Tourism lags in Crawford

CNN/AP: Tourism lags in Bush's hometown
February 6, 2007


A billboard showing President Bush and Laura Bush greets drivers entering Crawford, Texas.

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- Near the lone stoplight on Main Street, a for-sale sign hangs from a dusty window where a souvenir shop used to sell cufflinks, cowboy boots and denim shirts emblazoned "The Western White House."

Another gift store across the street is shuttered too, though a sign says it will reopen elsewhere. And the biggest souvenir shop in Crawford is reporting a drop in sales.

The Washington professionals have their polls, their focus groups and their newspaper editorials. But Crawford, the 700-person town where President Bush's ranch is located, has its trinket stores, and they have fallen on hard times, in what some say reflects the president's sinking popularity over the war in Iraq and a daunting influx of anti-war protesters....

***

It was in 1999 that then-Gov. George W. Bush bought his 1,600-acre ranch seven miles from downtown in this ranching and gas-drilling region 20 miles west of Waco. After Bush took office as president in 2001, the ranch became known as the Western White House, drawing thousands of visitors a year hoping to see the ranch, which is not even visible from the road.

Although locals were thrilled to see more tourist traffic, they opted for small ventures like souvenir shops. Crawford still has only one restaurant, two gas stations and no hotel.

"Our economy didn't depend on him before he was elected, and it won't depend on him after he's out of office," said Kenneth Judy, vice president of Security Bank of Crawford, which opened in 2002 and is the town's first bank since the Depression....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/06/crawford.bush.ap/index.html

:cry:

Verklempt....it's Yiddish. I know it's also close to the German word. I'm not sure how long you've been here but it's part of an old joke, from an old Saturday Night Live skit.

Cheers

I did a google search before I posted and there were lots of hits. Verklemmt is good, too. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

is pray I stay awake to keep driving till I get out! Wear your depends!

He shuttered AmeriKa, why not Crauwford?

'Cause that's how many people have jumped off the Bushie Bandwagon!

his WAR CRIMES?

der chimpenfuhrer's run for the presidency. not like they have any real ties there or anything, is it?