Jenelle here…
Yesterday, President Bush visited Racine, and since quite a few execs at SCJ have donated to the Bush campaign, there were extra tickets floating around. Five people in my work group snatched up the tix and we walked down to Pershing Park, about 15 blocks from work.
There were cops and guys with big guns everywhere — helicopters searching the area, secret service everywhere, snipers on the roof — they had a pretty large area blocked off. The rally was down by the skateboard park, but we had to enter all the way on the north side of the library, go through security and walk down to the field. Because we had blue tickets, and not red or green tickets — we got a seat in the bleachers. We were behind the president — so I got a nice view of his back during the whole speech. I think the green tickets got you a close-up face view.
Once we were seated, Bush campaign volunteers starting passing out flags, poms, shirts and signs — some where hand-made, some were the typical Bush Cheney ’04 signs. My favorite said “Luv Ya, Dub Ya.”
We got to the field around 2, but Bush didn’t show up til 4. His entourage had at least seven buses, a motorcade and lots of cop cars and unmarked SUVs. Just like the movies.
I was actually surprised how eloquent Bush was — he stuttered a few times, but I didn’t catch any blatant mispronunciation — for the most part, he got the emPHASis on the right sylLABle. He focused on education, social security, terrorism and Kerry’s inability to make a decision. His speaking skills have come a long way in four years.
I think the presidency is a very honorable institution and this was a great opportunity to see the President of the United States — I may never get that chance again until I am the President –(or at least her speechwriter, press secretary or director of communication!)I took a few pics of the event — I’ll see if I can get them online sometime soon.
