Posted on 11/17/2004 10:23:11 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) expressed a common bond on Wednesday with a broad-breasted turkey named "Biscuits," which won a White House election to become national turkey for this year's Thanksgiving holiday.
"This is an election year and Biscuits had to earn his spot at the White House," Bush said at an annual Rose Garden ceremony at which he pardoned the 44-pound white tom turkey from a center-stage appearance on the Thanksgiving dinner table.
The president, who won re-election on Nov. 2 after a tight race against Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites), joked that Biscuits and his running-mate, "Gravy," had run "neck-and-neck" against a rival ticket of "Patience" and "Fortitude."
The vote for the national turkey was conducted on the White House Web site at www.whitehouse.gov. Thanksgiving Day is Nov. 25.
Bush, with Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) looking on, said the national turkey election had several parallels with the 2004 presidential race, which featured attacks on Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the anti-Bush movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" by filmmaker Michael Moore.
"It came down to a few battleground states," the Republican president said.
"It was a tough contest and it turned out some 527 organizations got involved, including Barnyard Animals for Truth. There was a scurrilous film that came out, "Fahrenheit 375 Degrees At 10 Minutes Per Pound," he said.
The 22-week-old Biscuit, who was more interested in the Rose Garden shrubbery than the ceremony, will spend the rest of his days at a Virginia petting farm called "Frying Pan Park."
LOL, at that rate Michael Moore would take years.
I was watching the speech. That got quite a chuckle, and Dubya has a pretty good delivery.
How nice of him to pardon that turkey, John Fraud Kerry.
I was thinking Bill Clinton!
Oh, great, now I'm all hungry.
You're right, he should have done that. The pansy-left already hates him anyway, so what the heck?
Just once, I want the president to say, "Sorry fella's, it's dinner time."
I wonder which would get more airtime, poor Margaret Hassan, or President Bush blowing away the turkey on TV?
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