The huge crowd gathered in the rolling meadow beside Lancaster airfield begins to scream and cheer, even when the headlight beams of Air Force One are still pinpoints in the gray-blue southern sky. A forest of "Bush-Cheney" placards greets President Bush's plane as it swoops down towards the tiny airfield, writes Conor O'Clery, in Lititz, Pennsylvania
Scattered among them are a few men dressed in black waving straw boaters with black bands. This is Amish Country, deep in Pennsylvania. It is also the conservative heartland of a key battleground state, settled centuries ago by religious Europeans, and Mr Bush needs all their votes. From early morning, the narrow roads have been choked with cars bringing people to cheer the president on his 44th visit to Pennsylvania and about 20,000 are crowded in front of the presidential podium.
The scream of the Boeing's engines as it taxies to a halt drowns out gospel singer Daron Norwood who has been entertaining them with Cowboys Don't Cry. President George W. Bush wastes no time bounding down the steps of the plane as the sound of trumpets from A Space Odyssey fills the air, as if hailing a gladiator.
Mr Bush is trailed by his travelling companion, Democratic senator Mr Zell Miller. The Georgia senator, who made a slashing attack on his fellow Democrat Mr John Kerry at the Republican Convention, is here to reinforce by his presence the new message that George Bush is bringing to swing states in the dizzying final days of campaigning. That is, that Democrats should vote for him, not Senator Kerry. "I'm a proud Republican, but I believe my policies appeal to many Democrats," says the president. "If you're a Democrat and you want America to be strong and confident in our ideals, I'd be honoured to have your vote."
He praises Democratic presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy as brave leaders in time of crisis, compared to his opponent, who "takes a narrow, defensive view of the war on terror". A chorus of boos goes up as he accuses Kerry of counselling retreat, voting against supporting US troops in combat and adopting defeatism. At this point, a thin man in denim jacket and jeans near the press stand shouts "You suck! You're a liar!" A burly volunteer grabs him in an arm-lock and propels him, still shouting, through the booing crowd and into the arms of two state troopers. People around chant "Four more years" to drown out his cries.
The president looks over in puzzlement, before going on to invoke other Democrats - Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey - as champions of education for the poor, whereas Mr Kerry he says is "talking about weakening" education standards. He himself got into politics, Mr Bush says, because he worried about students in Texas not getting the opportunities they deserved. His opponent has voted against the Defence of Marriage Act, raising the question: where is his commitment "to defending the basic institution of civilisation".
He recalls that another Democrat, the late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once described partial birth abortion is "close to infanticide", but Mr Kerry "denies that our caring society should prevent even partial birth abortion". He would be honoured if Democrats "who believe that society must always have room for the voiceless and the vulnerable" should vote for him.
For many Catholics and born-again Christians in the crowd, abortion and worship of God are the number one issues that make then favour Bush. The Amish people scattered through the crowd are of the same mind. Dan Smucker (42) an Amish salesman in wispy black beard and sideburns says that Bush's moral certitude is what makes most Amish support him. Asked about the Amish tradition of advocating peace, he says "We don't believe in war, but I don't think Bush does either, he's trying to protect the country." Most Amish don't vote or take part in the affairs of the "English", as they call non-Amish Pennsylvanians, but Republicans have been making some inroads in their communities.
Most of Mr Bush's speech is an assault on Kerry on every issue, from national security to taxes, but he also has to fend off attacks on him by the Democratic challenger that have put him on the defensive and off message.
Mr Kerry had accused Mr Bush of incompetence and endangering American soldiers for allowing 380 tons of explosives to disappear in Iraq during the invasion. The president responds with mockery. "After repeatedly calling Iraq the wrong 'war, and a diversion, Senator Kerry this week seemed shocked to learn that Iraq was a dangerous place, full of dangerous weapons," he says.
Kerry has a pattern "of saying almost anything to get elected" such as his charge that the US military failed to get Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, adds the president, though Gen Tommy Franks said the senator's comment did not square with reality. "Intelligence reports placed bin Laden in any of several different countries at the time," says Mr Bush. The reminder that bin Laden is still alive does not impress the crowd. They cheer Mr Bush again, however, as he ends with his promise: "We've done the hard work of climbing that mountain, we can see the valley below."
The president still has a mountain to climb in Pennsylvania where the polls show Mr Kerry narrowly ahead. But no one in the crowd can bring themselves to say he might lose. "I'm for him on three issues: terrorism, taxes and abortion, in that order," says John Cusatis, a logistics worker with Penske. "And I think he'll win Pennsylvania by a landslide."
Later, President Kennedy's daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, said: "It's hard for me to listen to President Bush invoking my father's memory to attack John Kerry. Senator Kerry has demonstrated his courage and commitment to a stronger America throughout his entire career. President Kennedy inspired and united the country and so will John Kerry. President Bush is doing just the opposite."