Rallying the faithful

Vice President Dick Cheney stumps for GOP candidates Wednesday in Kalispell

Vice President Dick Cheney talks to the crowd at the Montana Victory Rally on Wednesday evening at the Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell. At right are Sen. Conrad Burns and Rep. Dennis Rehberg. Karen Nichols/Daily Inter Lake

Vice President Dick Cheney came to the Flathead Valley on Wednesday with a clear purpose - to rally Republican voters to the polls by reminding them of the "enormous consequences" of giving up GOP majorities in the House or Senate.

Those themes carried the Republican rally at the Majestic Valley Arena, with Cheney as the headliner, backed by local GOP candidates and an American flag, and flanked by hay bales and saddles.

With his wife, Lynne, standing behind, Cheney was introduced by Sen. Conrad Burns to booming applause, and supporters waving American flags and placards.

Cheney exhorted the crowd, estimated at about 1,000 by organizers, to consider that tax cuts and laws aimed at fighting terrorism would be endangered by Democratic leaders such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., if she were to become speaker of the House, or Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., if he were to become Senate majority leader. And he leveled jabs at Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for recent controversial remarks about military personnel in Iraq.

Cheney had words of support for Montana's lone House representative, Denny Rehberg, who also is seeking re-election.

But his appearance in the Flathead, along with President George W. Bush's planned campaign stop in Billings today, were largely aimed at boosting support for Sen. Burns, who is in a tight race with Democrat Jon Tester.

"We're in a dead heat as far as the polls are showing," said Burns. He said that his campaign is now contacting 11,000 voters a day, urging them to get to the polls.

Burns said economic opportunities have vastly expanded since he was first elected to the Senate in 1988, and a driver behind the state's economic growth has been tax cuts, he said.

"If the Democrats win, your taxes will go up. We know that," Burns said. "If they win, your security will be diminished. We know that, and we know it because they've told you so."

Cheney cited a series of Bush tax cuts that were opposed by most Democrats in Congress, and he reminded the audience that the last tax increase passed Congress under Democratic control in 1993.

"President Bush's tax plan was right for America, and it's still working," Cheney said, saying that 6.6 million jobs have been created since 2003. "Under current law, many of the Bush tax cuts have to be renewed or they will expire and go back to the old rates," he said.

"Above all, we are going to continue to protect and defend the people of the United States," he said.

Most Democrats

in the Senate moved to block renewal of the Patriot Act last year, Cheney said. Most Democratic lawmakers have opposed efforts to monitor foreign communications to the United States, he said, along with detention and military commissions for suspected terrorists.

He also challenged Democratic lawmakers for their insistence on withdrawing American military forces from Iraq.

"That's the kind of withdrawal that Osama bin Laden has been predicting," he said, adding that such a withdrawal would encourage the same strategy to be used against the country.

"This country must reject [policies] of resignation and defeatism," he said.

Cheney then seized on the recent national attention given to Kerry's statement that if "you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

The crowd booed loudly after Cheney repeated the statement.

"Senator Kerry is the one who needs to be educated," Cheney said. "As a leading Democratic senator, John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren't there because they didn't study hard or do their homework. The all-volunteer force represents the very best of this country. They're smart, patriotic, exceptionally well-trained and dedicated to their mission."

Jon Tester's name was not mentioned once during the rally, but Republicans were working Wednesday to associate him with Kerry.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee put out a press release challenging Tester's acceptance of $75,000 from Kerry's political action committee, Keeping America's Promise.

Tester sought to distance himself from Kerry, being quoted in national media as saying that the former presidential candidate's remarks were "poorly worded and just plain stupid."

Tester campaigned Wednesday in Great Falls with a retired general of the New Mexico Air National Guard, saying that the Montana National Guard needs to be strengthened because "overstretched resources" in a "politically mismanaged war in Iraq" are straining the Guard and putting it in jeopardy. Tester is scheduled to hold a rally at 1 p.m. today at the Red Lion Inn in Kalispell with Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Cheney closed his remarks by stressing that "this election will have enormous consequences for this country," one that will determine whether "America falls into confusion, doubt and indecision" with its foreign and domestic policies.