Politics becomes personal for 3 moms

Last Updated: May 9, 2002

County Lines Laurel Walker E-MAIL  | ARCHIVE

They aren't muck-a-mucks.

They don't have a long history of pitching in on presidential campaigns. In fact, they said, George W. Bush's run in 2000 was a first for all three, when they mostly stuffed envelopes, delivered brochures, made calls.

They're suburban moms, united more than anything by their nine children, who are home-schooled. But this week, the three Waukesha County women got a lesson from Republicans on the care and feeding of grass-roots political supporters.

When a Republican National Committee staffer called last Friday and invited them to Washington in four days - and to a White House meeting with President Bush a day before he flew to Wisconsin touting his education plan - they were uniformly stunned.

Then they packed their bags.

"I didn't think it was for real," said Lori Bautch, 41, of New Berlin. "I thought, 'You must have the wrong person.' "

Terri Hardin, 35, of the city of Pewaukee, was equally amazed. "The whole thing was just so bizarre. It was so quick that it took me by surprise. I don't know why they picked us."

Lunch at the club

Hardin and Bautch both probably have their friend Laura Wieloch, 42, of Brookfield to thank. Wieloch, invited a day earlier by the RNC's Wisconsin grass-roots organizer she worked with on some meetings last summer, suggested their names.

The three, who paid their own airfares and hotel expenses, were among about 100 people from 10 states invited by the Republican National Committee for lunch Tuesday at the Capitol Hill Club, a members-only Republican hangout near the Capitol.

After some blackened chicken and pasta and a course of speeches by national party officials, they boarded a bus for dessert - the West Wing briefing room.

Earlier Tuesday, press secretary Ari Fleischer briefed reporters on his boss' schedule for the day:

Phone calls to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Morning intelligence and FBI briefings. A ceremony rededicating the Old Executive Building as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. A meeting with Nepal's prime minister. A call to the Saudi crown prince. And finally, a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - the session that made headlines on the night's network news.

Hmmm. No mention of three campaign workers from Wisconsin or the rest of their group.

The prez wowed 'em

The president's 20-minute midafternoon greeting to the room full of his grass-roots supporters made a big impression on the moms from Waukesha County.

"When we got to the briefing room, we were a bunch of goofballs," Bautch said. "There was the podium with the presidential seal. Everyone wanted to get behind it and have their picture taken."

None of them remembers exactly what President Bush had to say to them, though Bautch seems to recall he touched on the recent headlines - the Mideast, education, and confidant and counselor Karen Hughes' return to Texas.

"We were so excited," Wieloch said. "The adrenaline was running."

What they remember most, all three agreed, was the president's personality.

"He looked great. He seemed really happy and in great spirits," Bautch said.

Hardin said he was "wonderful, absolutely charming" and so casual and friendly that "I felt I was sitting in his family room."

Wieloch said, "I think his warmth and sincerity were palpable."

She said she made sure to ask in advance whether the invitation was intended to get workers lined up for the next campaign - it was too early to commit to, she thought. No, just in appreciation, she was told.

"I just feel I've been given a sincere thank you," she said after returning to Waukesha.

That sure won't hurt, she admitted, when it comes to the 2004 campaign.