Cheney, Powell rally Republicans

Stefanie Frith

Republican vice presidential hopeful Dick Cheney could barely contain

his excitement during a rally Sunday with retired Army Gen. Colin L

Powell at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.”There is so much

we could talk about today,” Cheney said, throwing his hands in the air to

calm the excited crowd of more than 4,000 people. “We can talk about how

we are going to build up the U.S. military, or how important the public

school system is, or how [George W.] Bush and I are going to reduce taxes

and repeal the death tax.”

To this, the red, white and blue pompoms, Bush-Cheney signs and

thousands of hands shook in the air, voices chanted Bush, and Cheney’s

names, and Cheney smiled.

“We need your help, and I want to ask you for your vote Tuesday,”

Cheney said. “If you do that, then we promise to restore honor and

integrity to your White House.”

Cheney and Powell were in Orange County as part of a three-stop trip

through the state. The trip was Cheney’s third to California since he was

selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Before stopping in

Costa Mesa, he and Powell rallied in San Diego and then the campaigning

duo headed to Pleasanton.

Shawn Fairman of Pinon Hills said Bush and Cheney will definitely

receive his vote Tuesday. If Devonshire, Fairman’s pug dog who attended

the rally decked out in a jacket covered with Bush-Cheney buttons, could

cast a ballot, he’d vote the Republican ticket too, Fairman added.

“When Devonshire sees Al Gore on TV, he barks at him,” Fairman said.

“So we all vote Republican.”

The rally began at 1:30 p.m. at the fairground’s Arlington

Amphitheater. At 11 a.m., a group of about 40 Democratic Party supporters

protested with picket signs in front of the fairground’s gates and along

Fair Drive.

“Every vote counts, and we are here in Orange County today because the

Democrats are strong here,” said U.S. Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.),

who joined the protest. “We have been working very hard, although it has

been fun. And as for Gore not receiving the vote [in his own hometown of

Tennessee], the hardest critics are in your own area.”

Despite the Democrats’ strong feelings, Powell said Bush is the

obvious choice for the next president of the United States.

“This new team of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are going to fix our

educational system and make the government more effective,” Powell said.

“Bush is really counting on you.”

Bush and Cheney probably could have voted on Andrew Jackson

Beauchamp’s vote if he were just 16 years older. The 2-year-old boy came

to the rally with his parents, Mynette and Bob, and sat proudly on his

father’s shoulders, sporting a fuzzy, gray elephant costume left over

from Halloween.

“It’s my ‘I’m a Republican outfit,” Andrew said with a smile. And if

it wasn’t clear enough, when asked by his parents what kind of elephant

he was, he responded promptly, “A Republican.”

“Start them young, right?” Bob Beauchamp said.