So there I was, minding my own business by making calls on behalf of President Bush at the Cambridge Republican Party Headquarters today when a curious thing happened. The word passed around that the Bush campaign was looking for attendees to show up at a Cheney rally today in Zanesville. Well, as enthused as I was to make calls to people who may or may not have wanted to talk to me about supporting President Bush, I decided to join the expedition to the next county west.

Unlike the outdoor rally held by President Bush in Cambridge this summer, this rally was smaller, seemed to have less security and was held indoors. Also, we didn't wait nearly as long, only about an hour as opposed to three for the President. The Muskingum Valley Victory Center was a large venue, and newspaper accounts place the attendance at the rally at 500.

Cheney delivered his standard stump speech to a hugely sympathetic crowd. The masses were fired up, ready and willing to sacrifice their political allegiances to Bush Cheney ‘04. Clearly, Cheney was speaking to the choir- and the choir was eager to hear the same talking points yet again.

The gist of his speech was clear enough. The Bush administration had nothing to run from. Despite the way the Iraq has been portrayed as a failure in the popular press and a lackluster yet hardly ailing economy, Cheney was giving no quarter to his critics on the left. Even the recent videotape of a freshly made up Usama Bin Laden garnered nothing more than a general comment about how we will not let our enemies determine to the course of our political process. This is one of the few spots of common ground on which both campaigns will agree on and admit to in public.

I left the event feeling energized and ready for action. I plan on making more calls on behalf of the President on Monday. Hopefully that will help to shore up his already huge base here in rural Ohio and give him the numbers to overcome a probable Kerry surge in the metros like Columbus and Cleveland.

Godspeed Mr President. . .