Good luck finding a John Kerry sign in Crawford, Texas. The town is infatuated with President George W. Bush.

"82 percent of the people in this precinct voted for George Bush in the last election," said Crawford Country Style manager Larry Nelson.

However for Leon Smith, publisher of the local Lone Star Iconoclast newspaper, the decision to endorse Senator John Kerry instead of the hometown favorite was easier than the decision to publish it.

"We wanted to be able to sleep at night," said publisher W. Leon Smith. "Knowing that we did what we felt was right to do and not be oppressed by persons that might think, well you should not express an opinion because this is Bush country. That really should not make a difference."

But in Crawford, also known as the Western White House, the editorial was not welcome.

"My immediate response was to call the paper and cancel our subscription to that paper and tell them to never call us again for another ad," said Nelson.

Other store owners along Main street in Crawford agreed with Nelson's response. Everyone we spoke with believed that the President has done more for the city than anyone in recent memory, basically reviving their once dried up economy. In the process, the President has also created a community where he knows he is welcome.

At the Coffee Station restaurant down the street, a group of Arlene Wohlgemuth supporters was passing through town for dinner when they got a hold of the editorial. Their negative response was just as strong.

"For a person to be as intent and vehement as the editor was in writing today's editorial is still a surprise," said Woodway resident J. B. Owen. "I thought he carried it a long, long way."

W. Leon Smith backs his decision to run the editorial, stating that months of debate were put into the decision. Although the Crawford community may reject it, he hopes it will stir debate over the issues, and not the politics behind the campaigns.

"I'm hearing we've had some very strong negatives and some very strong positives," said Smith. "We are just trying to exercise the right to express our opinion, and that's pretty important."