The President Visits Ft. Myers
Being supporters of President Bush, we were thrilled to hear he was coming to town, and even more excited to hear that the event was open to the public. As soon as we knew, we hurried to the campaign headquarters and got as many tickets as we were allowed. The Presidential event was being held at the City of Palms Stadium (ironically, where the Boston Red Sox hold spring training) and the gates opened at 7:00am... we showed up at 6:00am and the line was already down the street.
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It was early, but we were all psyched to see the President. |
| The President was supposed to arrive around 10:00am, but the stadium was already packed by 8:00am. There were some preliminary speeches by local politicians starting around 9:00am, but we were all anxious to see the President. |  |
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We weren't the only ones on the lookout for President Bush. We heard he was going to be arriving by helicopter, so everyone's eyes were on the sky. |
| This first helicopter got everyone excited, but it turns out the President wasn't aboard. There were actually 3 helicopters of this type, each carrying support personnel and reporters. |  |
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This was the President's helicopter (the picture in the background should have been our first clue). It really was really quite an entrance -- the crowd was pumped! |
| It turns out that the President wasn't the only one visiting our fair city. Mrs. Bush as well as brother Jeb (our Governor) were also on board. It was really quite a treat for us. |
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After being introduced by Senator Connie Mack, Sr., and then by Gov. Jeb Bush, the President spoke to the crowd for about 45 minutes. I was really impressed that he spent that much time in front of just one crowd. We found out that our city was just the first of 4 stops for the day. BTW, can you spot the 4 Secret Service agents in the top picture? |
| We weren't allowed to bring our own signs, but that was alright since they handed out a lot of official campaign signs. We now have a nice collection. |  |
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The President's exit was almost as exciting as his entrance. After lifting off, the helicopter circled the field and then did one final fly-by before heading up to Tampa (their next stop). |
The visit by President and Mrs. Bush was really one of the top events of this year. Not only was it exciting for everyday supporters like ourselves to get to see the President up close, I think it really made a difference in the election. Lee County is a Republican county, and President Bush was sure to win the votes from this area. However, I believe that by coming out to visit us even when he already had our support, the President rallied his base and brought out supporters who may not have shown up at the polls. After the 2000 election (in which the President won by a small margin), it was nice to see Florida called a Red state early in the evening on Nov 2nd.
Copyright © 2004, Kathleen D. Saint. All Rights Reserved.