Posted on 08/06/2004 10:20:54 AM PDT by dukeman
By Jack Brubaker
Lancaster New Era
LANCASTER, Pa. — President Bush met privately with a group of Old Order Amish during a campaign visit to Lancaster County on July 9. He discussed their farms and their hats and his religion, and got a pledge for prayers, if not votes.
A member of the group told Bush that since most Amish do not vote, they would pray for him instead.
Bush had tears in his eyes when he replied, according to an Amishman who was present. Bush reportedly said he needs the prayers of the Amish and that having a strong belief in God is the only way he can do his job.
Sam Stoltzfus of Gordonville, an Old Order historian, writer and curator of the Pequea Bruderschaft Library, recounted the private meeting with the president, saying the Amish “caught Bush’s heart.’’
The 20-minute meeting occurred after the president addressed an audience at Lapp Electric Service in Smoketown.
An Amish woman who lives on a farm across from Lapp Electric had presented a quilt to the president that morning, along with a card thanking him for his leadership of the country.
Bush said he would like to talk to the quilter and her family.
The Secret Service invited the family to meet the president. Friends wanted to come along, too, and the entire assembly eventually numbered about 60, evenly divided between adults and children of all ages.
“It took a while to get them through the metal detectors, as these were farmers and shop men, with vise-grips, pocket knives and nuts and bolts in their pockets,” Stoltzfus said. “Some ladies had baby gear. All pockets had to be emptied.”
When the Amish were “found not to be a serious threat to national security,” Stoltzfus said, they were allowed inside the office area of Lapp Electric and waited about 30 minutes for the president to appear.
“Babies got restless,” Stoltzfus said of the wait. “Children squirmed.”
Then the moment came.
“Suddenly the president and five Secret Service men stepped into the room,” Stoltzfus said. “One housewife said, ‘Are you George Bush?’ ”
The president replied in the affirmative and shook hands all around, asking the names of each person. He especially thanked the “quilt frau,” who operates her own business selling quilts and crafts.
“He seemed relaxed and just like an old neighbor,” said Stoltzfus.
Bush said he had never met any Amish before and was curious about why the men were wearing straw hats instead of black wool hats. The Amish explained that they wear cooler straw in summer.
Bush tried one on.
The president also commented on the appearance of Amish farms, and an Amishman spoke apologetically about how he and his friends were not expecting to see the president and were wearing soiled work clothes. Bush said he did not mind that, according to Stoltzfus.
Another man remarked that he has twin daughters, as does Bush. The man said one of his twins had dreamed the night before that she was shaking hands with the president and now she actually had done that.
“One of the young girls wanted to give Bush a whoopie pie cookie,” Stoltzfus said. “Bush declined it. The Secret Service man took it, as presidents aren’t supposed to eat untested food.” [I don't know what a whoopie pie cookie is, but I think I'd like to try one.]
At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.”
As the president left the room, one Amish man wished him good luck in November.
“The Amish group headed back to their farms and shops,” Stoltzfus said. “Mothers took their children home for a nap and went back to their sewing and gardens.”
Bush then moved on to an appearance in York County, leaving behind a group of Old Order admirers who will have tales to tell for the rest of their lives.
__________________________________________
And here's a related story from the AP published on 8/6/04:
BIRD-IN-HAND, Pa. -- The Amish live without electricity, cars, telephones, and usually, without voting. But they are being sought out this year as Republicans try to sign up every possible supporter in presidential battleground states.
Amish almost always side with the Republican Party when they do vote -- making them an attractive, if unlikely, voting bloc in the neck-and-neck campaign between President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry. A majority of the nation’s Amish live in key swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
"Pennsylvania and Ohio are just absolute battleground states, and to think that the Amish could weigh in to the tune of thousands of votes that are clearly going to be Republican -- that could be very significant for Bush," said Chet Beiler, a former Amish who has been dropping off voter registration forms at Amish businesses and farms in hopes of signing up as many as 3,000 new voters.
As pacifists, most Amish avoid political activity that they believe would link them even indirectly with government-sponsored violence. But hot-button social issues, coupled with gentle prompting from people like Beiler, are galvanizing some Amish to register to vote.
"We hate that abortion issue," said Sam Stolztfus, 60, an Amish farmer and gazebo maker in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, where an estimated 27,000 Amish live. "We’re totally against it. And as far as gay issues, that’s completely contrary to the Bible."
The bearded Stolztfus proudly says the Amish are "sort of swept up with Bush fever."
"You could hold up a dead mouse with a sign ‘I love Bush’ and we’d still probably think twice about stomping that mouse underfoot." [Oooookay, I think I follow]
An estimated 180,000 Amish live in 28 states and Ontario. They are a reserved, Christian subculture in rural areas who descend from Swiss Germans and settled in Lancaster County in the early 1700s as part of William Penn’s "holy experiment" in religious tolerance. The Amish do not drive cars, watch TV or use telephones in their homes, and are instantly recognizable by their horse-driven buggies and plain garb, bonnets and straw hats.
Physically casting a ballot will not be a problem for Amish in Lancaster County, where mechanical lever voting machines are still used. [Thank God!]
"Their basic political inclinations are traditional and conservative," said Don Kraybill, a sociologist of Anabaptist studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster. "Although the Amish are not politically active, they make an enticing target for Republicans, politically, because they are likely going to vote Republican."
But experts believe fewer than 10 percent of Amish ever vote, and the prospect of them turning out in great numbers in November is "not going to happen," Kraybill said. "These things occur gradually, over 30 to 40 years -- not quickly."
Neither presidential campaign is targeting the Amish, although Bush privately met with about 30 Amish during a July 9 campaign trip through Lancaster County. Earlier this year, the Bush administration relaxed federal labor laws to let Amish teenagers work near dangerous woodworking machines. The Amish had lobbied for the changes for years.
Democrats have all but ceded the Amish vote to Republicans.
"If I know Republicans and their grass-roots operations, they’ll spend most of their time trying to phone bank the Amish," said Kerry spokesman Mark Nevins. [Uh, how do you phone bank someone who doesn't own a phone?]
Not all Amish are comfortable with the Bush administration -- particularly the president’s decision to invade Iraq. But John Fisher, who welds iron products in Lancaster and is father of seven children, said Bush’s "focus on the family" will win his vote.
Of the war, "something needed to be done," said Fisher, a member of Lancaster’s Amish community. "I don’t agree with war at all. But he had to do what he had to do."
In Ohio, Amish have begun reaching out to the state Republican Party to learn more about Bush, said party spokesman Jason Mauk. An estimated 55,000 Amish live in Ohio -- more than in any other state.
"A lot of Amish Ohioans respect the president as a man of faith and someone who leads with conviction," Mauk said.
LOL! well done, Pappy.
A whoopie pie is not like an Oreo. It's equivalent is a Devil Dog.
Whoopie pie, Devil Dog. All I know is I could use one right now!
bump
Amish man praying to God: Please God, Smite George Bush's enemies.
Actually, the closest thing would probably be "Du kannst mich mal!" which literally means "You can just . . " It's shorthand for a variety of adjurations to anatomically impossible acts, mostly the equivalent of "You can just kiss my . . ." just as "shove it" is short for a more explicit expression.
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bump
bump
I believe if God moves on the Amish, they will vote. What is impossible with man is possible with God.
They're starting to settle here because land is getting scarce in PA. They aren't as strict as Amish. They drive cars, have nicely and tastefully decorated homes, neat as a pin. They've started small businesses and construction work here, too. I think they're a plus for any area.
Yes, the Mennonites are great neighbors. They are honest in all their dealings and their kids are very respectful to elders (my wife has taught several). A firend of mine who has contacts in their community says their ethical focus is so fine-tuned because their theology says they can lose salvation through a bad life. Thus, they heavily emphasize works.
Sorry, what's L8R?
At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.”
I lived in Hartville, Ohio. My modern home community was only two minutes from Amish farms. I lived on a circle and could not hear traffic, but I could hear the clip clip of horse drawn carriages.
Could the 10% of Amish voters make a difference?
I don't think so, as the millions of ignorant, homosexuals, uneducated, American hating people from Ohio and Pennsylvania that vote Democratic swamp the number of Amish voters.
Pinging you to another 'heart-warmer' :-)
The South invented 'em. We call 'em Moon Pies. Now pass me an RC Cola......
After reading this I shortly thereafter was looking at pictures of the folks in Bama & Fla lining up to get gasoline, and of all the devastation caused by Ivan.
I couldn't help but think that Ivan would not have the debilitating effect on the Amish as it does us modern folks
The Amish are akin to some 'old-fashioned' farmers in present-day Ireland.
And by the way, I'm not sure of what sect, but I used to live around the Amish and they, like the aforementioned Irish, took great care in producing their own libations!
Really genuine and very pleasant folks, as well as intelligent.
Why would you hope this is a misquote? I don't think it is and I am very thankful it is not.
I really don't think Christians need to be afraid of what those mean ol' liberals say about our silly belief in the Creator and our faith in Him.
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