In Colorado Springs Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump promised a package of government ethics reforms if he’s elected president, including term limits and a ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.

“We’re going to end the government corruption and we’re going to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.,” the Republican nominee said to a rally of thousands at the Norris Penrose equestrian center.

Trump stoked passion, if not anger, in a crowd that was polite and chatty before the rally as they braced for the final three weeks of a presidential horse race at a rally in a building that normally stages horse shows.

Against the foothills of the Rockies on a brisk, sun-kissed autumn afternoon, the scene left little doubt that November is around the corner. Ballots, after all, will begin arriving in Colorado voters mailboxes this week.

Trump also scheduled a rally in Grand Junction Tuesday afternoon. Trump, trying to make up ground in Colorado and present his pledge to fight all the corruption he sees, made Colorado more than a hop and a skip on the way to his final debate with Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas Wednesday evening.

He also vowed to unify the country.

“Imagine what we could accomplish if we were one country under one God,” Trump said.

Trump rattled off his well-worn campaign promises – to end illegal immigration, build a border wall that Mexico pays for, “end regulations,” rebuild the military, renegotiate trade deals, take care of veterans, end the Affordable Care Act, create 25 million jobs in 10 years and cut taxes “big league.”

He said his economic plan could be summed up in three words: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Trump would lower the corporate income taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent.

During his 40-minute address, he hammered on Clinton, calling her email scandal part of a massive criminal cover-up in a “secret deal with the FBI.”

“This truly is many times worse than Watergate and we’re going to put an end to it on Nov. 8,” he said.

And without the media, Trump said, Clinton “she would be nothing.”

“The press has created a rigged system and poisoned the minds of so many of our voters,” he said.

At the end of the rally, the audience waved their signs at the press pen and chanted “shame on you” and “tell the truth.”

Little of that bile was demonstrated before Trump’s speech. Instead, a chilly wind tore through light jackets as the scattered parking lots began to fill before the main event.

“I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, like people working together, but the media has it in for Trump,” said lifelong Republican Sally Graham from Douglas County. “He contributes to it, but every story about him is negative, and the media goes deaf, dumb and blind when Hillary screws up.”

Many who huddled and shivered in the wind said they could forgive Trump for his moral failings for the sake of the success of the nation – making it great again, if you will – by reining in immigration, boosting the economy and fighting terrorism.

“It’s about stopping ISIS and stopping Hillary’s liberal agenda,” said Wayne Board, who drove up from Durango, shuffling his warn boots in the dirt and gravel road that led to the events center.

Ellen Davis, a retired government worker from Colorado Springs wore a “Hillary for Prison ” T-shirt over a gray sweatshirt. She said her vote for Trump was as much about voting against Clinton as supporting Trump.

“I’d like to see a woman in the White House, but not this woman,” Davis said. “We should have kicked her out of Washington 20 years ago and now it’s time to do the job for good.”

Keith Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who is advising Trump on foreign policy, told the crowd he is among the military leaders who say Trump has the temperament and leadership to be commander-in-chief.

“If you want the status quo, then the path is pretty clear,” he said, referring to Clinton. “But if you want change, go with Donald Trump.”