President George Bush was in Washington to oversee the federal government’s response to Hurricane Gustav along the Gulf Coast. That did not stop the president, however, from speaking via satellite to the audience at the Republican National Convention, which is being held in the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Prior to introducing the president, Laura Bush listed the strong Republican women that had held leadership. Among the mentioned were former first lady, Barbara Bush, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In her introduction, Laura Bush praised President Bush’s steadfastness, delivery of drugs to Africa, faith based educational initiatives, and the rise in minority standardized test scores, as some of the highlights of his leadership.

President George Bush opened with a warm thank you to all of those that were helping along the Gulf Coast to insure that there was no repeat of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Before he began his thoughts and reflections on Presidential nominee John McCain, President Bush insisted on recognizing two persons in the RNC crowd. “I could have no finer examples of character, decency, and integrity than my mom and dad. I love you.”

Bush then launched into the heart of his address. He emphasized that there is no greater knowledge than experience and no greater sacrifice than one’s life. “I know the hard choices that fall to a president…” claimed Bush. “If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.”

John McCain suffered over five years of beatings as a POW during the Vietnam War. All the speakers at the RNC continually emphasized Senator McCain’s unwavering resolve under torture and refusal to relinquish any military information.

President Bush recounted the integrity that McCain showed in not retracting his call for more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan even after advisors told him it could hurt his presidential campaign. “He told them he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war,” said Bush.

Reiterating the sentiments expressed after 9/11, Bush explained that, “ we live in a dangerous world. And we need a president who understands…that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again.”

Though a short address, the president’s message was clear: “The man we need is John McCain.”

Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by Noah Martin
Filed under: Top Stories