A Hoosier welcome

President Bush set the stage for Mitch Daniels, the former White House budget chief who is expected to run for Indiana governor, by giving him a warm welcome Tuesday to the almost 7,500 people who were in the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis to hear the president speak. \n"A member of my cabinet has joined us here today -- my man Mitch," Bush said in his first visit to Indianapolis as sitting president.\nA couple of people in the audience were wearing stickers on their shirts with the name "Mitch" on it.\n"Mitch Daniels has been a good friend, a close adviser and I'm going to miss him," Bush said. "Washington's loss will be the gain of the people of Indiana. He's a fine fellow."\nJunior Angel Rivera, president of the IU College Republicans, said he didn't think the Bush visit had much of an effect on the upcoming governor race.\n"I think Mitch Daniels is going to be the next governor of Indiana with or with out help from Bush," Rivera said. He added that he believed the visit did help Daniels' popularity, though.\nSenior Dan O'Neill, president of the IU College Democrats, said that Daniels' connection to Bush will help him, but that Daniels needs to help himself in order to win over Hoosiers.\nDaniels has not yet formally announced that he is running for governor.\nCrowds snaked around the Indiana State Fairgrounds as throngs waited to hear Bush explain, among other topics, his proposed tax cuts that are currently being debated in the Senate.\nThe audience applauded Bush enthusiastically as he justified the reasons for the economic bill he is trying to get passed through Congress. \n"I look forward to signing a good bill," Bush said, "one that helps good people get back to work."\nThe person he may have to convince most to get a swing vote in Congress is Sen. Evan Bayh, who was in attendance, seated next to Gov. Frank O'Bannon. Bayh has stated he is concerned the tax cut may drive up the deficit or raid the Social Security trust fund.\n"Part of the speech was to force Evan Bayh to vote for his tax cuts," Rivera said. "If (Bayh) comes here and sees how Hoosiers support the tax cuts it will be hard for him to go back to Washington and vote against it."\nO'Neill said Bayh's visit to hear Bush speak was a typical duty.\n"I think that's just what a senator does," O'Neill said. "I don't think he was trying to emphasize support for Bush."\nIndianapolis resident Claudia Cummings said she loved what Bush had to say to Hoosiers.\n"He really showed how important it was for us to get these tax cuts," she said.\nO'Neill said he doesn't think it is the right time for tax cuts with the budget deficit being what it is.\nThe speech began on a somber note as Bush talked about the bombings in Saudi Arabia that killed at least 29 people, including eight Americans.\n"The United States will find these killers," Bush said, "and they will learn the meaning of American justice." The audience cheered wildly at this statement, as did the group of National Guard members seated to the left of the president.\nThe second half of Bush's speech focused on his tax-cut plan and jobs.\n"We're here to talk about one thing," Bush said. "Jobs."\nBush said he hoped this tax-cut would create a million more jobs by 2004. He then laid out his plan, which involves a tax-cut for all Americans that would boost consumer spending to increase employment. Other parts of his plan include abolishing the marriage penalty and increasing the tax exemption per child from $600 to $1000.\n"I'm all for the tax cuts," said Laura Bohnert, a resident of Greenfield, Ind. "I have three kids."\nMany of the people there said they were just happy to see the president. Bush had to wait about two minutes after he was introduced for the crowd to stop cheering so he could speak.\n"It's hard to be in the presence of the president without being moved by it," said Dean Young, who attended the speech.