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After he arrived in New York City Wednesday night, President George Bush headed to Queens to visit firefighters and pick up the endorsement of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
Bush won't join the Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden until Thursday night, when he accepts his party’s nomination for another term. Instead, he visited the headquarters of Italian Charities of America, a social club in Elmhurst, to spend time with 50 invited firefighters, including union officials.
“I'm telling you, you've affected my way of thinking in a deep way, and to get this endorsement means an awful lot to me,” Bush said after the firefighters gave him a black fire helmet bearing the words “Commander in Chief.”
Union members praised the president’s response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“We’ve felt all along that President Bush was the right leader at the right time. Post-September 11, he’s taken the war to the terrorists, and he’s delivered,” said UFA President Stephen Cassidy.
“My life will never be the same, but I’m very grateful that there is a war on terror,” said Ken Haskell of Ladder Company 175. “We’ve taken the fight to the terrorists overseas, and we haven’t been attacked since 9/11, and I think there’s something to be said about that. I think that’s in part because of President Bush’s leadership.”
Retired firefighter Bob Beckwith, who stood with Bush on a pile of rubble at the World Trade Center site when the president famously addressed rescue workers with a bullhorn, got to see Bush again.
“I’m just glad that he remembered me,” Beckwith said. “He remembered me, and that’s another plus. I’m not voting for Bush because I was with him at ground zero; I’m with Bush because he is the man that we need in the White House.”
The UFA is locked in a bitter contract dispute with the city. It had previously asked Bush to lobby Mayor Michael Bloomberg on firefighters’ and police officers’ behalf, but the White House declined.
Supporters and protestors greeted the president outside, separated by barricades a few feet apart. A few demonstrators were arrested.
“Bush has go to go,” said a protestor. “The message is: Bush go home.”
“I think he did a great job with 9/11,” a supporter said. “He’s still doing a great job fighting terrorism.”
Hundreds of people also went to the firehouse of Engine 287, Ladder 136 after hearing Bush might stop by, but they were disappointed. Even though police barricaded the streets, shut down traffic and even lined the rooftops, the president never showed.
“We waited for six hours for him,” one woman said. “We waited for nothing.”
Elmhurst is a diverse neighborhood, which was once largely Italian, Irish and German but now has growing Asian and Latino populations. Elmhurst seems like an enclave of Republican support in the heavily Democratic city.
“Bush all the way,” said Elmhurst resident Mary Cullen, “because he’s a wonderful president.”
“I personally like the guy,” said another resident, Alan Argopia. “He’s not the smartest cookie around the block, but I like him.”
But not everyone welcomed the president.
“I’m not a fan at all,” said Thomas Pellecito. “I prefer that he stay out of Elmhurst and out of office.”
“He’s a hypocrite,” said another resident who wishes Bush didn’t come. “I have it hard enough where I work in Midtown. He’s at the Waldorf Towers, which is less than a block from where I work. We live with heightened security like you wouldn’t believe.”
The Republicans are getting most of the attention this week, but the Kerry campaign plans to slam the airwaves as soon as the convention ends. The Democratic hopeful will spend some $45 million to run commercials in 20 states leading up to the November election.
Kerry addressed the American Legion Convention in Tennessee Wednesday, seizing on a retraction by Bush made before the same group the day before. In an interview broadcast Monday, the president said the war on terrorism was not winnable, but on Tuesday said it was.
Kerry said with the right policies, the war on terrorism is one that Americans can and must win.
“And I promise you this: if I am your next president, I will serve with the pledge of the American Legion in my heart, to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy,” Kerry said.
Kerry’s running mate, John Edwards, campaigned in Pennsylvania, where Bush has a slight lead in the polls. The Democratic vice presidential candidate spoke in a working class neighborhood about creating jobs and improving health insurance.
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