In the only local campaign stop from either ticket, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Dick Cheney reached out to a packed house in the Penn State Agricultural Arena last night, courting votes in a swing state just a few days before the election.

"I learned a long time ago from an old pro in the business, never let them out of the hall without asking them for their votes," Cheney said. "Well, I'm asking. We need your vote."

Speaking over the noise of protesters, Cheney discussed issues such as social security, education, and Medicare, but focused mainly on the U.S. military.

"We are a democracy defended by volunteers," he said. "We must see to it that our young men and women have the resources they need to be doing their job and this has not been happening."

Before Cheney arrived, local Republicans encouraged the audience not only to vote for Republican Presidential nominee Gov. George W. Bush, but to continue all the way down the Republican ticket.

After the conclusion of the local and state speakers, the crowd waited for about 30 minutes for Cheney's plane to arrive, amid chants of "no more Gore" and "help is on the way."

Members of the College Republicans threw T-shirts, glow sticks, hats and noisemakers to the crowd, which was already armed with about 500 signs.

As the lights went down and the noise level increased, Cheney and his family walked onto the platform. His wife, Lynn, spoke first and mentioned her husband's love of fishing in the state.

"We'll be back many times and next time he'll be back in Air Force 2," she said.

She first introduced her grandchildren, then her husband, who spoke for about 15 minutes.

In his speech, the former Secretary of Defense criticized Vice President Al Gore's handling of military issues.

"Gore says there's no problem with the military or he doesn't want to talk about it — I can't think of a more important problem to talk about than the U.S. military," Cheney said.

State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre), master of ceremonies for the rally, agreed with Cheney.

"When you don't have military that's well-trained and the needed technology to be successful, you lose lives," he said.

Throughout Cheney's speech, silent protesters waved signs supporting other candidates. During the conclusion of the speech, a protester holding a Gore-Lieberman T-shirt was approached by two Penn State police officers.

Ali Altman, vice president of the College Democrats, was physically restrained by one of the officers, who held her arms to her sides using the T-shirt.

"It was really upsetting, I was unsure of how far I wanted to take it," Altman said.

Other protesters, including some who chanted "This country's not for sale," were escorted out of the arena soon after Cheney began speaking.

Officer Donald Reed of Penn State Police Services said because the event was private and ticketed, organizers determined what behavior constituted ejection from the arena.

At the end of the evening, Cheney shook hands with supporters as he left the arena.

One supporter was pleased with Cheney's focus on the military.

"I think it's an important issue that people don't know a lot about," said Lynn Ressler (freshman-horticulture).