JACKSON &045; Though his party’s nomination now seems certain, John Kerry was campaigning hard in Jackson Sunday, fielding a variety of questions from voters during a 90-minute town hall meeting at Tougaloo College.

Working in a state no Democratic presidential candidate has carried since 1976, Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, made it clear how he plans to connect with Mississippi voters.

&uot;I’m going to talk mainstream American values and common sense. We’re not going to stereotype people by where they live. The last time I looked, this was one country with one set of hopes and dreams,&uot; he said.

Mississippi’s Democratic primary elections are set for Tuesday. Kerry is one of eight candidates whose names will appear on the ballots, though some have since quit the race.

In his opening remarks to the crowd of 700 at Tougaloo, Kerry said he intends to roll back President Bush’s tax cuts to fully fund education and public services, such as the COPS program that former President Bill Clinton initiated.

&uot;When you add up the real deficit of our nation, it’s not just the money. It’s the deficit of broken hopes and dreams for children who have been promised they won’t be left behind. But in schools across the country, class sizes are getting bigger again, not smaller,&uot; he said.

A four-term Congressman and Yale graduate, Kerry also said he will continue trying to increase federal funding for Headstart programs.

Brown Miller, a retired oil worker from Hattiesburg, asked Kerry what can be done to stop American companies from farming out jobs to overseas labor markets.

Kerry said no president can stop all jobs from going overseas because American companies have a constitutional right to use foreign labor markets.

&uot;You’ve got to be willing to deal with the truth. The American people are getting tired of being told things for sake of the campaign,&uot; Kerry said.

But he emphasized that a global market is critical to the future of the U.S. economy.

&uot;We need trade. We need bigger markets than just the United States of America to grow our economy,&uot; he said.

Kerry suggested closing loopholes in U.S. policies that allow American companies to set up bogus overseas addresses and using existing NAFTA laws to ensure a level playing field for American competitors.

&uot;We’re not doing what we did in the 1990s. We created 23 million new jobs. This president (Bush) has lost three million jobs,&uot; he said.

Kerry said he could generate 50,000 jobs with every billion dollars spent on building schools, water treatment facilities and other infrastructure improvements

&uot;This president (Bush) is giving over $690 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest people in the country instead of putting Americans to work the way we need to,&uot; Kerry said.

A decorated Vietnam combat veteran, Kerry termed the continued deployment of American troops in Iraq an &uot;occupation&uot; and said he would bring U.S. troops home if he were president now.

&uot;I believe the words ‘going to war as a last resort’ should actually mean something. This president (Bush) didn’t do that,&uot; he said.

Kerry said he will strive to develop renewable energy sources in America.

&uot;Young Americans in uniform should never be held hostage because of our dependence on foreign oil,&uot; he said.

Kerry explained his position on the controversial gay marriage issue while responding to one woman who described homosexuality as &uot;blasphemous.&uot;

&uot;I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I believe that it is more important in the United States to recognize that we have a constitution that has an equal protection clause,&uot; Kerry said.

Kerry, a former prosecutor in Massachusetts, said civil rights are for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation.

&uot;When Matthew Sheppard gets crucified on a fence in Wyoming only because he is gay, I think that’s a matter of rights in the United States,&uot; Kerry said.

Kerry has received 1,532 of the 2,162 delegates in the Democratic primaries. His closest challenger, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, has received 504 delegates.

With President Bush running unopposed for his party’s nomination, Republicans will not hold a primary race in Mississippi.

A cross-section of Mississippians attended the forum, including Michael Pridgen, a 45-year-old furniture designer from Hattiesburg.

Pridgen said he came because he’s concerned about the nation’s image abroad.

&uot;What this country stands for in the world is important. There are so many things that fall under that, including economics. We need to start doing right by other people,&uot; Pridgen said.

Dorwin Shields, a 57-year-old mechanical engineer from Vicksburg, said jobs and the economy are important issues to him.

&uot;I’d like to see more money put in the pockets of average Americans. That tax cut mostly benefited big businesses,&uot; Shields said.