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For example, no one is officially willing to confirm the route the president’s motorcade will travel to his appearance at a fundraiser at Keystone College for U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock Township, even though someone thinking logically can figure the obvious route from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Trooper Bill Satkowski, spokesman for the state police barracks in Dunmore, would only say Lackawanna County drivers — wherever they are within the county limits today — should be aware that they might run into traffic delays and plan accordingly.
Take it from us and try to avoid Interstate 81 and Route 6 in the Abingtons from noon until 3:30 p.m. Delays won’t last long, but there could be delays as state troopers block streets or highway entrance ramps to allow the motorcade to pass uninhibited.
Satkowski said the Dunmore barracks draws a lot of manpower for presidential visits from surrounding barracks, but he wouldn’t say how many more troopers will be on duty. It all depends on what the Secret Service needs.
“They tell us what they need and we provide whatever service they ask for,” he said.
Men in Black
Even more mysterious are the actual men in black themselves, the Secret Service agents sent to secure a venue and get the president into and out of a region safely.
They concentrate on their jobs and don’t talk to the media or interact with the public much. They talk mostly to local people helping to prepare venues or law enforcement officials. During an event, the most they’ll say is to tell someone to move out of the way or warn other agents of potential problems.
They’ve spent days preparing for a visit expected to last less than three hours.
After urging Sherwood’s supporters to work for the congressman’s re-election because he needs help pushing the Republican agenda, Bush will head back to the airport for a flight to Virginia for a fundraiser for Sen. George Allen.
But even a brief presidential visit can attract a few kooks.
It wouldn’t surprise former Secret Service agent Joe LaSorsa if someone locally is getting a bit more attention today from agents than everyone else who lives here.
No matter the president or his political affiliation, there’s always someone out there who doesn’t like him, perhaps someone willing to harm the president. Some are just a bit nutty and not real threats, but some may be “of interest,” having phoned, mailed or e-mailed threats to the White House.
When Secret Service agents arrive somewhere to prepare for a presidential visit, they check if any threats have originated there and check up on who sent them, said LaSorsa, who protected Presidents Ford and Reagan and the first President Bush and now runs a security company in Pompano Beach, Fla.
“If someone is of interest, they wouldn’t necessarily take them into custody, but they might be kept under surveillance,” LaSorsa said.
Protesting ‘Plethora’
Some people who dislike the president aren’t interested in harming him; they only want to let him know what they think.
Every time Bush has been here as president, protesters have greeted him and today won’t be an exception.
Keystone students, activists and citizens plan to gather on the “college green” to protest, one organizer said.
“We’re protesting a plethora of issues. We’re protesting the war (in Iraq), we’re protesting (U.S.) torture (of prisoners) ... We are protesting military recruitment in high schools and college campuses,” organizer Katie Bower said. “Just about any issue you can think of, we’re protesting.”
Grip and Grin
One other element of the visit remained secret Wednesday: the name of the people — besides Sherwood — who will greet the president at the airport. Neither the White House nor Sherwood’s campaign would name them.
Usually, a handful of local people who have worked hard on Republican campaigns earn a chance to meet the president as a reward.
Two years ago, one hard worker who greeted the president was Damon Bowen, who organized the Bush-Cheney campaign grassroots effort in Lackawanna County and later helped on Democrat Mayor Chris Doherty’s grassroots. Bowen met the president before Bush’s appearance at the Wachovia Arena and Vice President Dick Cheney a couple of months earlier when the veep appeared at Wilkes University.
Bush bounded off the plane and walked up to Bowen, who welcomed him back.
“He said he felt like he just left,” Bowen said, referring to the president’s appearance 16 days earlier at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre.
Though he met with Bush and Cheney no more than a minute, the differences in their personalities were obvious. Bush was back-slapping, gregarious.
“Cheney was very serious. There’s like a weight to his personality, a gravity,” Bowen said.
bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com
