TOPEKA — Less than two days before the general election, Emporia Sen. Jim Barnett took his campaign for governor back to Topeka -- and shared the stage with President George Bush.
"This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Barnett, "one I never thought would occur even when I entered the race for governor."
The president came to Kansas as part of an intense get-out-the-vote campaign to shore up Republican support in traditionally red states. In Kansas, Bush arrived to support Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Lawrence, who faces stiff opposition from Democrat Nancy Boyda.
Up for grabs in this midterm election are 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats, governorships in 36 states, and thousands of state legislative and local races, according to The Associated Press.
Many of the nearly 2,000 people who turned out began arriving at 2:30 p.m. During their wait, they were entertained by cheerleaders, a school band and country-music group Dixie Road. They also heard from state candidates like Barnett, Attorney General Phill Kline and Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh.
But Bush was the star of the night, and excitement as word came at 5:45 p.m. that Air Force One, the president's plane, had landed at Forbes Field. Those seated in the stadium seats began doing "the wave," drawing the attention of the lighting engineers who quickly doused the overhead lights and followed the wave with a spotlight around the arena.
As the crowd continued to wait for the main event, the party atmosphere prevailed and families stood on the floor. Toddlers busied themselves coloring pictures and older children occupied themselves with hand-held electronic games, not realizing that one day they would tell their children they had seen the president of the United States.
And when he arrived, the crowd erupted in cheers. Bush was accompanied by Ryun, Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. They joined Barnett and the other candidates on the stage. There, Bush exhorted the party faithful to get out and vote and tell their friends to do the same.
"Whatever you do, don't pay attention to the prognosticators; the pundits," Bush said. "A bunch of them have already decided the verdict is in. But they forgot the folks of Kansas haven't gone to the polls yet.”
Emporian K.B. Thomas Jr. praised Bush's speech. Thomas was standing on the floor about eight rows from the stage.
"It was a very inspirational speech tonight," Thomas said. "I seen a lot of tears in a lot of people's eyes."
Barnett, too, was impressed. Since becoming a state senator, he's attended Republican events at Kansas Day and other rallies.
"This is the first time in my life I've been to this large a Republican gathering," he said, "and to actually shake the hand of the president."
bnance (anonymous) says...
Great coverage of this event!
November 6, 2006 at 7:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lollerskate (anonymous) says...
Man I wish I could have been there! I would have loved to see such a large gathering of oppressive crusaders!
Kline is the champion against all abortion and seeks your medical records "to protect the innocent." Kline, watch a Monty Python movie and chill the heck out. Also please stop preying on the super-religious, they get that enough from the evangelicals.
Brownback is the great crusader against all things gay! He is still trying to snowball a judge appointment in Wisconson because she attentend a lesbian union serimony as a friend. Good job Brownback, you stick to the real issues.
And Bush .... I can't just wrap my contempt for Bush in a paragraph. Lets just say I dislike the man and his policies very much, and that is being polite.
As for Barnett, he seems like the only decent human being of mention. Too bad Sebilius is going to beat him in a landslide.
November 6, 2006 at 9:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KansasRadical (anonymous) says...
I can't wait to see Kline get his backside handed to him on a silver platter. Anybody who can honestly say that they still support Bush needs to seriously re-evaluate their stance. Sebelius has done and outstanding job, has very encompasing views, and has brought the state up from a huge slump. Go Sebelius!
November 6, 2006 at 11:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
under_score (anonymous) says...
I support Bush, I voted for Al Gore in the first election and Bush in the second. His 'stay the course' is the correct one to take in a time of war. Anyone who thinks that 'stay the course' means that our military does not adapt to conditions on the ground is completely ignorant. Stay the course means to see things through to the end. By the way, I also plan on voting for Sebelius today, she has done a good enough job to serve a second term. You see, I'm smart enough to think for myself so I don't HAVE to vote along party lines. Obviously lollerskate and KansasRadical are not smart enough to do the same, since they lump all Republicans into the anti-pro-choice, anti-gay marriage, super-religious category. They also feel that if someone disagrees with them they MUST be stupid, because THEY are the SO smart. Intelligent people don't deal in absolutes and they don't stereotype large groups of people. Thus, any intelligent thought they may have had is lost on moderates like myself.
November 7, 2006 at 6:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lollerskate (anonymous) says...
I don't think I typed the word Republican in my whole comment, let me check ... nope I never did. I spefically called out Kline, Brownback and Bush, not the whole Republican party. Please learn to read. There are good Republicans and there are good Democrats, I just disagree with those 3 men in particular.
November 7, 2006 at 8:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )