Posted on 08/24/2005 6:41:10 AM PDT by RonDog
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President might visit Rancho
Bush announcing plans on Friday
By Edward Barrera
Staff WriterTuesday, August 23, 2005 - RANCHO CUCAMONGA - President George W. Bush might visit Rancho Cucamonga next week, according to a White House spokesman.Spokesman David Almacy said the president's plans will be finalized and announced Friday.
The president has already announced he will visit Arizona on Monday, but he might also stop in the Inland Empire. While in Arizona, Bush will be discussing Medicare, Almacy said.
Despite buzz around the city that the commander-in-chief might stop by, local leaders pointed inquiries about any presidential visits to the White House or other federal officials.
"We will work in conjunction with the Secret Service and the system in any way we can," said Sgt. John Greco of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department when asked about the possibility of Bush's visit.
In the past few days, the president has visited Utah and Idaho in an attempt to rally support for the war in Iraq. Bush spoke to a national veterans group in Salt Lake City on Monday and today will be giving a speech in Nampa, Idaho. After today's speech, the president is scheduled to have two hours of private meetings with relatives of dead soldiers.
Bush's last trip to the Inland Valley area was right after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won the recall election in 2003. The president touted his efforts on the war in Iraq and how it helped protect the country against terrorism.
Almacy said the reason that Bush is in Crawford, Texas, is because of the renovation of the West Wing of the White House.
"He's operating on a full schedule, he's just doing it from the ranch instead of from the White House," Almacy said. "The only week he had officially off was this last week."
- The Associated Press and staff writer Molly R. Okeon contributed to this story.
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
Excellent. Five minutes from me.
Excellent. Five minutes from me.That was the plan.
Karl Rove specifically requested that the President visit somewhere near YOU. :o)
President Bush will visit an Inland senior center MondayHere is one POSSIBLE senior center, from www.ci.rancho-cucamonga.ca.us:
Rancho Cucamonga Senior Center
9791 Arrow Route, RC, CA 91730
2 miles from me, I'm there.
Last Thursday afternoon, HUNDREDS of happy, smiling, flag-waving patriotic Americans gathered outside a "private, secret" fundraiser at the Santa Monica airport to welcome President Bush back to Los Angeles, for his first visit to southern California since March 2004.Two very highly repected sources independently calculated that over FIFTEEN HUNDRED people overwhelmed the intersection of 31st Street and Ocean Park Boulevard in Santa Monica, just north of the hanger in which President Bush, Laura Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger appeared at a private fundraiser which had not been widely publicized until a few days before the event --
with the crowd outside roughly divided into half pro-Bush and half anti-Bush.On a Thursday afternoon.
In Santa Monica...See also the "after action" thread:
"Welcome Back, W!"
HUNDREDS rally near Santa Monica airport to support President Bush new PHOTOS!
Since you guys know the area, would you please check out the BEST PLACE for us to assemble?
From another angle, showing the White House in the background.
Ping
Thanks for keeping us updated. I believe word is that he'll be speaking to troops in the San Diego area around that same time.
Cool! 20 minutes from my b-i-l!
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