Posted on 06/26/2004 7:46:12 PM PDT by nypokerface
WASHINGTON, June 26 - Senator John McCain of Arizona, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Rudolph W. Giuliani have been chosen for prime-time speaking spots at the Republican convention in New York City this summer, campaign officials said Saturday.
The lineup is intended to spotlight party moderates while underlining a central theme of the Republican gathering: President Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks. Gov. George E. Pataki of New York will also speak in prime time, according to a schedule that will be officially released Monday. Mr. Pataki or Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, may well end up nominating Mr. Bush at the convention, party officials said.
By contrast, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York will open the convention with a daytime address that is intended to draw far less attention. That low-profile role comes at a time when party officials said that the Republican convention might be an unwanted political complication for Mr. Bloomberg, who is facing re-election in an intensely Democratic city next year.
The selection of Mr. McCain for a prime-time speaking spot is the latest effort by the White House to knock back efforts by Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the expected Democratic presidential candidate, to align himself closely with Mr. McCain. Mr. Kerry talked on several occasions with Mr. McCain about whether he was interested in serving as his running mate, a suggestion that Mr. McCain rejected. Mr. McCain campaigned with Mr. Bush last week.
The convention schedule also suggests that the White House apparently agreed with Mr. Schwarzenegger about what role he could serve at the convention. Mr. Schwarzenegger said in a recent interview that "if they're smart," Republicans would put him in prime time, and they did.
Two of the other prime-time speeches will be given by Laura Bush, the first lady, and Rod Paige, the secretary of education.
The lineup offers a glimpse of the emerging themes of the convention as well as what the White House is looking to accomplish politically with the meeting in New York, where Republicans will nominate Mr. Bush for a second term.
The central roles given to Mr. Giuliani, who now works as a private consultant, and to Mr. Pataki reflect the extent to which the White House intends to make Mr. Bush's performance in leading the nation after the Sept. 11 attacks a foundation of the fall campaign. The convention takes place one week before the third anniversary of the attack, and is being held at Madison Square Garden, about two miles from ground zero.
Beyond that, with the decision to give high-profile roles to the moderate Republicans Mr. Schwarzenegger and Mr. McCain, the White House appears to be working to avoid the mistakes of Mr. Bush's father in 1992. At that year's convention, in Houston, more conservative speakers were given high-profile spots, setting a tone for the convention that haunted former President George Bush throughout the campaign.
sounds OK to me, McCain has been good at supporting Bush regarding the war issues.
By the time the Democratic convention rolls around, the coalition of the wild-eyed will be in such a lather that the convention is going to be one bit Wellstone like rally. The Pubs are going to come off so much better.
If McCain behaves himself, which he has been recently, this is great.
McCain, Guiliani, and let us not forget that Great Democrat Zell Miller, who will be speaking at the Republican Convention.
Whatever happened to reporting facts?
This is an opinion piece disguised as a new story.....typical of the NY Slimes.
McCain's been supporting the 'wide open borders' policy, too. Down here, in Arizona, he's practically head of the 'welcome wagon' committee. RINO, pure and simple - with emphasis on SIMPLE. Rudy is an excellent choice, however!
Rudy Giuliani on Abortion
Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions
I imagine that will not be part of his speech at the convention!
Migeul Estrada should deliver a speech, in Spanish.
Including Pat's speech in which he (accurately) forcast the shape of the cultural war.
partial birth abortion will not be legalized as a result of his speech at the convention.
Can't wait for the blow back on this one.....LOL!
get Ahhnold up there and make it a trifecta.
Oh and I will be LMAO when John McCain in prime time tells Kerry that NO -he won't be his VP. Priceless.
he'll be back.
And Garrett Morris (of '70's SNL fame) should do the re-cap speech for the hearing impaired!
I think the convention would be a good place for the republicans to showcase some new talent, i.e. future presidential material. And John McCain shouldn't be on that list.
A Republican candidate that runs as a conservative will only get 38 or 39 percent of the vote. A democrat that runs as a liberal will only get 38 or 39 percent of the votes. Conservatives and Liberals... both must have flunked math. It takes a bit over 50 percent of the votes to win.
It is the center that decides all presidential elections. Bush has to go after them and so does Kerry.
Bush 41 tried to reach out to the right in 1992 while Bill Clinton (the New Democrat) reached out to the center.
Bush and Rove understand that he who wins the center gets elected.
Why do Arizona voters send him back to the senate then. It looks to me as if his stand on open borders wouldn't be very popular with Arizona voters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.