[WAC-list] FWD: Bush Coming to Appleton on Tues!!!!!!

[William E Bragg <braggw53@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu>]

>===== Original Message From Oshkosh Campus Greens <oshkoshgreens@yahoo.com> 
=====
Greetings Friends of Peace and Justice
That's right... George W. Bush is coming to Appleton next Tuesday March
30.
All those who stand for peace and justice and are
interested in organizing a demonstration please try to attend an
informational meeting at the Winnebago Peace and Justice Center
tonight, Thursday March 25th at 7PM.  The Winnebago Peace and
Justice Center is located at:
457 N. Main St. Oshkosh, WI.
We will be discussing plans to hold signs and show Bush that his
reckless and selfish attitudes against our citizens and the world
make him unwelcome in our beloved state.
Email or call back if you are unable to attend but want to be
involved.
Peace
Courtney
920-203-9549
PS Sorry about the short notice and please read the attached article
from today's Appleton Post Crescent.


Bush to visit Appleton Tuesday

Reason for president?s stop kept under wraps

By Steve Wideman
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON ? President George W. Bush is planning to visit Appleton next
Tuesday.

Outagamie County Executive Toby Paltzer said Wednesday that county
officials
have been notified that Bush would be arriving aboard Air Force One at
the
Outagamie County Regional Airport. No time was listed for the arrival.

The purpose of Bush?s visit is not being released, but a local
Republican
Party official said the trip is not campaign-related.

Bush?s Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, made a
campaign
stop in Green Bay on Feb. 16.

Outagamie County Republican Party Chairman Brian Murray said Bush?s
trip is
expected to involve official business because the local Bush
re-election
campaign has not been notified of the pending trip.

?I think this is fantastic news,? Murray said.

?It?s going to energize our volunteer base in spite of the fact it?s a
business trip. Just the fact the president is showing an interest in
this
region of Wisconsin will also improve his perception among voters.

One of the few venues in the city capable of handling a presidential
visit
on short notice is the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. When
contacted by
The Post-Crescent, a spokeswoman at the PAC said to contact the Fox
Cities
Chamber of Commerce & Industry for more information.

Chamber spokeswoman Kathy Coopman Voight said she could not confirm or
deny
reports of a presidential visit or the chamber?s relation to Bush?s
appearance. She referred a reporter?s questions to the White House.

James Morrell, a White House spokesman, said Bush?s schedule for next
week
will not be officially confirmed until today or Friday.

Niel Wright, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, said
he was
not aware of Bush?s planned visit but said he is glad the president is
visiting Wisconsin in this election year.

?We?re glad Wisconsin is so important to him,? Wright said.

Bush?s last visit to the Appleton area came on Sept. 3, 2001, just
eight
days before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
Pentagon.
Bush appeared at the Carpenters Union Local 955 hall in the Town of
Kaukauna.

Bush made a campaign stop at Appleton?s McKinley Elementary School in
Oct.
5, 2000.

Regardless of Bush?s intent in stopping in Appleton, it will bolster
his
campaign, said University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh political science
professor
James Simmons.

?For a battleground state like Wisconsin, both presidential candidates
will
use almost any pretext to travel here,? Simmons said.

He said it?s particularly important for Bush to visit the Fox Cities,
which
has been stung by a string of layoffs among major manufacturers.

?I would imagine he is going to make the case that his tax cuts and
other
policies will resolve our problems and generate jobs,? Simmons said.
?He
will probably make the case that we need to stay the course, especially
in
the emergency situation with Iraq and Afghanistan.

?I suspect he will also make a play to local veterans? groups,? Simmons
said.

Murray said he expects Bush to encourage Fox Cities residents not to
simply
stay the course, ?but to educate people to the importance of his
aggressive
economic plan.

?We don?t have to stay the course. We are on a roll and have to stay
with
it,? Murray said.

Simmons said the Fox Valley, along with the suburban Milwaukee area and
portions of central Wisconsin, traditionally have been Republican
strongholds in the state.

?That has weakened in recent years and the polls four years ago and
today
show Wisconsin to be a very close state,? he said.

Simmons said Bush?s father, president from 1989 to 1993, made a
whistle-stop
campaign tour of the eastern part of the state, including the Fox
Valley, in
October 1992.

?In 1992, George Bush (the elder President Bush) came to Wisconsin to
show
off his base of support in an attempt to carry the state. I think we
will
see a lot of the president and his opponent leading up to the
election,
Simmons said.

Kathy Groat of Appleton, Outagamie County coordinator for the Wisconsin
For
Kerry campaign steering committee and past chairman of the county
Democratic
Party, said Bush has some explaining to do to Fox Cities residents.

?I?d like to see how he is going to explain the fact the loss of jobs
in the
area is not a sign of a bad economy,? Groat said. ?He goes on and on
about
the economy being so wonderful, but we?ve had serious job losses in the
Fox
Cities.

Groat said she knows of no imminent plans for Kerry to return to the
area.

?We expect that sooner or later he will come back here,? Groat said.

Steve Wideman can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 302, or by e-mail at
swideman@ postcrescent.com


Campus Greens of Oshkosh

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William E Bragg