KERRY FRIEND CAROLE KING REACHES OUT TO VOTERS.

Byline: Jim Feehan The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 9/8/2004): The annual Labor Day picnic at Jasper Park is sponsored by the Lane County Labor Council. Stories on Page D1 of Tuesday's paper and Page B2 of Monday's paper misidentified the picnic's lead sponsor.

John Kerry's got a friend.

In a year of celebrity endorsement-driven politics, singer-songwriter Carole King touted the Democratic presidential candidate Monday during a campaign swing through Eugene and Springfield and urged supporters to reach out to rural Oregonians in this crucial battleground state.

"I think the rural voters will likely be the key to winning this state," King said during a morning rally for volunteers and supporters at Kerry's campaign office in downtown Eugene.

King schmoozed with about 100 Kerry backers in the central courtyard area of the office complex, autographing copies of her 1971 hit album "Tapestry" and posing for photos with volunteers.

She even provided a little entertainment.

"Here's a song that has more meaning this year than ever before," King said before leading the crowd in an a capella sing-a-long of her hit "You've Got a Friend."

Kerry volunteer Joy Shain, 50, of Eugene, brought the album version of "Tapestry" for King to autograph. "She's very warm and down-to-earth," Shain said.

A generation removed from albums, Shain's 14-year-old daughter, Abby Callahan, brought a compact disc of King's greatest hits for legendary folk to sign.

"I'm not that familiar with her music, but I have sung `You've Got a Friend' in choir at Roosevelt (Middle School),' Callahan said.

Dressed casually in jeans and a dusty rose hooded fleece sweatshirt, King, 62, told supporters that she considers herself a Northwesterern.

For the past 26 years, King has lived in Idaho. Last year, she met Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, while they vacationed in Sun Valley, Idaho, she said.

King has actively campaigned for Kerry in Idaho and elsewhere for the past year. On July 29, she made a short speech and sang at the Democratic National Convention about two hours before Kerry made his acceptance speech as the party's presidential nominee.

On her local stop, King also was the star attraction at an informal "front porch" discussion session in Springfield's Thurston Park. She said it's not too late to engage neighbors in issue-driven discussion, while being be respectful of others with differing political views.

In an interview, King said she's often asked about using celebrity to get a campaign message across.

"A celebrity is a citizen first of all," she said. "I happen to be an informed citizen and if my name brings more people to hear what I have to say, that's not a bad thing."

While King and actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and John Cusack count themselves among high-profile stars backing Kerry; President Bush's top draws include country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and actresses Angie Harmon and Bo Derek.

Later in the day, King spoke at a Labor Day picnic, sponsored by the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network at Jasper Park and participated in a fund-raising event in Eugene.

King, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, is known for such '70s classics as "You've Got a Friend," "It's Too Late," "Starman" and "I Feel the Earth Move."

After Eugene, she was headed to Portland for a flight to visit family in the East.

CAPTION(S):

Singer Carole King greets supporters at Thurston Park in Springfield, where she campaigned for John Kerry. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard