file photoVice President Dick Cheney made a campaign stop at Choice Products Incorporated in Eau Claire on Tuesday. As usual, he was greeted by hundreds of local constituents excited to hear what Mr. Cheney would have to say.
But anticipation was not the only thing they had in common. It also is likely that every single one of them already had plans of voting for the Bush/Cheney ticket before he ever opened his mouth in Eau Claire.
| The Republican Party does its very best to enure that any dissent does not appear under the radar. |
This is because the Republican Party operates under an invitation-only policy when it comes to these kinds of campaign stops. The same goes for their much-publicized “Ask President Bush” question and answer sessions.
According to Bush campaign officials, attendees are selected by having local Republican Party officials hand out invitations to other Bush supporters in the area.
Democrats, Greens, Libertarians and even undecided voters need not apply.
By screening the crowd in this way, it allows the Bush camp to keep the “Ask President Bush” sessions from becoming a serious forum where undecided-voters can make a decision and keep it a pro-Bush publicity stunt.
What is the end result? The Q and A sessions provide manipulated sound bytes of Bush interacting with constituents on a personal level as well as images of Bush appearing calm, collected and strong when fielding questions.
In many cases, these questions fielded by Bush are not even questions at all, but praise. One woman at an Aug. 10 “Ask President Bush” session in Niceville, Fla., said, “I’m 60 years old and I’ve voted Republican from the very first time I could vote. And I also want to say this is the very first time that I have felt that God was in the White House.” To which President Bush merely replied, “Thank you,” above firm applause.
It is questions (or comments) like these that the Republican Party loves to hear. Overwhelming praise, along with safeguard comments that keep Bush from becoming flustered and mispronouncing or making up words in his response, make for great media clips.
Even protesting, as prevalent at campaign stops and inherently patriotic as it is, will rarely be seen inside one of these question and answer sessions. The Republican Party does its very best to ensure that any dissent does not appear under the radar.
Twice I visited the Republican Party of Eau Claire County office before the day of Cheney’s scheduled visit, where I was greeted by tight-lipped GOP personnel.ÿI was denied information as to the location, the time, what would take place at the event, or even how the general public could find out the answers to these questions. I even asked a man at the front desk of the office who the chairman of the Republican Party of Eau Claire County was so that I could contact her for these answers, but he would not release that information either. (I later learned on the party’s Web site that her name is Laurie Forcier.)
Why do the Republicans aim to keep any member of the general public who isn’t a card-carrying Republican from seeing their vice president in person? Why do they hope instead that you will simply catch the best sound bytes and imagery on the nightly news? What is it that they are so afraid of?
I, for one, no longer want to hear on the news that Bush held another town hall meeting where local voters got to ask Bush or Cheney real questions, only to find out that they were referring to questions like this one, asked by a child in Oregon on Sept. 8.
“Mr. President, as a child how may I help you get votes?” To which President Bush simply responded, “Thank you, that is the kind of question I like to hear.”
