President Bush rolled into Grand Island, Nebraska this afternoon and harangued the crowd at their new Heartland Event Center. News reports stated that there were to be upwards of 5,000 in attendance at the pep rally to support the flagging campaigns of Adrian Smith, Lee Terry, Jeff Fortenberry and Pete Ricketts.
By the time the President's motorcade cruised down South Locust street the place was full of probably every Kool-Aid Kid in the state. One would expect that the thousands of Republicans who couldn't fit into the event center but wanting to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader would have been lining the streets to wave their flags at him. I was there and didn't see them.
There were a few hundred protesters with their various banners and posters across the street from the Fonner Park entrance, and maybe half that number of supporters or the merely curious.
I've been to events of this type in the past. Usually there are many more people outside the event than there are on the inside. I suppose it looked good on television to see the thousands of knee-jerk Republicans in the hall, but the true measure of just how much support there is can be devined by how many show up along the street.
I'm sure those the President came to endorse left today's event feeling really good about themselves and have great confidence in their prospects for Tuesday. But if there was no more popular support outside the building than there was inside, I'd have to say they will be sorely disappointed come Wednesday.
As for Bush's harangue to the crowd, which was locally televised, it was business as usual; "Democrats are bad. We'll cut your taxes. We're winning the war. Blah, blah, blah." Nothing new there.
I can't wait to welcome Scott Kleeb, Maxine Moul, Jim Esch, David Hahn, Jay Stoddard, Kate Witek, and OK, even Ben Nelson into the winners circle come the day after tomorrow. I am so sick of the Republicans that have run our state and country into the ground over these past several years. Let's hope they've left enough of it for us to be able to nurse it back to health.