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Tonight The Shrew will host William S. Lind of the Free Congress Foundation on Radio Free Republic! Tune in to hear one of the foremost military writers discuss the article he has co-written with Paul Weyrich!
Posted on 08/06/2002 12:48:04 PM PDT by McLynnan
Bush comes to town: Waco, Crawford await economic forum, Fox visit
By JASON EMBRY Tribune-Herald staff writer
President Bush today begins a stay in McLennan County that will include an economic forum in Waco and a ranch visit from the president of Mexico.
Bush's ranch near Crawford will be his home base for the next month, as it was last August. Hundreds of Washington staffers and reporters will find temporary homes in Waco hotel rooms.
A CNN/ USA Today /Gallup poll showed that 44 percent of Americans surveyed last week believe four weeks is too much time for Bush to spend at his ranch.That's down from the 55 percent of respondents who said last year that the August stay was too long.
But Bush has several out-of-town trips scheduled for the month. He'll also host the economic forum and Mexican President Vicente Fox before returning to Washington around Labor Day.
About 300 people are expected to attend the Aug. 13 forum at Baylor University, including Cabinet members, workers, economists and ethicists.
The guest list will include some students and faculty from Baylor's business school, Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley said. Session topics will include corporate responsibility, retirement security and technology.
About 500 journalists are expected to cover the forum, crowding nearly every inch of Baylor's McLane Student Life Center. Reporters will sit in racquetball courts to watch video feeds of forum sessions, and at least one cable network, CNBC, plans all-day broadcasts from campus.
Baylor officials expect up to 30 satellite trucks to park there. It's an ideal time for Baylor, Brumley said, because summer classes are over but the fall semester is a couple of weeks away.
"I don't think we could have done this if we had classes in session," he said.
The school expects a greater media onslaught than last November, when it hosted reporters for Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to the Bush ranch. The attention comes as Baylor continues its chase of Bush's presidential library.
"There's no doubt that it's kind of an undercurrent under everything that we do relative to our relationship with the White House," Brumley said. "But even if Baylor wasn't making a bid for the library, this is an incredible opportunity for Baylor University, our students and our faculty."
Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said he has fielded one inquiry about setting up a protest during the economic forum. Chief Jim Doak of the Baylor Department of Public Safety said protests will not be allowed on campus.
"We respect people's right to voice their opinion," Doak said. "But at the same time, it's private property."
Duane Ediger, communications director at the Dallas Peace Center, said a Crawford rally to protest sanctions and possible military action against Iraq is in the works for the Bush visit. An April event billed in a similar way turned into a largely pro-Palestinian rally that overflowed the bleachers of the Crawford football stadium.
A Crawford ordinance requires demonstrators to request a permit 15 days in advance. Crawford Police Chief Donnie Tidmore had no permit requests as of Monday.
In Crawford, a few stores have gone up since Bush's stay last August. Another store is on the way.
Robinson roofing contractor Bill Johnson hopes to open a new Crawford shop, the Yellow Rose of Texas, within the next 10 days. It's part store, part shrine: Johnson will sell saddles, rifles and jewelry across the room from a Bush tribute painted on a rock wall. The mural will include paintings of his inauguration and the destruction of the World Trade Center, as well as comments Bush made after the attack.
"It's a fact that happened," Johnson said. "I wouldn't want to be insensitive. But it's a reality that we were attacked and we defended ourselves."
Johnson is giving his store a facade that resembles the Alamo, and he plans to put a fake cannon, a wagon and replicas of Davy Crockett and William B. Travis on the roof. He hopes for weekly auctions, and he'd like to give tours that go out to the 120-acre property he owns next to the president's.
"I think this will be a destination point," he said. "A lot of people come to Crawford and complain there's nothing to do. We're going to give them something to do and see."
Crawford school trustees passed a new slate of rules this summer for the reporters who file stories from the school gym. Members of the press must wear badges at the school, and they cannot use the same entrance or restrooms as Crawford students. Metal partitions will be set up at the filing center entrance.
The new rules followed complaints by a Crawford parent who told the school board to "get the press out of our school before a tragedy happens."
Trying to put on a friendlier face for the press, the Crawford Chamber of Commerce will host a "meet the press" barbecue for journalists on Thursday.
"We want to mend any fences that have been torn down in any way," said Cathy Horton, a vendor at a downtown Crawford gift store.
Fox is expected to visit Bush's ranch late in the month, although the White House has not confirmed a specific date. He would be the fourth head of state to visit the ranch since Bush took office.
Liz Carpenter, a former spokeswoman for Lady Bird Johnson, will sign copies of her book Start With a Laugh on Aug. 18 at Crawford Country Style, a downtown store. Valerie Duty, who sells Crawford merchandise online and is arranging the event, said first lady Laura Bush has been invited to attend.
Gee Kitkat, is it always "me, me, me"? You can have the biggest margarita glass. I'll be content with the pitcher and a straw. Does this work for you, lol?
LOL and I can see the hubby doing about 150mph down that road
If you think Bush is going to 'big government' this country to 'conservativism' you're wrong. Bush is doing a good job 'conserving' Clinton's last term and completely ignoring the cries for justice.
I am the base.
Posted on 06/01/2002 9:23 PM Eastern by TLBSHOW
WASHINGTON -- Occasional grumbling by some prominent conservatives about President Bush sometimes overshadows his extremely solid support among stalwart Republicans and conservatives around the country.
Many Republicans and Democrats seem to agree that support by itself does not tilt the 2002 elections toward the GOP. Some, however, say it could offset the gains the party out of the White House -- Democrats, in this case -- historically has made in midterm elections.
"The general backdrop has shifted away from the Democrats over the last year to where we have a level playing field," said Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster in Atlanta who works with Republican candidates.
The Sept. 11 attacks also shifted the political landscape from domestic issues favoring Democrats to national security and the war on terrorism, which favor the GOP.
Democrats acknowledge the president's strength, but question whether that will carry over to other GOP candidates.
"The president has put his popularity on the line in these congressional midterm elections," said Michael Meehan, a senior strategist at the Democratic National Committee. "What remains to be seen is whether the intensity of the conservative base translates from the president to the candidates who are on the ballot."
Meehan said polling data he has seen indicate the elections are much more likely to be decided on the basis of individual candidates and local campaigns.
Some conservatives have grumbled about the Bush White House handling of spending, steel tariffs, the Mideast and other issues.
"Within the conservative leadership, there is increasing restlessness about some of the Bush's domestic policy decisions in the last few months," said Steve Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group.
Democratic strategist Jim Jordan dismisses such complaints as "strictly a debate among the Washington elites."
Polls do not suggest discontent among some conservative activists has spread outside Washington.
"Bush wins overwhelming majority support from all Republicans and with strong Republicans it is all but unanimous," said Thomas Riehle, president of Ipsos-Reid public affairs, which conducts a tracking poll for the Cook Political Report.
"At this point in any president's first term, you would expect to have alienated some faction of your own party, but that is not the case with George Bush."
Added GOP pollster Matthew Dowd: "It gives you an opportunity to reach out to constituencies."
Bush's job approval rating among Republicans is in the low 90s and a bit higher among strong Republicans, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll and others.
Georgia Republican Chairman Ralph Reed said most conservatives he talks to are quite content "the ball is clearly moving in the right direction." That gives the GOP the latitude to reach out more on health care, education and other issues, he said.
The president can do that by following through on issues he campaigned on and "make them a reality," said Blaise Underwood, political director of the Republican National Committee. Democrats say that GOP proposals on many domestic issues fall short and are underfunded.
Intense enthusiasm for the president among his political base could be very important in a midterm election when turnout tends to be lighter, said Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Republicans acknowledge Democrats often have had an advantage in past years getting out their voters.
One definite benefit for Republican candidates will be the president's ability to raise money for candidates, Ayres said.
Jordan, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said money should not be a deciding factor. "We will not lose a Senate race because of a lack of resources," he said.
A report this week from the Federal Election Commission suggested the parties' money raising and spending for congressional races has been relatively even.
Jordan said he has seen little evidence that Senate races will be a referendum on the president. Polling on voters' preference for Republican or Democratic congressional candidates has consistently shown voters are fairly evenly divided.
Conservative loyalty to Bush could give Republicans added leeway to move to the center on some domestic issues -- excluding top GOP issues like taxes and abortion, said conservative analyst Marshall Wittmann of the Hudson Institute.
"Bush ended the Clinton-Gore reign and he delivered for them on taxes," said Wittmann. "He seems to have a connection with conservatives that is almost nonverbal."
I am going to print them out for myself, if you don't mind???????
On NOW at RadioFR!
Tonight The Shrew will host William S. Lind of the Free Congress Foundation on Radio Free Republic! Tune in to hear one of the foremost military writers discuss the article he has co-written with Paul Weyrich!
Me too .. and what I can tell of my liberal neighbors .. Bush will get their votes also
Must consider the source. Klintoon had high poll numbers, also. It could be said he still had his base. What's your point? Are you more interested in media symbolism over substance? How about supporting some old-fashion Constitutional principles instead of a relative illusion.
Occasional grumbling by some prominent conservatives about President Bush sometimes overshadows his extremely solid support among stalwart Republicans and conservatives around the country.
This statement doesn't represent what is being said here in SC.
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