Bush Legacy Tour

Representative Gingrey and his family getting the President’s autograph

Greetings – Julie is off the road for the week and I’m traveling with the bus. 

Last night Tom Brokaw said, “I think a lot of people have moved on from [Bush’s] presidency...he realizes that.” Well, apparently not. 

After more than 30 states and about 75 stops, we had our first protest during our stop.  They were organized with coordinated signs and even a flat Bush!

Now I could probably see if they were holding John McCain signs, but to still so vocally support Bush is just astonishing.  After mostly holding signs across the street, one came over to the bus and told me I should be ashamed of myself.  As she walked away she told me not to say a word.  Very constructive.   One also told our advance person she should show more skin.

I’m not really sure if they support the mismanaged war in Iraq that took our eye off the real problem in Afghanistan – leading to a strengthened Al Qaeda in that country or the economy he’s given us – with growing unemployment and a collapsing banking industry brought on by deregulation policies he and John McCain championed.  He continues to be a back-seat driver as the country slips closer to a recession, leaving the heavy lifting to Paulson.  Last night he finally made a formal address – after country’s financial institutions have been falling like dominos, after bailing out two of the largest mortgage lenders and the largest insurance company, after the stock market dropped 500 points in one day and after both presidential candidates came out with their economic plans – now Bush gets back into the fray.  Perhaps he knows the damage is already done and his economic legacy has been written. 

 Or - going back to Brokaw, “[A few days ago] might have been the time to show more robust leadership both politically and personally.”  Well, Charleston protestors, Bush might still be in office, but that’s not saying much. 

The most interesting part of the day actually came from a member of the press.  He was telling me about how his home in Columbus, OH was over-appraised when he refinanced his mortgage.  As a result, his family was giving a bigger mortgage which they couldn’t actually afford.  His home was foreclosed and he lost everything.  He was able to file for bankruptcy right before Bush’s stricter bankruptcy rules went into effect.  Now, at 45, he’s worried that he won’t have enough to send his two kids to college and he can’t even afford to buy a car.  This is the Bush presidency of which the protestors are so proud.

On to Martinsville,
Lauren

Three months in and 33 states later, the national Bush Legacy Bus Tour hasn’t been afraid to venture into what you might expect to be unfriendly territory, from Salt Lake City, UT to President Bush’s home away from home in Crawford, TX. Today was no exception as we pulled into Jackson, Michigan, or the “Birthplace of the Republican Party,” as the bright green sign informs visitors on the way into town:

After meeting up with our friends at Progress Michigan to hold Congressman Tim Walberg accountable for rubberstamping Bush’s worst policy failures 83 percent of the time and meeting nothing but appreciative Jackson residents, there was just no way we were going to leave town without capturing a few memories of the Bush Legacy Bus outside the "Under the Oaks" historical landmark - the site of the first Republican Convention in 1854. More photos:

CINCINNATI, OH-. Most people from Cincinnati are familiar with a quote from Mark Twain that goes something like, “When then end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it is always ten years behind the times.”  Hailing from the Queen City, I would argue that not all aspects of the city are behind the times, which is somewhat unfortunate given the current state of things. Contrary to Mark Twain’s assertion of the Cincinnati delay, ten years ago Cincinnatians found themselves in a much better place with a much stronger economy, no war in Iraq, affordable gas prices, and much more affordable healthcare.

Our stop in front of the Tyler Davidson Fountain (yes, the WKRP one) brought out a lot of people who are sick of conservative politics as usual. Although, the city is often thought of as a bastion of conservatism we had a few people  who came through the bus said they voted for Bush twice but will not vote for him again via McCain, and a lot more who had never supported him in the first place.

We rolled up to Fountain Square for a time slot of 2-3pm. We chose this spot, not only for its central location but for the fact that it is a stone’s throw from the offices of one Steve Chabot a longtime Congressman representing most of the city.  Steve Chabot has not had to answer to the voters of Cincinnati all that much over the past decade or so.  His seat has remained incredibly safe. It has been years since he had a real race on his hands to secure him another two years.  Andy, one of his constituents, put it this way, “That guy is so well connected he doesn’t even need to really run a campaign. All he does is make one phone call and all of his supporters dust off their lawn signs from two years ago and he is in again.” This year Representative Chabot is actually campaigning and having to explain his many votes that fall perfectly in line with the Bush agenda. Representative Chabot has voted with Bush’s policies 82% of the time over the last eight years on everything from keeping the troops in Iraq, to tax cuts for the wealthy, to voting against raising the minimum wage.

Chabot has some conservative company in the city with Rep. Jean Schmidt right behind him. She has also voted 82% of the time with Bush’s policies.  “Mean Jean” Schmidt as she is often referred to, has been one of Bush’s strongest supporters during her short time in the House.  She is an avid supporter of the Iraq War to the extent that she angrily opposed decorated Vietnam Veteran Jim Murtha on the floor of the house for his opposition to it, calling him a coward.  Thankfully, Jean eventually apologized for the remarks but her support for the war that is estimated to cost Cincinnatians $615.6 million, has remained steadfast.  Rep. Schmidt makes no qualms about supporting Bush and has stated that she is “proud” of being associated with Bush and even included a photo of the two together in her campaign literature in 2005.

The content of the bus was a stark reminder for a lot of the people who came through that we were in fact better off 10 years ago. It also served a dual purpose of being an air-conditioned sanctuary in a city that was hard hit by an Ike-related storm. Upon our visit at least 15-20% of the city was still without power.  Many of the cleanup crews were in Texas helping out with the areas directly hit. While so much of the city was dealing with the cleanup of their yards, their roof, and their spoiled food; we have all only begun to clean up the mess of the last eight years.

EVANSVILLE, IN- Evansville marked our second in three stops to Indiana during this tour. Indiana has been hard hit by the current economic problems that have been ignored or exacerbated by this administration. The average Hoosier makes 88 cents on the dollar that the average American makes.  Since 2001, the median Indiana income has gone down $5,925.  Close to 60,000 more Hoosiers are unemployed now than in 2001.

The union folks at the Evansville Labor Temple deal with Indiana workers from many industries and walks of life and have seen the struggles of working families in their area first hand. We held our event on Wednesday night in front of the Labor Temple.  We talked people from all around the area and here are a couple of their stories…

BOWLING GREEN, KY- We rolled into Bowling Green late afternoon on Tuesday for a quick stop before heading to Indiana. Station square, a beautiful park downtown featured the Bush Legacy Bus for a couple hours in the midst of perhaps the most bucolic setting we have brought the bus to. Surrounded by park benches, trees, and flowers, locals came out to take a tour of the bus.  Across town autoworkers at the GM plant were having an event of their own. GM was celebrating 100 years in business with parties across the country. In Bowling Green, however the party was bittersweet.  Plant workers reveled and ate their cake knowing that 70 people from their plant will be laid off in the next few weeks. The plant has cut back production, stop new hiring and it getting ready for layoffs.  The Bowling Green Plant is well-known for manufacturing Corvettes, often described as a “recession proof” car that maintains consistent sales.  Even an American classic like the Corvette is not impervious to the current faltering economy. John McCain should pay a visit to the Bowling Green plant and let them know that their job loss-according to the skewed vision of the status of the economy-is the exception not the norm. “ I think we are better off overall if you look at the entire eight-year period, when you look at the millions of jobs that have been created, the improvement in the economy, etc,” said McCain recently.  John McCain and his wife have a connection to the classic sports car having owned several of them in the past.  Maybe the newly laid off workers at the Bowling Green plant should start a letter writing campaign to encourage John and Cindy to invest some of their millions in Corvettes, to put them back to work.  

John "Skip" Fenlon from Bowling Green

NASHVILLE, TN- We had the good fortune of being stopped for several days in Nashville because the bus had some scheduled maintenance at a shop here in town. You may have seen the photo of the Bush Legacy Bus meeting the Straight Talk Express at the shop. By the time our Tuesday morning event rolled around we had explored the music city and met many locals already.  Our stop in front of the Legislative Building this morning was somewhat anti-climactic at first. The main excitement in Nashville does not usually stem around the decisions made inside that building. Country artists in bars on Broadway don’t typically swoon about civil procedure, school district funding or ethics reform.  International tourists don’t visit the city to get a glimpse of their favorite Tennessee legislator.  It was easy to get wrapped up in the music and fun of the city and forget that it functions just like every other city, and Monday through Friday thousands of people go to work in the office buildings not far from the bars and recording studios that make the city famous. As more and more Nashvillians came on the bus we got a sense of the non-music side of Nashville. We talked to a lot of office workers and government workers who grabbed a peak at the bus during their lunch breaks. Many of whom have seen the trickle down effect of the failed policies of the President at the local level. Some of the government workers expressed concerns over their more conservative supervisors "finding out" that they spent part of their lunch hour inside this bus. It was great to see that there are people who percieve this risk but accept it to get the chance to see the bus. We had a really great response from all but a few of the dozens of people that came on board.

Steve Turner From Nashville on the issues and their impact on young people.

MEMPHIS, TN-It is difficult to figure out why it took three months to link the Bush Legacy Bus to fried fish and hush puppies. Thankfully, we included fried fish in our tour schedule for the first time on Saturday at the Fish Fry at the IBEW hall in Memphis. We had the honor of being invited there to show off the bus and eat delicious food.

We met quite a few locals that are fired up about getting Bush and his allies like Senator Lamar Alexander out of office.  The refrain from the people I talked to was that they simply could not afford another four years of this mess.  The way that the people were speaking about the election transcended the normal political rhetoric you hear on the television or in line at the grocery store. The conversations I overheard, and was part of, in Memphis were not about ideology, but about necessity on a very personal level. It is certainly still about the economy, stupid. Most of the people that came through the bus were working families that are often having  trouble affording gas, milk and medicine. The idea of another four years of these failed policies means more sacrifice, more hours worked to make ends meet, more healthcare costs, and more of the same.  “I can’t afford four more years of this,” may as well have been piped into the speakers on the bus. We met a lot of great people at the fish fry and here are some of the comments that they made…

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS- Our stop in Little Rock on Friday was somewhat of a homecoming for the bus. The Markham Group, the organization who helped Americans United put the bus tour together, is located in Little Rock. Many of the Markham Group staff came out to see the bus, some of whom had done a lot of work remotely for the bus but had never actually set foot inside. 

The Markham Group has worked on every facet of the bus  tour from helping to put together exhibits, to planning tour stops, to designing and ordering t-shirts. At the stop I was able to take a moment and ask two of the Markham group staffers that have worked the most on the project, some of their thoughts on the tour so far. Jessie Walker deals with tour logistics and works on every stop we make. She deals with local organizations, permitting, and all other arrangements.  At at least a fifth of the stops, a local  organizer or police officer will accost me as soon as  I step off the bus and excitedly say “Are you Jessie?” and I watch the disappointment on their face when I admit that I am not.

Jessie commented on what she thinks is frustrating and rewarding about the project. “ I usually spend weeks talking to organizations on the ground and city officials to get permits for the events but don't actually get to see the location or meet the people who have helped put it together.  I hold my breath until the tour staff let me know if the event was a success. “

After having planned over 80 stops already, Jessie shared her thoughts on seeing her first stop in person, “It was so invigorating to hear what people had to say about the bus today and thank us for all we are doing to remind people about the failures of this administration.  Sometimes I do get frustrated when people I talk to on the phone are not as excited about the bus as I am but once you see it you cannot help it!  It is a wonderful project that I am thankful to be a part of.”

Paul Neaville has been working on the Bush Legacy Tour since its inception. Paul described his scariest moment of the tour so far,  “Launch Day was the most nerve-wrecking day, because everything had to work perfectly and we had a big audience. I knew it was a fantastic project but I felt like people would find things they didn't like.  They didn't, and I went to bed that night feeling very, very ,good.  It felt good to see how the supporters and the dreamers behind the bus--the folks who had the inspiration for the bus--looked at the bus and felt proud. To this day it is the most challenging project I have ever been responsible for, and I'm very proud of the way it turned out and very proud of the response it has received all over the country.”

In addition to our friends at the Markham Group, we had another special Arkansas guest on board the bus in Little Rock. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel made a stop by the event.  He was unable to stay and give a speech due to the  state of emergency from Ike-related disruptions in the gasoline supply. He did stay long enough to take a tour of the bus and pose for some photos.

After our early afternoon stop at the riverfront we brought the bus to the Arkansas Democratic Headquarters at some of the staff’s request who had not gotten a chance to see the bus. The bus was well received and the staff was very grateful that we brought it over. We then parked the bus outside the Clinton Presidential Library and took a tour ourselves. Seeing the bus in front of what is the largest and most well-attended Presidential Library in history was a quite a sight.  This was my first trip to a presidential library and it strongly put into context what we are doing with the Bush Legacy Tour. It is a depressing contrast to spend several hours looking back upon eight years of relative peace and prosperity and then to know your ride back to your hotel will  literally be inside a museum showing eight years of war and economic decline.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel with a reporter in front of the bus

In front of the old state captial

Chris Minshall did graphic design for the bus project and is seeing the bus for the first time.