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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 31, 2004 Dick Cheney comes to town By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press CENTRAL POINT - Vice President Dick Cheney told a Republican rally Friday they need to return President Bush to the White House to keep up the fight against terrorism. Bob Pennell | The Associated Press Vice President Dick Cheney jokes during a campaign speech at the Jackson County Expo in Central Point. "This is not an enemy we can negotiate with or appease," Cheney said. "This is an enemy we must, quite simply, vanquish. And with President Bush as our commander in chief, that's exactly what we are going to do." Cheney flew into Rogue Valley-Medford International Airport accompanied by his wife, Lynne, and former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson. He spoke to an estimated 3,000 supporters crowded into a hot arena at the Jackson County fairgrounds. It was Cheney's third visit to Oregon this year and second visit this week. Recent polls have given Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry an edge. Southern Oregon is a stronghold of the Republican Party in Oregon. "This November, Oregon is going to lead our nationwide victory," Cheney said. Kerry was expected to visit Oregon the second week in August. Cheney criticized Kerry, who accepted the Democratic party nomination in Boston the night before, and running mate Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., for voting to support the war in Iraq, then voting against $87 billion in funding for things including body armor for soldiers and spare parts. At that point, Cheney was interrupted by a woman yelling, "Lies, lies, lies." The crowd drowned her out with chants of "Four more years," as the woman was escorted from the arena. Cheney earned one of the loudest cheers of the speech when he said, "President Bush will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our nation," a reference to Kerry's promise to enlist greater support from other nations in the fight against terrorism. Cheney made oblique reference to Edwards' career as a personal injury lawyer by calling for medical malpractice reform, but his one direct dig at his Democratic rival was a humorous one poking fun at himself. "People keep telling me that Sen. Edwards got picked for his good looks, his charm, and his great hair," Cheney said. "I tell them, 'How do you think I got the job?"' Medford surgeon Dr. David Street and his wife, Letitia, said they supported everything the Bush-Cheney ticket stands for, from the fight against terrorism, to maintaining the president's tax cuts, reforming medical malpractice litigation, and opposing partial-birth abortion. "As the vice president said, the distinction between the two parties has never been clearer," David Street said. Bush "could probably pick somebody flashier (than Cheney), but intellectually, he is as strong as it gets." Therese MacGregor, 43, a Central Point real estate agent, said she was reassured, not frightened, by Cheney's anti-terrorism message, and hoped he would remain on the GOP ticket. Responding to Cheney's speech, Kelly Steele, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Oregon, said the president has no plan for peace in Iraq, and has actually made Oregonians less safe by having so many national guard troops serve there, leaving fewer to deal with domestic threats like wildfire. Prior to Cheney's visit, local labor leaders spoke out against Bush administration economic policies, which Cheney credited for generating 1.5 million jobs nationally and 42,000 jobs in Oregon. "We have one message that we hope Dick Cheney will pass on to George W. Bush: What about us?" said Jim Alexander, president of the local chapter of the American Postal Workers and president of the Southern Oregon Central Labor Council. Alexander said the economic recovery touted by the Bush administration has not trickled down to middle class workers, and prices are rising. A poll issued last week by the nonpartisan American Research Group in Manchester, N.H., showed Kerry with 50 percent to 42 percent for Bush and 4 percent for independent candidate Ralph Nader, who's struggling to get on the Oregon ballot. The poll of 600 likely Oregon voters was done the weekend of July 19 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams