U.S. vice president visits Utah
Casting a vote in the midterm election Tuesday is vital, even in Republican-dominated Utah.
Vice President Cheney visited a large rally of Republican supporters Saturday morning at the Salt Lake Jet Center of Salt Lake City International Airport. The vice president arrived in Utah as part of a cross-country campaign aimed to offer support to candidates involved in close contests heading into Tuesday’s election. Cheney’s Utah visit was his 11th state in three days, he said.
While Cheney was in Utah to support all three Republican congressional candidates, Rob Bishop, John Swallow and Chris Cannon, he was making the trip to particularly endorse candidate John Swallow in his tightly contested race against Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson, said rally emcee Joe Cannon.
Cheney arrived to a great deal of fanfare after short speeches from each congressional candidate. The Studio Four Children’s Choir performed “This Land is Your Land” and “God Bless America” before the vice president exited his plane.
Cheney stood on the podium and surveyed the partisan crowd wielding signs for the various candidates. Cheney singled out one sign, which read, “Cheney loves green Jell-O.”
“I’m trying to figure out what that sign means,” he said. “I’m sure someone will inform me later.”
Cheney mentioned early in his speech the importance of mobilizing a grassroots campaign to get as many individuals to vote as possible, regardless of what recent polls displayed.
“Your hard work is going to decide the outcome,” he said. “The president and I are asking each and every one of you to work as if this election depended on you alone.”
Cheney’s call to action was a source of inspiration for some Utah State University students in attendance, like Rob Andreason, a sophomore studying political science.
“I think it’s great to have the opportunity to see national leaders here in Utah,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’m a part of the system here and that I have a say in what goes on.”
Aside from encouragement to continue campaigning for candidates through the final hours of the election, the vice president spoke on current issues facing the country, including the war on terrorism.
“I think we all realize we may be closer to the beginning of this conflict than the end,” he said. “We know that terrorists are still out there, still at work trying to find ways to strike the American people.”
Cheney said members of the Al Qaida network are operating in more than 50 countries, desiring weapons of mass destruction.
“It’s a network that would use those weapons against us if they could,” he said.
The vice president then mentioned Iraq and said, “Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorists.”
That phrase alone incited chants of “U-S-A” from the crowd, but also provided an opportunity for protestors to voice their views on the war with Iraq. Audience member Julio Tapia raised his voice in protest and was promptly removed from the premises.
“I was saying ‘no to war, no to war, stop the war,'” Tapia said.
Multiple members of the audience were escorted out of the hangar by presidential security for protesting Cheney’s views on Iraq. Tapia said the ejections from the building were expected.
“We’re here because Dick Cheney is here,” said Pete Litster, another protester who was removed from the rally. “Just to be here to demonstrate that people don’t favor what Dick Cheney talks about when he talks about prostituting this country to war.”
One might question the removal of the protestors from the premises as a violation of First Amendment free speech rights.
“The explanation that they gave us is that this is a private function and as such, they have the right to determine what free speech is and what isn’t,” Litster said. “Dick Cheney is a public official, he’s the vice president of the United States and he’s flying that jet on mine and your money.”
After removal from the rally, Litster, Tapia, and other verbal protestors stood outside the hangar with American flags, and banners calling for peace.
As individuals exited the completed rally, a group began to form around the protestors, shouting arguments at them.
Alta High School students Zach Howell and Sam Ennis verbally confronted Litster regarding his views. Howell openly criticized the protestors.
“They go around and they protest whatever is cool to protest at the time,” he said. “I think they’re here to attack America.”
Howell said he supports the war with Iraq and thinks Saddam Hussein is an evil man.
Ennis criticized the protestors for their lack of desire to rid the world of terrorism.
“Terrorists are like the new Nazis,” he said. “They are totally anti-Semitic.”
Unaware of the extent of outdoor protests, Cheney reassured the crowd that the citizens of this country would be taken care of, much to the pleasure of USU freshman Barry Webster, a microbiology major.
“I really liked the way that he reassured us that our first priority is our safety,” he said.
“It’s important to every American that we are able to protect ourselves,” said Gabriel White, a senior studying political science and economics.
Cheney’s emphasis on the importance of getting to the polls to vote on Election Day was reaffirmed by the protests outside of the rally, displaying different political views.
“It’s all going to happen on Tuesday,” White said.
-str@cc.usu.edu
Elanor Inskip protests war Saturday outside the airport, while Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to other Republicans. Inskip was removed from the event by security. (Photo by John Zsiray)