10/20/06

GOP governors rally at Venice airport

Party faithful were treated to a double dose of Republican leadership Thursday when Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney paid a visit to the Venice Municipal Airport for a Republican Party rally.

Under sweltering heat in the Agape Flights hangar, whose owners are friends of Congressional hopeful Vern Buchanan, supporters waited an hour for the Jeb-u-lator-Romney flight to arrive.

When the governors showed up, it was Bush who looked worse for the weather, while Romney appeared cool.

About 250 attended the meet-and-greet rally to boost U.S. House candidate Vern Buchanan's campaign. Buchanan volunteers and party leaders were on hand as well as candidates Doug Holder, Dan MacElroy and others.

Buchanan thanked former state Rep. Nancy Detert, whom he defeated in the primary, for "stepping up for the party" and endorsing his campaign. Detert introduced Bush and thanked him for his first official visit to Venice.

Romney, who led the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is seen as a leading Republican candidate for the 2008 presidential race.

Bush pointed to Romney as a master of the art of consensus-building and an example of how a Democrat-dominated state could be led by a talented Republican leader.

It's a skill that helped him be successful in leading Massachusetts through major education and economic reforms, Bush said.

Challenging times

Buchanan has the same team-building skills, Bush said, and he'll need it if he succeeds in getting elected in Congress.

Bush and Romney conceded the congressional races were going to be tough, and bashed Democratic party leaders as an unacceptable alternative.

"Would you want (California Democratic Congresswoman Nancy) Pelosi to be speaker of the house," Bush asked. The ralliers cried "No!"

That's just what will happen if we don't retain control the the House, Bush told followers.

Bush also warned of a major shift in the Iraq war if Republicans are unable to retain control in Congress.

"It oozes out of them -- they want to cut and run" from the war, Bush said.

"These are challenging times," Romney said. Republicans need to focus on building jobs, permanently keeping tax cuts in place and protecting the country as key priorities, he said.

Romney is the son of the late three-term Republican Michigan Governor and U.S. Housing Secretary George W. Romney, a 1968 candidate for president.

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