GOP Tries for Big Turnout for Bush

Local and national Republican activists spent much of Tuesday making phone calls, sending e-mails and reaching out to potential supporters of Gov. George W. Bush to build the crowd for the presidential nominee’s rally at the Oxnard Transportation Center this morning, Bush campaign aides said.

The Republican candidate will fly into the Burbank airport and take a car to the Oxnard center, where he will start a two-day train trip along the coast and into Silicon Valley.

The “Change the Tone” rally will begin at 10 a.m., and Bush will speak at 11:25 for up to 20 minutes.

The venue, at Oxnard Boulevard and 4th Street, can accommodate several thousand people, according to Oxnard City Manager Ed Sotelo.

Bush’s Amtrak train, with two locomotives and 11 passenger cars, may make impromptu stops along the route to San Luis Obispo, where another rally will be held.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona will join the tour Thursday.

The trip is Bush’s 14th to California since the campaign began, according to campaign spokesman Scott McClellan.

Bush formed his exploratory committee in March 1999. Bush has spent 25 days in the state.

Local Republicans, including Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), will be at the rally and may speak, aides said.