his people are involved in the Bush campaign. They're going to do everything they can to deliver Pennsylvania. And there's a reason for that Stacy. Governor Ridge not only wants to deliver for his good friend George Bush. He also wants to deliver for the Republican Party. Why. Because he wants to run for president. And the truth of the matter is that if George Bush doesn't win on November 7 you can count on it that the Tom Ridge campaign for president begins the very next day. Well I can also tell you this when Governor Ridge was not given the vice presidential nod by Governor Bush he also made in the statement that he would not want to have a cabinet position. That's right. Last week I talked with Governor Bush about this and I said if you when are you going to find a place for Tom Ridge in your administration and he said he's too good of a man not to use somewhere. And it was it was so you know George Bush as president they very much

want to have Tom Ridge in his administration. But every signal I get and I've talked to the most senior ridge people is that they will not have anything to do with the budget Bush administration. Why. Because they want to set up Tom Ridge for higher office. If Bush is is the president it's very difficult to say No sir. Well I want that position to be out of office and two years from now I granted that. All right now that is how it's shaping up in Pennsylvania. The other key areas for the presidential race are Ohio. Just to our west you know there's really what I would call the i 80 corridor or Interstate 80 that runs from New Jersey through Pennsylvania Ohio Indiana Illinois. All those states are very important. Add in Michigan Missouri and Kentucky those represent the electoral votes that are necessary to win the White House. You know we've had since 1888 every president who was one the most popular votes has also won the most electoral votes the electrical heartland really is right here in from New Jersey Pennsylvania to the

Midwest. And that's why these candidates are just going crisscrossing back and forth across this region. Now there is another statewide race that is going to generate a has already generated some interest I can't say necessarily a lot of interest yet and that is a race for United States Senate between the incumbent Republican Rick Santorum and the challenger. Fourth District Congressman Ron Klink. All of you every poll indicates so far clinkers behind him is not gaining much ground yet. Well you know the KPK TV News poll along with the Tribune-Review poll and some of the other polls that we've seen lately suggest that there is a closing at a little bit of closure occurring in that race maybe somewhere between eight and 13 points behind for Ron Klink and that may not be insurmountable given that there are more than eight weeks left in this campaign. But Ron clanks problem is that he doesn't have the money to compete statewide in the region that knows both these candidates well western Pennsylvania. Rick Santorum loses in every poll to Ron Klink. But he wins and he wins well across the other regions of the

state in Philadelphia quoting Philadelphia and its suburbs. What is really interesting when you look at the Gore race versus the klink race all polling suggests that Al Gore is doing well in Pennsylvania up by as much perhaps as eight to 10 points because women are strongly supporting Al Gore over George Bush. But in the Ron Klink Rick Santorum race women are splitting. Absolutely dead even between the two candidates. And Ron Klink cannot win the Senate seat without the support of a majority of women. That just hasn't happened for him yet. And you have about 30 seconds here briefly why isn't he able to bring in the money. Is it because of his stance or so much with almost not identical but close to Senator Santorum's on some key issues. Well you know most of the Democratic money in this state comes from Philadelphia and that's liberal Democratic money Ron Klink is a pro-life Democrat in the Bob Casey tradition and it's been very difficult for him to appeal to the Philadelphia liberal for money. And the truth is that they've shut him out to some extent. Now

he says that he's working hard and he's getting more of that money than he had in certainly in the primary and he's getting some help from Allison Schwartz and some of the other nominees from the primary the more liberal nominees liberal candidates. But so far the heat just hasn't been able to put the money game together. We still have a weeks to go and that could get closer I really think it will get closer before November 7th. Things usually do tighten up just a little added Jon Delano thanks so much for being with us on cue. We of course will be checking in with John frequently as the election draws near eight weeks away. It's going to be close or even next week will be seven weeks away. Chris and Carol back over to you. Next on cue disposable beds now it's a wonder no one thought of them before but the best part of the story is it's oh woman from Pittsburgh who did you see what you came up with next. And later on cue the band great fun performs live stay too while we look ahead to tomorrow on cue. We're back with the Friday fearsome foursome tomorrow on cue. And this week's panelists are

Ruth and Baker Allen COX FRIEND Hans Berger and Chris Fletcher will be talking about the news of the week including such center lighting topics as assessments including Namor and mine. Also tomorrow we're going back to school to learn Steelers 1 0 1. We all know what a touchdown looks like but what's the penalty when the ref makes a chopping motion behind his knee. Well don't look like a sissy at the next Steelers game watch Steelers 1 0 1 tomorrow. On cue. Will you take a little spaghetti a little ice cream some putting at a lot of macaroni and cheese. Well that's not a new recipe it is actually the food that parents have to wash off their kids. But for a woman from Fayette County it's a recipe for success. Now she turned what her kid spilled all over him self into an idea for an invention. I got a chance to talk to her and see what she came up with. Take a look. Meet Melanie Patterson wife mother entrepreneur.

There's not challenge she can handle including becoming Mrs. USA in 1903. So I accepted that challenge. A little hard work on myself mentally physically and emotionally to get ready for the pageant. And I competed and lo and behold the odds were against me but I walked in with the national title. You know her next challenge was the birth of her son Cody. I traded in the tiaras and the high heels and all the beautiful clothes for diapers bottles and dirty beds. John gets even bigger challenge and then there has to be an easier way. I just wanted to find a disposable bit. Could you find it. Why there I was in the kitchen counter taking the paper towels off a towel stuffing them under Cody's neck routinely and at the same time kept looking for a disposable bit when I go to the grocery store the supermarket various places catalogs and I couldn't find it

when she could find disposable boobs. She decided to make that one into herself. OK here we are in product development in the U.S. Its all start with the piece of paper 10. Also tell us how it started. It did in fact here's the first bit. It came off the roll paper towel virtually simple idea. Crumple it up throw it away you don't have any germs on your kid anymore. So the next step was to find a paper so I found a non woven poly backed material to make some prototypes out of cut them right here on my kitchen counter using my Exacto knife little cardboard support and probably made about 100 of these right here in my kitchen counter like this to test and to see for size and neckline. Then we went into manufacturing that product right here into this model. We manufactured several thousands of these which took us into a better bed right now. Until what we have today been a disposable paper bag on a wall a good idea is great but it's really half of the process.

So Melanie turned to the professionals for help in manufacturing and marketing her bids on a roll. Cleverly called pips or paper bits. Bob Lancaster who worked at Procter and Gamble when the company first introduced the hampers saw the potential of pips. It's a consumer good product and once I saw it and saw the work that Melanie had done getting it to where it was at that time I saw many of the same similarities that I saw in the disposable diaper business 35 years ago. Cody is a big job. That's why I invented him disposable bit. So what are the defining qualities needed to bring an idea into fruition. First of all you better be at least the same Naismith as this lady is. I mean the tenacity that that Melanie has demonstrated in staying on this project and bringing it along is just phenomenal. Additionally the entrepreneurial spirit is really what continues to drive new products. And lastly there has to be some financial support.

The long and she knows that money translates into manufacturing in the world of business. I had to come up with a business plan and you know being a kindergarten teacher and a background in early childhood elementary and reading I didn't know there was such a thing existed as a business plan. That is a very important part of going to a bank and getting the financial support that you need and the payoff is more than just financial. The part that I like you know as I mentioned earlier is going into restaurants and giving strangers beds and watching them work seeing your product make life easier for mom or dad really is an exciting warm feeling. And here they are. Well the best part of the story is that all the manufacturing and marketing of Pigs is done right here in western Pennsylvania. So Melanie has kept the profit here. Now since we shot that story her pigs are now stocked in select giant eagle stores. They're also available online at W W W pips on a roll dot com. Well local

band grapevine is on a roll. Not that kind of role will say anything at this point but they are one of the hottest bands in Pittsburgh and right now they're here in our studios and they're going to perform for you next right after tonight's community calendar. If you're a new viewer or just tuning into own Q You may not know that on cue

is back live this week for season 2 and that means a new season of live in-studio musical guest tonight one of Pittsburgh's most popular local bands is here. They are great vibe and the first song they're going to play for you is called In My Head. So here they are great buy within my hit. The

but you know what. Thanks Thanks

Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks. You do

well. Do so. Thank you so very you know when I was in my hand yes in my head that was were you

all in everybody's ear and with Howard. Thanks for being here tonight. This is John Mark jury. You guys are on the same record label as a Marxist. Yes actually it's a label and we're honored to be on it. I wanted to be oh yeah you got a new CD out or we're about ready to have one now we have accidently recorded songs I know. The accident the night arrived at the state isn't it. Well actually you know we've gotten a little bit of other interest in everything. But he also wanted to hear some material and we decided to put some on tape and I'm going to go home and get in the studio a little bit of both I think the whole band would agree that we we have we prefer a life right. Yeah. Like you live where you live tonight in the now loving people here you went. Where can people hear you where you play. Tomorrow we're at the main campus of Penn State. After that we're in Youngstown OH YOU GUYS was rock up at Penn State over you were crazy and I tell you what we're going to be we're going to be back

in Pittsburgh the 30th. Thursday December going to be this good man is your bag you know it is just some you know the name of the CD and it's out now that it's gone. Star it's available to waves and music acts. All right well will you play us out with. We're going to play you out with a song called small it's brand new it's available nowhere but here nowhere. But no you're right. It's called Small you right. Did you write it. I wrote it right here when I wrote this. It is here they are great. Ryan will be right back to push us out of the playoffs out was small all right I have to carry off. I can't sit on that this is not a Floridian slip I just can't see right after kero and Stacey say their goodbyes. Did I ever tell you how Frankie Valli lost his hearing. Anybody. Well it's Friday and slip is showing right now. Thank you Chris and thank you for watching I will be back live tomorrow night at 7:30 with the fearsome foursome. And next week be sure to be sure to tune in for a live musical performances from

Hamish on Tuesday and the band called The argument no they're not. Yes they are and I will be here next Thursday. Yes and don't forget you can catch a rebroadcast of NQ tonight at 11:30 or tomorrow afternoon at 12:30. And now we're going to turn it back over to grapevine. Like the way that I did rape of mine and they are going to take us out with small. OK good night. So thank you. It's just the flow. You just keep your love

small. Yeah. You knew where I was. Would you

say you know where you. You know that's

just that's because you're so small you know. Just WQED is broadcast upon Q magazine is made possible by grants from

the Harvard Heinz endowment the UN Relief Foundation and the Richard Kane Mellon Foundation to the McEwen foundation the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Henry L. Tillman Foundation.