Battling an ear infection, anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan missed her Saturday flight out of California and, therefore, her first Ohio appearance in Cleveland.

But she didn't miss the chance to speak in Akron on Sunday.

Traveling 27 days a month to speak intimately about her son, who died during Iraq combat, ``is very, very hard,'' she said.

``But I can't compare it to losing Casey,'' she said. ``My message is always about just the same: We are members of the human race first, Americans second.

``I'm not the only one in America who wants the troops to come home. Millions and millions want it.''

Sheehan appeared in Akron as part of a grass-roots organizing seminar by the Progressive Democrats of America.

The organization started in 2004 to push the Democratic Party to embrace a more liberal platform. The group also lobbies for worker-friendly public policy and an end to the Iraq war.

`` `Progressive Democrats' should be redundant,'' Sheehan said. ``They should all be fighting for progressive issues.''

Sheehan's activist work has earned her a nomination for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, which will be selected in October.

But critics have accused her of being a left-wing radical who has taken advantage of her son's death to advance her cause.

About 425 state activists and party leaders attended Sunday's meeting at the Akron-Summit County Public Library in downtown Akron.

The event ended with breakout sessions focusing on detailsabout political structure and local activism, all in the hopes of gaining a liberal Democratic majority in the U.S. House and Senate on Nov. 8.

``As you might say in Akron, this is where the rubber meets the road,'' said national director Tim Carpenter. ``What do we want for our party? All the work we're doing now, it's all through the lens of the next two, four, eight years. If we succeed, there needs to be that next generation coming up behind us.''

Television actress Mimi Kennedy, the organization's advisory board chair, emceed the event. Best known as Dharma's hippie mom on Dharma & Greg, Kennedy wore masking tape across her shirt blackened with the numbers ``2322'' to represent the number of American troops who have died in Iraq.

``I'm very much like (Dharma's mom) Abby, and that's why I'm here... to restore the soul of the party,'' she said.

Other speakers included Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern and U.S. Reps. Sherrod Brown and Dennis Kucinich, both Democrats.

Before her son's death on April 4, 2004, Sheehan said, she hadn't given much mind to politics. She described her 180-degree transition as ``surreal.''

``The only thing different about me now is I'm a mother of three, not a mother of four,'' she said.

At a press conference before Sunday's meeting, Sheehan said that her son Casey didn't want to go to war.

She recalled offering to take him to Canada or drive her car over his legs. But he told her he had to go to protect his buddies.

He did -- and returned five days later in a flag-draped coffin, she said.

``The grief is something that never leaves me,'' she said. ``Every morning, I wake up and think, `Oh my God, my son is dead.' Every day is like April 4 again. But I feel stronger every day.

``I know he's very, very proud of me. Not as much as I was of him.''

Sheehan, who plans to release a book in September, will spend the second anniversary of Casey's death at home with her soon-to-be-ex-husband; her three children, ages 20, 22 and 25; and other immediate family.

She greeted a standing ovation Sunday with a peace sign, then spoke and took questions for about a half-hour.

When asked whether she would ever run for public office, Sheehan said she hadn't ruled it out, though she doesn't see herself as a political activist.

``This is an issue about flesh and blood to me, not politics,'' she said.

Still, she encouraged voters to rejectRepublican Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's gubernatorial bid,establish a Progressive Democratic caucus in the state Senate and impeach President Bush.

I don't want Casey's life to justify more killing.''

© 2006 Beacon Journal and wire service sources

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