ARCHIVE

Bateman attends rally, sees President Bush

Staff reporter

How many opportunities does the average person have to hear and see the President of the United States in person? Probably not many.

That's why Marion County Treasurer Jeannine Bateman, of rural Marion, was given the opportunity and took it. She traveled Nov. 5 to Topeka to see the dignitary at a Kansas Republican rally.

President George W. Bush made the stop at the Kansas Expocenter in the state's capital as a stop of Republican rallies. Bateman had the opportunity to obtain a ticket to the event because she is a committee chairman of the Kansas chapter of the National Federation of Republican Women.

"The doors opened at 2:30 p.m. and we (she and daughter Kristine) arrived at 3 p.m.," Bateman said.

Security measures weren't as elaborate as Bateman had envisioned.

The first door she and others entered required attendees to show a ticket to the event.

"My name was written on the back of it — just like on my driver's license," she explained. When obtaining the ticket, she was told that ticket holders should be prepared to show identification but Bateman said she wasn't asked.

The second stop was an area similar to airport security, where purses and bags were placed on a conveyor belt and X-rayed.

"I had to turn on my (digital) camera to prove it really was a camera," Bateman said.

Security personnel also had hand-held metal detectors which was used for those individuals who set off the larger, walk-through detector. Some people were randomly checked but otherwise, it was not anything unusual.

"It went faster than I thought it might," she said.

Bateman's seat was located in row H, about eight rows from the stage.

As President Bush was nearing Topeka in Air Force One, the announcer informed the audience that the jet was arriving at Forbes Field.

Prior to the President's arrival, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, Congressman Todd Tiahrt, and Senator/Governor candidate Jim Barnett spoke to the crowd of several thousand.

Congressman Jim Ryun introduced the President and the President took the stage at about 6:10 p.m.

During the 40-minute speech, Bateman said she was impressed with the President's stage presence and enthusiasm.

"He was a dynamo of energy," she said.

At the conclusion of the rally, Bateman and others had to wait until Mr. Bush had exited the building and was on his way back to Forbes Field before they were allowed to leave. The people exited through a different door than where they entered, Bateman said.

The rally was paid for by the Kansas Republican Party.

The speech

President Bush talked about various issues, including the war in Iraq, in true rally fashion.

"The national unemployment rate is down to 4.4 percent," President Bush said. He continued that 470,000 new jobs have been added in the past three months.

He explained that the U.S. cannot negotiate with terrorists and the best way "to protect (the U.S.) is to defeat them overseas, so we do not have to face them here at home."

He continued that his strategies are to stay on the offense and protect the homeland.

"Now the problem we face is that the enemy has to be right one time and we have to be right 100 percent of the time," he said.

This is a global war and each threat must be taken seriously, he continued.

President Bush said that if he didn't think the U.S. could be victorious in the war effort, and the war cause wasn't noble and just, he'd pull out the troops.

"I can't look at the eyes of a mother or wife, or husband or dad, of a soldier in combat if I didn't believe it was essential to the security of this country," the President said. "We can't win a war unless we're willing to fight a war."

Quantcast