White House in for Rolling Thunder

WASHINGTON — It will be one of the more unusual White House photo ops. And perhaps one of the loudest.

On Sunday, amid a weekend of veterans events, a procession of Harley-Davidsons will make its noisy way up to the White House’s South Lawn and the riders -- members of the Rolling Thunder veterans group -- will get an Oval Office tour from the president.

“It’s kind of a new thing,” said Michael “Rattlesnake” Cobb, chairman of Rolling Thunder Inc., which will hold its 17th annual ride to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial over the holiday weekend. “To us it feels like we’ve finally made it after 17 years.”

Rolling Thunder started its cross-country rides and commemorations in Washington as part of an effort to draw attention to issues related to American prisoners of war and those missing in action. It has grown into an annual part of the Washington holiday cycle, with hundreds of thousands of riders converging on the capital each Memorial Day weekend to make a drive around the Mall and hold demonstrations and commemorations.

But this is the first year the group has been invited to the White House.

Administration officials said the Rolling Thunder visit is part of President Bush’s effort to reach out to veterans over Memorial Day. Others see more electoral calculations at work.

“One of the themes Bush has pushed is the idea that by going to NASCAR and by working on his ranch that he’s a regular guy,” said an aide to presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts. “This is just another chapter in that effort.”

Officially, Rolling Thunder is not affiliated with a political party. But the group endorsed Bush for president in 2000 and has endorsed him this year.

In a year in which the president’s National Guard service during the Vietnam War is being compared with Kerry’s medal-earning combat record, Rolling Thunder’s endorsement is undoubtedly welcome in the Bush camp.

“It’s not that we don’t like Kerry; we just don’t like some of the things he’s done,” said Cobb, referring to Kerry’s antiwar activities. “President Bush is the lesser of two evils.”

Kerry has also made his play to both hog-riders and veterans. In November, Kerry drove a Harley onto the stage of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” And on the campaign stump, he repeatedly accuses Bush of unfairly cutting veterans’ benefits.

That issue is one Cobb said he planned to raise with the president.

“We have a lot of guys coming back [from Iraq] with no arms, no legs.... It brings back so many things from the Vietnam War,” Cobb said.

“We need to build up the [veterans hospitals] so they can help these people,” he said. “They’re shutting down VA systems, and we’ll talk to him about that.”

Details of the White House event were still being worked out Friday. Bush does not own a motorcycle; he has been known to ride a mountain bike and drive a pickup truck on his ranch in Texas.

But at least three Harley-riding administration officials planned to be on the South Lawn with the president, riding their own bikes: Josh Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services; and Anthony J. Principi, secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Afterward, Bush planned to address the overall group by telephone, and Principi was to deliver the keynote address during Rolling Thunder’s afternoon rally.

Cobb said the group had adjusted its schedule this year so as not to interfere with the World War II commemorations taking place. Instead of riding all the way around the Mall, members plan to ride up and down one side, he said. And they have decided not to hold their usual demonstration at the Vietnamese Embassy.

“They’re in the 70s and 80s and they should have had their monument a long time ago,” Cobb said of the World War II veterans. “We’ll let them have their thing.”

As of Friday, White House aides said they still didn’t know how the president planned to dress for the occasion. Would he don leather?

“I would imagine that he might wear something a little more casual than coat and tie,” said deputy White House communications director Suzy DeFrancis. “Whatever it will be, it will be presidential.”

Cobb said that for their part, the riders planned to show up in their regular regalia.

“We’ll wear our best jeans and our brand new Rolling Thunder-17 T-shirts,” Cobb said. “I’ll shine my boots.”