Thread: Barletta gets rousing response from W-B Twp. crowd

Barletta gets rousing response from W-B Twp. crowd

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Friday, 03 November 2006
By L.A. TARONE

Lou Barletta isn’t running for anything.

But judging by the response he got Friday night in Wilkes-Barre Township, you might have thought he was a leading candidate for some office. When introduced to the crowd of 400-plus, Barletta received a rousing response that rivaled, and may have equaled, that received by Sen. Rick Santorum and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Barletta took center stage after Susan Paul finished the national anthem. He was greeted by chants of “Lou! Lou!”

He then introduced other Republican candidates in the crowd – Lisa Baker, who’s running for the 20th state Senatorial District seat; Christine Katsock, running for the 121st Legislative District seat; and Joe Leonardi, running against 11th District Congressman Paul Kanjorski.

“It’s great to be among true Americans,” Barletta said – which was met by thunderous applause.

Barletta mentioned his fight over the Illegal Immigration Relief Act.
“The national media is in town every day, asking us why we’re doing this,” Barletta said. “But we know why. It’s not always easy to be an American. But it’s worth fighting for.”

The crowd was obviously familiar with the IIRA and the legal battle surrounding it. Both the law and Barletta had overwhelming support from the crowd. Each mention of Hazleton or “what we are facing in Hazleton” was met with more applause and sporadic chants of “Lou! Lou!”

Barletta lauded Santorum as “the only elected official who wasn’t afraid to stand next to me” after IIRA’s introduction, adding Santorum didn’t “have to see a poll.”

Perhaps unexpectedly, Barletta found himself in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Santorum was expected to arrive before the end of his speech and come on stage, along with Giuliani, as Barletta spoke. But that didn’t happen. Apparently held up in traffic, Santorum was late in arriving – leaving Barletta on stage to stretch until he arrived.

First, he led the crowd in chants of “Rick, Rick.”
Then, he joked it was “only practice, so let’s do it again.”
When it became obvious he was trying to kill time to allow Santorum to arrive, he joked, “We have to try hard for two more minutes.”
While the spotlight was mainly on Santorum, Barletta also got a piece of it.

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LOU, LOU, LOU!