| Posted by: CH on May 04, 19104 at 16:53:33
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Some people waited two hours Monday for a ticket to see President Bush on Friday at Dubuque's Grand River Center. They will have to awaken early Friday to get in the door at 6:30 a.m.
People stood three- and four-deep to get tickets Monday in a line winding around the seventh floor of the Dubuque Building, leading to Suite 705.
No one associated with the Bush-Cheney '04 re-election campaign would say Monday night how many tickets were left after Monday's first wave. A recorded phone message sent to area Republicans last week said tickets would be available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Tony Redington, of Shullsburg, Wis., emerged from with four tickets shortly after 11 a.m., after waiting in line for nearly two hours.
Redington figures he won't have trouble getting his kids, ages 11 and 13, up early Friday morning, but if that doesn't work out, he will offer two tickets to his boss. That would be fair, Redington said, since it was his boss who gave him time off to get the tickets.
Redington, who described himself as a strong Bush supporter, said he didn't mind the wait.
"He does what he says," Redington said, explaining why he supports Bush. "He doesn't go off polls."
Andy Blankenbaker, of Galena, Ill., an activist with the Jo Daviess County Republican Party, acted as door man, ushering in small groups one at a time. Blankenbaker estimated 150 people were waiting in line when the office opened at 8 a.m.
At least one person who said he waited patiently in line came away empty handed.
Bill Ward, of Dubuque, said he arrived at about 7:30 a.m., and waited an hour. When it came time to show his identification, Ward said he was asked if he supported Bush in 2000.
"I said I didn't vote for him then and I won't vote for him now," Ward said.
Saying he is a World War II veteran who served in Germany and France, Ward is strongly critical of the war in Iraq.
'The only thing I wanted to do was get down to the riverfront and ask Bush some questions," he said.
Ward's lack of support for the president apparently was his undoing.
"They asked some girl to escort me out and I told them I don't need to be escorted out," Wards said. "I'm a veteran of World War II."
The Bush-Cheney campaign confirmed Friday that Bush will be in Dubuque to make remarks at a mid-morning event at the Grand River Center. From Dubuque, he will travel to Prairie du Chien, Wis., and then to La Crosse, Wis.
No information was provided about the number of tickets available for the Dubuque event. The center's 30,000-square-foot exhibit hall can provide theater seating for 3,750, according to the center's Web site.
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