Presidential visit

Northwestern Financial Review, May 1-May 14, 2004 by Bengtson, Tom

Bankers got an up-close look at the president and national politics when George W. Bush came to Des Moines April 15 to speak at a symposium hosted by the Federal Home Loan Bank. I have never seen a president in person before, and I admit that I was energized by the trappings that go with such a visit: metal detectors, White House press credentials, a throng of cameras, secret service men with ear pieces, congressmen in the audience, and a presidential seal on the podium. There was electricity in the air, and I talked to many bankers who felt it.

But there was no escaping the political fighting that has come to characterize our presidential campaigns, which apparently is well underway for 2004. While Bush talked about the impact of his tax cuts, John Kerry was releasing information that said middle class people would get three times more tax relief under his plan. While the president talked about the importance of rural America, Sen. Tom Harkin was criticizing. "No one has paid a greater price for the president's misplaced priorities than rural Americans," said the Iowa Democrat, a former candidate for president.

Demonstrators, both for and against the president, waved signs and chanted outside the Marriott hotel. The 400-plus symposium participants themselves were divided on the president. That evening at dinner, people cheered for Bush and Kerry when a speaker mentioned the upcoming election.

For Bush, the two-hour visit to Des Moines must have seemed like a mini-vacation. he was so much more at ease speaking before a friendly audience than he appeared two days earlier facing reporters in a nationally-televised press conference. The bankers were very welcoming, laughing at his jokes and interrupting his 48-minute speech 17 times with applause. he shook hands with bankers in the front row and signed autographs.

"He has a genuine personality," commented Lynn Schneider, American Bank & Trust, Huron, S.D. "His sincerity comes through and you can see that he has his heart in the job." Clair Lensing of Security State Bank in Waverly, Iowa, had similar comments: "He relates to rural Americans. He's from rural Texas." Schneider and Lensing, both new board members at the Des Moines Home Loan Bank, had never seen a president before either. Many of us, I am certain, fell victim to the "gosh, wow" factor that goes along with seeing the leader of the free world in person for the first time.

And that's a good thing. We live in a country where we can get close to our leadership. Where the president reaches out to the people. And where the people are free to agree or disagree with him. The president's visit was an affirmation that this thing we call democracy is working.

By Tom Bengtson, Publisher