The daughters of President George W. Bush, Barbara (L) and Jenna, address delegates as Vice President Dick Cheney is shown on a large screen behind them as they speak about him, on the second night of the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 31, 2004. Cheney steps into the spotlight on Wednesday in a nationally televised address to the Republican convention. Photo by Robert Galbraith/Reuters
The daughters of U.S. President George W. Bush, Barbara (L) and Jenna, address delegates as their grandmother, former first lady Barbara Bush, is shown on a large screen as she laughs at comments they made about her, on the second night of the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 31, 2004. Convention delegates formally nominated President Bush for another four-year term on Tuesday night and he will deliver a prime-time televised acceptance speech on Thursday. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith US ELECTION
Cheney to Lash Into Kerry in N.Y. Speech
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday was stepping up to denounce Democrat John Kerry's "confusion of conviction" after President Bush formally won the Republican nomination for a second term in a carefully choreographed GOP convention roll call.
Tuesday night, before a roaring audience of delegates, Bush was lauded by his wife, Laura, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a man of strength and compassion. Bush "doesn't flinch, doesn't waver, does not back down," the Austrian-born former actor said. Added Mrs. Bush: "You can count on him, especially in a crisis."
The second day of the convention brought out thousands of protesters who set out on a march to the convention site, getting in the way of a busload of delegates and engaging in shouting matches with officers around Manhattan. Nearly 1,000 protesters were arrested Tuesday, and on at least two occasions, police snared unruly protesters with orange plastic netting.
The demonstrations continued Wednesday morning, with thousands of protesters forming a symbolic unemployment line stretching three miles from Wall Street to Madison Square Garden, where GOP delegates are gathering. The protesters stood peacefully in a single-file line for 15 minutes, raising bright pink fliers that listed unemployment statistics and read: "The Next Pink Slip Might be Yours!"
Cheney's speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night sets the stage for Bush's own acceptance speech the following night. The president was to arrive in New York late Wednesday for a meeting with firefighters, making the connection to the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent fight against terrorism that has defined his presidency.
Tuesday night, before a roaring audience of delegates, Bush was lauded by his wife, Laura, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a man of strength and compassion.
Bush "doesn't flinch, doesn't waver, does not back down," the Austrian-born former actor said. Added Mrs. Bush: "You can count on him, especially in a crisis."
Cheney will contrast Bush's "demonstrated leadership and decisiveness versus Senator Kerry's confusion of conviction — both in foreign and domestic policy — that he's demonstrated during his 20 years in the Senate," Cheney spokeswoman Anne Womack said.
Cheney also plans to discuss the importance of public schools, a vibrant economy and improved health care system, Womack said, and will argue that these things are not possible unless the nation is safe and secure.
Kerry, at a late-night rally in Nashville, Tenn., belittled Bush's shifting position on whether the war on terrorism was winnable. "We can, we must and we will win the war on terror," he said.
The Massachusetts senator addresses the American Legion on Wednesday, a day after Bush in a speech to the same group backed away from an earlier suggestion — made in a television interview — that the war on terror could not be won.
"It's a different type of war. We may never sit down at a peace table, but make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win," Bush told the legionnaires. Later, he told conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh he didn't really mean to have said the war against terror could not be won. "I probably needed to be more articulate," the president said.
With news on the economic front more mixed than Republicans had hoped, Cheney and keynote speaker Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., were expected to talk about Bush's agenda for creating jobs and encouraging people to own homes and start businesses.
Miller said he would "explain to them why this longtime Democrat, who has never voted for a Republican, by the way, in his life, is voting for this one. And it has to do with the kind of man he is."
"It has to do with the times that we live in, the very dangerous times we live in," Miller said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And it also has something to do with President Bush's opponent. And we'll talk a little bit about his record."
Pennsylvania delegates put Bush over the top on Tuesday in roll call whose outcome was never in doubt. The timing was deliberate to give the honor to Pennsylvania, the battleground state that Bush has visited the most.
"Pennsylvania has a proud tradition of leading America," delegate Renee Amoore of Harrisburg said in pushing the president past the 1,255 votes needed for the nomination.
Al Gore won Pennsylvania in 2000 by 4 percentage points but polls show a dead heat now.
The president has visited the state, which has 21 electoral votes, 33 times since taking office — including a "family-style picnic" Tuesday night from which he introduced his wife to the convention by way of a satellite television hookup.
Bush, in turn, had been introduced by Jenna and Barbara Bush, the first couple's 22-year-old twin daughters, who proved to be the surprise stars of the evening.
"Jenna and I are really not very political, but we love our dad too much to stand back and watch from the sidelines," Barbara Bush said. The twins, who were kept mostly out of sight during the 2000 presidential race, are stumping with their father and holding solo events, such as a planned address Wednesday to young Republicans.
Cheney, 63, who served in the first President Bush's administration as defense secretary, has seen his approval ratings plummet amid persistent questions about his role in promoting the Iraq (news - web sites) war and in handling the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
But Bush has stuck fast by him through the controversy.
A new CNN/USA Today/Gallop poll conducted last week showed that 52 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for Democrat John Edwards (news - web sites) for vice president over Cheney — if they could select the vice president separately.
But when asked whether Cheney had given Bush good advice or bad advice over the past four years, 41 percent answered "good advice," 39 percent answered "bad advice" and 17 percent said they were unsure.
Schwarzenegger, who grew up with Soviet tanks rumbling through his native Austria, called "terrorism more insidious than communism" and said Bush "knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them."
The former body builder and actor urged optimism about the economy and in a self-mocking quip that delighted delegates, added: "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!'"
Edwards said the administration's poor economic performance was "the big elephant in the room" that Republicans don't want to talk about.
"All they could do was attack. You know why? Because they don't have a plan to create jobs, to fix health care, or win the war on terror," said Edwards, who campaigned in West Virginia on Tuesday.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses the delegates at the Republican National Convention Tuesday, Aug.31, 2004, in New York.(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
The daughters of U.S. President George W. Bush, Barbara (L) and Jenna, look up at their father as he appears on a large screen to introduce his wife, and their mother, Laura Bush (not shown), before the first lady's speech on the second night of the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 31, 2004. Convention delegates formally nominated Bush for another four-year term on Tuesday night and he will deliver a prime-time televised acceptance speech on Thursday. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith US ELECTION
U.S. first lady Laura Bush waves to the crowd after addressing the second night of the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, August 31, 2004. Republicans nominated President George W. Bush for a second four-year term in the White House on Tuesday as one of the party's biggest stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger said the president's perseverance and strength had helped make America safer. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith US ELECTION
First lady Laura Bush addresses the delegates at the Republican National Convention Tuesday, Aug.31, 2004, in New York. On the left is a projected portrait of the president and first lady. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
