Bush expected to visit Inland senior center Monday11:43 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 23, 2005
President Bush will visit an Inland senior center Monday, marking his third trip to the region since being elected president in 2000, several political sources confirmed Tuesday.
Bush's stop at a Rancho Cucamonga senior center will follow a cross-country bid this week to build support for a continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq. While here, he is expected to discuss health and human service issues with some 200 Inland guests mid-afternoon Monday.
Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, wouldn't confirm the details of the president's trip, other than to say that Bush was headed to Arizona and California.
Kevin McArdle, community services director of the Rancho Cucamonga center, said he had no information about the president's visit. McArdle said instead that he thought either Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt or an undersecretary was scheduled to visit Monday with seniors about Medicare.
The appearance will be Bush's second as an elected leader to Rancho Cucamonga, which is home to longtime Bush family insider and former state Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte.
In May 2000, then-Texas Gov. Bush visited the Rancho Cucamonga Senior Center when he was first running for president, touting his Social Security plan to about 200 people. He proposed allowing American workers to invest their Social Security taxes into private savings accounts.
The plan has yet to make it through Congress, but interest groups on both sides of the issue are trying to kick-start the debate with the 70th birthday of Social Security this month.
The senior center Bush visited has since been replaced by a 27,660-square-foot Central Park Senior and Community Center built in large part with $11.6 million in state park bond grants arranged by Brulte. The facility includes the James L. Brulte Senior Center.
Brulte did not return a phone call Tuesday, but he has been instrumental in persuading Bush to come to the region in the past. Bush visited the Ontario Convention Center in January 2002, at Brulte's urging. Brulte worked with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership to bring Bush to San Bernardino in October 2003 for a policy speech.
On that trip, Bush held a $2,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Riverside Convention Center. He raised about $1 million.
Duane Roberts, owner of Riverside's Mission Inn, had pushed for the president to return to the Inland area for a fundraiser, and Bush stayed at the Mission Inn during his visit.
The ties between Bush and Brulte go back a generation, ever since Brulte worked as an advance man for the president's father. The former lawmaker is part of the president's inner circle in California and helped map out Bush's state campaign in 2000 and 2004.
The relationship has its light-hearted moments. In 2003, the president joshed Brulte about his weight loss at the Riverside fundraiser.
"If he loses any more weight, he's going to be doing Subway commercials," Bush said.
Brulte is one of several prominent Bush supporters in the Inland area, where Bush has found strong support in the past from voters and donors. In 2004, 57.8 percent of Riverside County voters and 55.7 percent of San Bernardino County voters cast ballots for Bush.
Staff writer Paul LaRocco contributed to this report.
Reach Michelle DeArmond at (951) 368-9441 or mdearmond@pe.com.
Online at: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_bush24.13526c16.html
