| President George W. Bush will be in Fort Bend County Monday to rally an expected crowd of 5,000 Republican activists, whose support will be needed to keep Congressional District 22 in the party's hands.
Monday's rally represents the first time Bush has visited Fort Bend County since becoming president, and possibly the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the county.
The event will be held at 5 p.m. at the Sugar Land Regional Airport, and entrance will be limited to those who have secured tickets in advance. County Republican Party chair Gary Gillen said tickets will not be available at the event, and those who attend should arrive early to ensure a good parking spot.
As the political pot simmers to a boil locally and around the nation, how should the President's visit be construed? Depending on who you talk to, it's either a sign of the importance of Fort Bend County's traditional strong Republican backing - or an indication of a political party on the downslide.
Fort Bend County has been a Republican stronghold since the 1980s, and the Congressional District 22 seat has been held by Republicans since Ron Paul's 1978 election.
This year, though, the seat is in jeopardy after the unexpected resignation last summer of longtime U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, embroiled in legal problems stemming from campaign finance irregularities. Three Republicans are vying for the seat as write-in candidates, with only Houston at-large City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs receiving support from the party hierarchy. She will be attending the rally.
Her main opponent is Democrat Nick Lampson, a well-funded and campaign-savvy former congressman from the Beaumont area.
Gillen was enthusiastic about Bush's visit - and Sekula-Gibbs' chances.
"It's just a wonderful opportunity for the Republican activists to feel reminded that Fort Bend County is very important to the Republican Party of both Texas and the nation," he said.
The event will also demonstrate, said Gillen, that Sekula-Gibbs is a viable candidate, even though she is a write-in candidate.
Some Republican Congressional candidates this year have turned down requests for Bush to appear with them, fearing a backlash over Bush's low polling numbers. Gillen, however, said Bush's popularity remains strong in Fort Bend County, which helped re-elect him with 57 percent of the vote in 2004.
"I think George Bush is very, very popular here in Fort Bend County. A number of years ago, he came and walked in our (Fort Bend County Fair) parade. I still to this day hear comments from folks who remind me that they shook the president's hand when he was walking in the parade," he said.
Bush walked the entire route of the parade in 1998, when he was governor.
Looking at it differently, longtime Democratic activist Don Bankston said Bush's visit is evidence of troubles in the Republican Party.
"This proves to me that these guys are in trouble," said Bankston. "If this was a solid 65-percent Republican county, they wouldn't be wasting Bush's time to bring him down here to prop up people who are floundering in the water."
Bankston said the county Democratic Party will not be changing its plans over Bush's visit, and members won't be conducting any protests of the event.
"It doesn't mean anything to us," he said. "We're going to be trying to get people out to early voting that day.
While Bush may be the first sitting president to visit Fort Bend County, he would not be the first sitting head of state to do so. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cuban President Fidel Castro and Chinese de facto leader Deng Xiaoping visited the Simonton Rodeo.
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