ELECTION 2004

BUSH VISIT • Bush tries to tap every last vote • Bush visit photo gallery • Transcript of Bush's remarks • See the video from 9News More Election 2004 headlines

Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, spoke directly to the fact that the rally was in the Reds ballpark.

"The only person other than President Bush who can generate this type of excitement in a baseball stadium in October is Pete Rose,'' he said.

"Major League Baseball, if you are listening, let's put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame where he belongs. That's a little bit off message, but what the heck."

Another speaker was Jason LaRue, Reds catcher and a native of Texas.

"We need a president who is strong, who will follow his convictions, who will act for true, moral and religious principles. John Kerry changes his vote more than me and my wife change our 1-year-old daughter's diaper."

The Oak Hills High School band was asked to play at the rally Friday night by an official of the Republican Party. Band director Larry Welsh said it was an easy assignment to accept. But the band had to learn "Hail to the Chief.'' The first practice was at Oak Hills' Friday night football game against Elder High School.

Among early ballpark arrivals were Michael and Chelsea Crowe of Kettering. They brought their daughter, Emma, a 15-month-old dressed in a Bush-Cheney outfit. The Crowes hoped to present Bush with a picture of a pumpkin carved with a "W."

"I want Bush to win,'' said Chelsea Crowe, 25. "I support him and his morals.'' She called Sen. John Kerry a "loser.''

State Auditor Betty Montgomery said Bush reminded her of another strong visionary leader, Ronald Reagan. Reagan wasn't afraid to stand up and do what's best for the country, she said.

"Ronald Reagan was called stupid, ill-informed and stubborn. Does that sound familiar?''

Said Montgomery: "We're presented with a simple choice. A man who would allow terrorists to bring the fight to our home or the man who would take the fight to their home."

At a rally on Fountain Square to support Kerry, Robert Sorscher dressed as President Bush in a flight suit.

Sorscher, a 43-year-old Wyoming man, carried a flight helmet, wore a rubber Bush mask and dressed in a green flight suit - purchased at a local Army-Navy store. Above his left breast pocket was a small sign that read, "Mission Accomplished."

"If President Bush can dress up and pretend he's a war hero, so can I," Sorscher said. "Fact is, his policies in Iraq have been a failure.

"He talks about having strong convictions, but what good is that when his convictions are misguided and his decisions are all wrong?"

Compiled by Enquirer reporters Kevin Aldridge, Maggie Downs and Matt Leingang.