Posted on 10/28/2002 6:04:16 AM PST by dittomom
Bush sings Salmon praises
President stops in Valley to rally GOP faithful
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| Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic |
| President Bush on Sunday makes a second visit to the Valley to barnstorm for gubernatorial candidate Matt Slamon (left). |
By Chip Scutari and Christina Leonard
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 28, 2002
President Bush mixed patriotism with politics Sunday night, saying GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Salmon will improve Arizona schools by challenging "the soft bigotry of low expectations" while keeping his word on tax cuts.
"Go to your houses of worship, your community centers and your coffee shops and talk about Matt Salmon," Bush told a crowd of 2,500 at Dodge Theatre. "When he says he's not raising taxes, book it. He will represent you with dignity and he will represent you with class."
Bush's return to Arizona is his latest trip in an unprecedented nationwide barnstorming for Republican candidates. Like his Sept. 27 visit, there were protesters waiting in downtown Phoenix. More than 200 people greeted the crowd as they came out of the theater, chanting, "No blood for oil!" and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Bush's war has got to go!" Despite a few tense moments, nobody was arrested. The protesters, a multicultural group representing various causes, marched to the theater from Patriots Square after the speech started. They chanted, beat drums and raised signs that read: "An eye for an eye leaves the world blind."
As the event ended, Salmon supporters came face to face with the energetic crowd on Fourth Avenue and Washington Street, exchanging chants of "Fear Matt Salmon, don't fear God" with "Go, Matt, go."
Joe McQuiston didn't hear the protests. The 78-year-old from Avondale was thrilled to hear Bush's speech in person.
"I thought he was great," said McQuiston, who last saw a president when Harry Truman did a whistle-stop in Phoenix in 1948. "I know George Bush is a Christian man, a loving man and a firm man."
Bush has attended a presidential record 69 fund-raising events this year, raising $130 million for Republicans. That includes the September stop that helped raise about $750,000 for Salmon and U.S. House hopeful Rick Renzi, whom Bush also touted on Sunday. Renzi is running for the new 1st Congressional District seat in northern Arizona.
"I like a man who believes in family values, all 12 of them," said Bush, referring to Renzi's 12 children. "He's going to make a fine congressman."
This visit was pure politics. Admission was free.
While Renzi holds a 12-point lead over George Cordova, recent polls show Salmon trailing his Democratic rival Janet Napolitano by a handful of points. Bush indirectly criticized Napolitano for flip-flopping on issues, though he didn't mention specifics.
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"He's not someone who's going to take a position one day, and then the butane gets turned up and changes their mind," Bush said. "Matt Salmon is somebody whose word you can trust."
Kris Mayes, Napolitano's press secretary, said Bush's visit won't be enough to save Salmon.
"The truth is that moderate, sensible Republicans are crossing over to back Janet," Mayes said. "And this trip by the president won't be enough to stem that tide. At the end of day, this election is between Janet and Matt."
Inside the theater, Bush beat the war drum against Saddam Hussein, Iraq and terrorism. One member of the crowd yelled, "Get him, George," as Bush talked about the "cold-blooded killers." A large portion of Bush's 40-minute speech focused on the White House's continuing efforts against terrorism and making tax cuts permanent.
"We're going to stay the course until we defeat the agent of terror," Bush said. "The doctrine still stands: You're either with the United States and freedom-loving people or you're with the enemy."
Before Bush, Salmon and Renzi arrived at the Dodge Theatre, the Mountain View High School Marching Band kept the crowd entertained with a smorgasbord of songs, including the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann, and the theme from Rocky.
After his speech, Bush shook hands with a handful of band members, including drum major Dan Bienz.
"It was a firm handshake," said a beaming Bienz, 17. "It was just pretty cool that the president would stop and talk to us. I was totally surprised."
Bush, who stayed overnight in the Valley and was scheduled to leave early today, has made repeat visits for candidates in other states, including U.S. Senate candidates John Thune in South Dakota and Jim Talent in Missouri. And Bush has made several trips to boost the re-election campaign of his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida.
His two visits to Phoenix could end up playing a key role in Arizona's closest governor's race in decades, which will be decided Nov. 5.
"It wasn't all that long ago that people were saying Matt Salmon doesn't even have a chance," Bush said. "A lot of the pundits in Arizona had written this man off. Looks to me like they may have wasted a little ink."
Salmon called Bush "one of the greatest people that's ever been born in this country."
"Every night I go to bed and thank God for President Bush," Salmon said.
GO MATT, GO!!!!!!!!!!
Local TV news just showed President Bush boarding Air Force One. He got out of the limo and went directly up the stairs to the plane. No lingering with supporters. Saw Condi Rice getting out of the limo as well. Sure hope this visit gets the vote out for Matt Salmon and the rest of the Republican candidates.
I was there at the Dodge Theatre to hear President Bush!!! Bush gave a GREAT speech. It was such a privilege to be in the same room with him. Not surprisingly, Mcwhiney sent his wife and son Jack and didn't appear himself. If he's really out campaigning for other GOP candidates, I guess I can forgive him for his no-show.
The usual filthy, smelly crowd of Bush-hating protesters showed up to harass the us as we left the theatre. Two protesters (college students of Middle Eastern descent, male & female) started screaming at me and hubby as we left the theatre: "Baby killers!!! Murderers! You Americans are murderers and you steal other countries' money!!!" (not making this up)
They followed us for two blocks. Hubby yelled right back at them what losers, whiners, & hypocrites they were. I repeatedly asked them where they were from & they refused to say (again--Middle East, no question by their accents and looks).
I finally started yelling back at them, told them their main problem was envy and jealousy because other people have it better than they do. They finally went off in a huff calling us both racists (I'm dark-skinned Hispanic, much darker than either one of them--LOL!) and we just laughed out loud at them.
The protesters were a pathetic gathering of UGLY Feminazi's, Commies- turned-Greenies and other assorted malcontents who haven't showered since at least 1968. The Health Dept. should have rounded them all up for a good scrubbing and de-lousing.
I swear, someday I'm going to show up at one of these silly protests and hand out bars of soap and deodorant--LOL!
You two are stars.
Here's a sample...
(Is that a "salmon" colored tie the President is wearing?)
RooRoo - recognize any of these wackos? My friend and I got into it with one filthy-looking guy who looked like he hadn't seen a dentist since the '60's. He was chanting, "No Blood for Oil." We told him it wasn't about oil, it was about weapons of MASS destruction!! Of course, this was not an effective argument for him because his comeback was just - "BUSH LIES!!!"
I was so proud of the Teenage Republicans that were there chanting "GO MATT, GO!" in the face of the protesters. Snapped this one of them as they were posing for a group photo...
For more pics, go to www.dittomom.com and follow the links.
Hubby responded to the woman, "Well, okay, how about oil for some blood then? Will you trade me oil for blood?" ROTFLOL--she stopped for a second, had to think for a moment & then scowled, went back to her chanting. LOL, it's fun to tweak sanctimonious blow-hards.
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