BRIDGET O'BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush points to a guest at his rally Monday afternoon at the Burbank Airport Hilton.

By Michael Falcone

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Lifting his camera above his head and the throngs of Republicans wielding Bush/Cheney signs, John Goihl, a high school senior from Carlsbad, strained to get a clear shot of the man he wants to be the next president.

Goihl skipped school and drove nearly 100 miles with three of his friends to see Texas Gov. George W. Bush at a rally, Monday in Burbank.

A line of Bush supporters sporting campaign paraphernalia snaked around the Burbank Airport Hilton for at least a quarter mile. Hundreds waited to get in to the rally, which featured a smorgasbord of southland Republicans running for state office, as well as U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is campaigning with Bush in the West.

UC Regent Gerald Parsky, one of Bush’s greatest allies in the Golden State, also appeared at the rally.

Comedian Ben Stein, who emceed the rally, took every opportunity to poke fun at Al Gore.

“If Al Gore invented the Internet, how come everything on the Web begins with ‘www’?” Stein asked.

The Texas governor’s appearance in Burbank was the first of a three-city, two-day campaign swing through California.

Bush appeared Monday on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and will attend events in Fresno and San Jose today.

Bush’s presence in California – a state where Vice President Al Gore still has an edge over Bush – sends a clear message that the Bush campaign is trying to capture the country’s biggest electoral prize.

Bush said he expects to win the state and stressed that he understands the concerns of Californians.

“People seem to forget I’m from the West – West Texas,” Bush said.

“That ain’t exactly California, but its a heck of a lot closer to California than Washington, D.C.,” he added.

Half pep rally leader, half policy proponent, Bush used his 20 minute speech to touch upon the central issues of his campaign: social security, tax cuts, medicare, education and the military.

Bush said if elected he would rebuild the military by increasing the salaries of armed services personnel.

Other speakers at Monday’s rally derided Hollywood Democrats like Alec Baldwin, who said he would move to another country if Bush wins Nov. 7.

By their thunderous applause and verbal approbation, the crowd seemed to support Baldwin’s possible move.

Stein, who used his finger to make a gagging motion at the mention of Baldwin’s name, also shared his opinion of the Los Angeles Times, which did not endorse a presidential candidate, but did come out in support of several Democrats for other public offices, including Dianne Feinstein for U.S. Senate.

“The Times is great for cleaning up after my dog and cat but I don’t want it telling me how to vote,” Stein commented.

Parsky, Bush’s California campaign chairman, introduced John McCain and also spoke briefly at the rally.

“We’ve been in this campaign for a year and a half – from Silicon valley to the central valley,” Parsky said.

“We Californians are going to elect the next President of the United States.”