Senator John McCain of Arizona acknowledges the applause from the delegation during the evening session of the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 30, 2004. The Arizona senator, who once questioned Bush's qualifications as a presidential candidate, lauded the president's much-criticized foreign policy, including the controversial decision to invade and occupy Iraq. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani addresses the delegates at the Republican National Convention Monday, Aug.30, 2004, in New York. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Republicans Assail Kerry at Convention
NEW YORK - Republicans belittled Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) as a shift-in-the-wind campaigner unworthy of the White House on Monday, opening their national convention four miles from Ground Zero of America's worst terrorist attack. "We need George Bush more than ever," said former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"We need a leader with the experience to make the tough decisions and the resolve to stick with them," added Arizona Sen. John McCain on a night that repeatedly stirred painful memories of the terrorist strike — and the president's response to the defining moment of his term.
Challenging critics of the commander in chief, McCain also called the invasion of Iraq "necessary, achievable and noble."
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, first lady Laura Bush, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will be addressing the Republican Convention on Tuesday.
Republicans are turning to conditions at home after saluting President Bush as a wartime president whose leadership is "rock solid." Schwarzenegger gets star billing on the second day of the party's convention as the GOP extends its outreach to moderate Democrats and independents.
Laura Bush said Tuesday she would not attack John Kerry in her speech tonight. In recent days she has criticized the Democratic nominee.
The first lady told ABC's "Good Morning America": "What you're going to hear from me tonight is about George Bush... I'm going to talk about the vantage point that I have being so close to him and what I've seen over the last four years and how important it is to re-elect him and how these times demand somebody with his personality and his resolve and his character."
But as the Republican National Convention headed for Tuesday's session at Madison Square Garden under extremely heavy security, Bush supporters scrambled to explain the president's day-old comments that the war against terror could not be won.
Democrats pounced on those remarks in hopes of stealing some convention-week spotlight from Republicans. Asked by reporters whether the war on terror could be won, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry replied, "Absolutely."
In Monday's opening session, Republicans invoked the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — the World Trade Center stood about four miles south of the Garden — as a test of Bush's mettle as a strong and decisive leader.
"Since September 11th President Bush has remained rock solid," Giuliani said, likening the president to Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan. "We need George Bush more than ever."
That prompted Democratic party chief Terry McAuliffe to recall "a certain Churchill quote that, after the last four years, certainly applies to George Bush: `He's a humble man with much to be humble about.'"
Schwarzenegger was sharing billing Tuesday with first lady Laura Bush and Education Secretary Rod Paige. The actor-turned-politician was the latest in a march to the convention podium of moderates and other politicians with broad popular support.
Bush was addressing the American Legion in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday before heading to Iowa to campaign. Kerry was spending most of the day at his beachfront home in Massachusetts, then flying to Nashville to spend the night. He talks to the American Legion on Wednesday.
On Monday, McCain drew enthusiastic cheers — and a standing ovation — when he voiced strong support for his 2000 GOP presidential rival.
McCain heartily endorsed the president's Iraq and anti-terrorism policies, saying the United States had little choice but to invade Iraq.
"Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents. And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker," McCain said in a clear dig at filmmaker Michael Moore that delighted his audience. Moore, who was sitting in the press section, was roundly booed by the crowd.
Moore's box-office hit, "Fahrenheit 9/11," sharply questions Bush's motives for invading Iraq. McCain said the filmmaker, whom he did not name, "would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children held inside their walls."
Scores of "We Salute Our Troops" banners waved as McCain spoke.
McCain did not single out Kerry, a good friend, for criticism.
The delegates on Monday began a three-day process to formally nominate Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to a second term with a roll call full of home-state bragging and lots of praise for their beloved incumbents. Officials tried to keep secret which state would give Bush the 1,255 delegate votes to seal the nomination. That was likely to come Tuesday night, with the roll ending Wednesday.
On the streets outside the convention, at least 10 arrests were made Monday in a clash between police and protesters attempting to push through barricades. A plainclothes detective was knocked off his scooter and taken to the hospital with head injuries that were not said to be life-threatening.
Bush, meanwhile, gave Democrats unexpected ammunition when he suggested in a television interview broadcast Monday that the war on terrorism could not be won, forcing his aides to defend his remarks on a day they had hoped he could bask in convention accolades.
Appearing on NBC's "Today," Bush was asked whether the war on terrorism was winnable. "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world," Bush said.
"To suggest that the war on terror can't be won is absolutely unacceptable," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of a chorus of Democrats denouncing the comments.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan sought to clarify the president's remarks, telling reporters, "He was talking about winning it in the conventional sense ... about how this is a different kind of war and we face an unconventional enemy."
During the convention's second day, speakers were expected to proclaim that the United States is on the right track, with a bright future — a theme expected to be driven home by Schwarzenegger, the first lady and Paige.
Paige rose from segregated Mississippi to become the nation's first black education secretary. However, his term has been a bumpy one since he drew anger from teachers for labeling the National Education Association a "terrorist organization."
Schwarzenegger is popular among both Republicans and Democrats, even though the California governor's moderate stands on a variety of social issues have sown distrust among some GOP conservatives.
Laura Bush is a former public school teacher and librarian who has been active on a variety of education issues. Lately, she has also been an outspoken defender of Bush's efforts to restrict federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Michael Moqtada Sadr Moore
