Posted on 08/31/2004 8:41:49 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Text of a speech by Jenna and Barbara Bush delivered Tuesday at the Republican National Convention, as transcribed by e-Media Inc.:
JENNA BUSH: It's great to be here. We love Arnold. Isn't he awesome?
Thanks to him, if one of us ever decides to marry a Democrat, nobody can complain, except maybe our grandmother, Barbara. And if she doesn't like it, we would definitely hear about it.
We already know she doesn't like some of our clothes, our music, or most of the TV shows we watch.
Gammie, we love you dearly, but you're just not very hip.
She thinks "Sex and the City" is something married people do, but never talk about.
We spent the last four years trying to stay out of the spotlight. Sometimes, we did a little better job than others.
We kept trying to explain to my dad that when we are young and irresponsible, well, we're young and irresponsible.
BARBARA BUSH: Jenna and I are really not very political, but we love our dad too much to stand back and watch from the sidelines.
We realized that this would be his last campaign, and we wanted to be a part of it.
Besides, since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years.
Kind of like dad.
JENNA: Our parents have always encouraged us to be independent and dream big. We've spent a lot of time at the White House, so when we showed up the first day, we thought we had it all figured out. But apparently my dad already has a chief of staff, named Andy.
BARBARA: When your dad's a Republican and you go to Yale, you learn to stand up for yourself.
I knew I wasn't quite ready to be president, but number two sounded pretty good.
Who is this man they call Dick Cheney (news - web sites)?
JENNA: I think I know a lot about campaigns. After all, my grandfather and my dad have both run for president, so I put myself in charge of strategy. Then I got an angry call from some guy named Karl.
BARBARA: We knew we had something to offer. I mean, we've traveled the world; we've studied abroad. But when we started coming home with foreign policy advise, dad made us call Condi.
JENNA: Not to be deterred, we thought surely there's a place for strong willed, opinionated women in communications. And next thing we know, Karen's back.
BARBARA: So we decided the best thing we could do here tonight would be to introduce somebody we know and love.
JENNA: You know all those times when you're growing up and your parents embarrass you? Well, this is payback time on live TV.
BARBARA: Take this. I know it's hard to believe, but our parents' favorite term of endearment for each other is actually Bushy.
And we had a hamster, too. Let's just say ours didn't make it.
JENNA: But, contrary to what you might read in the papers, our parents are actually kind of cool. They do know the difference between mono and Bono. When we tell them we're going to see Outkast, they know it's a band and not a bunch of misfits. And if we really beg them, they'll even shake it like a Polaroid picture.
BARBARA: So, OK, maybe they have learned a little pop culture from us, but we've learned a lot more from them about what matters in life, about unconditional love, about focus and discipline.
They taught us the importance of a good sense of humor, of being open-minded and treating everyone with respect.
And we learned the true value of honesty and integrity.
JENNA: When you grow up as the daughters of George and Laura Bush, you develop a special appreciation for how blessed we are to live in this great country.
We are so proud to be here tonight to introduce someone who read us bedtime stories, picked up car pool, made us our favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheered for us when we scored a goal, even when it was for the wrong team.
BARBARA: Someone who told us we actually looked cute in braces, always welcomed our friends and was there waiting when we came home at curfew.
JENNA: Ladies and gentlemen, one of the two most loving, thoughtful people we know.
BARBARA: Your president and our dad, George W. Bush.
I just posted the following on another thread on the same topic:
After reading Freeper reaction to the Twins' 'performance' tonight both on the LIVE thread and now here, I have just one comment: It's obvious to me that many of you have not spent ANY time recently on a high school or college campus!!!
The Twins' were NOT speaking to impress the over 25 crowd; they were speaking (authentically) to the 18-24 year old demographic -- not a group that typically votes Republican!
I gauged the Twins success by monitoring the reaction of my teenage son and his friends -- who, by-the-way, are considered the coolest of the cool at their Catholic high school! Bottomline: They were so impressed with the Twins (HOT!) that they decided to watch the First Lady's entire speech! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! [Two of the guys who were leaning toward Kerry are now leaning toward Bush (my son will make sure they vote the RIGHT way). Why the change? The Twins convinced them that Republicans aren't the clueless nerds they thought they were!!!]
It's just after the sex and the city comment I was on edge. I kept thinking, any minute they are going to ab lib. It was more of not knowing what coming next than what they actually said I think. We have come to expect the unexpected from these two little charmers :')
But let me add this, I respect them for supporting and campaigning for their dad.
Every generation rebels against their elders. Its part of growing up. They could have used better jokes but the Twins weren't bent on making a serious speech. They had a good time and that's why they're at the Convention aside from helping out Mom and then Dad on the campaign trail with the youth vote.
"Stop making excuses for bad behavior. They are college graduates & far from children. There are "children" older than them over in Afghanistan & Iraq fighting for our freedom in much more severe circumstances."
Exactly. They just say what's on their minds. They don't come across as scripted at all and they're in this campaign because they wanted to be not because their parents pressed them into it.
I could care less for the material but the girls are the apple of the parents' eye.
You're correct.
ALl you folks carping, gimme a break. These two have never spoken in such a forum before, have barely started campaigning for their father, and have no interest in politics. They came out, read some cute lines, and were fun to look at.
Some folks here seem to NEED to feel the sky is falling. I somehow must have missed the millions of Americans who turned to Kerry after his daughters' much more professional speech.
The Bush girls are hot. They have no futures in politics, nor the desire. It was a novelty, everyone enjoyed looking at them, and off they went. Big deal.
Lighten up, folks.
It's a bummer.....
I posted this on another thread, but thought it should be posted on this one:
I know people are criticizing the Bush girls because they came off as "ditzy" and "immature". People are saying that the Kerry girls won the First Kids battle. I totally disagree.
I am a senior in high school, so speaking from first hand experience dealing with teenage girls, young girls/women in America are not like the Kerry girls. They are like the Bush girls. I am not saying they are all ditzy stupid, but they are full of life and simply happy people. They aren't overly concerned with how smart otheres think they are, but more on having fun. The Bush family looked like an American family. And that will only help George W. in November.
"...Republicans aren't the clueless nerds they thought they were!!!"
I am a clueless nerd and damn proud of it! :-)
My take on it. I thought Bush looked absolutely at home in the shirt and blue jeans at the softball game. Try imagining Kerry fitting in with average folks.
And if we really beg them, they'll even shake it like a Polaroid picture.
I'm sorry but I don't know what that means. Anyone care to let me in on this?
Reference to an Outkast song.
Liberals take offense at jokes about Sex And The City And Licorice The Hamster. Film at 11.
"I am a clueless nerd and damn proud of it! :-) "
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . no comment! BTW: Are you also under the age of 24?!
I hope their Secret Service detail doesn't have to watch it with 'em.
The game of politics crosses all spectrums these days.
We may have experienced a MTV Gen X Rove moment, methinks.
We now return you to your regular programming . :-)
Tomorrow night.. The real deal takes stage
Showing respect for the Office of the Presidency is not lame. Your making excuses for anyone with an (R) next to their name is sad. Where did I say people need to stop laughing? Humor, levity, light-heartedness is a good thing. Classlessness & disrespectfulness is not.
Anyways, you should stop going to DU. Their talking points are starting to rub off on you.
I've never been to DU, but you must post there a lot as you seem to know what their talking points are.
So... we could have a 'great' convention if we hired actors and just rehearsed, edited and showed the convention like a movie. It's their real kids doing it in real life. Life ain't perfect. Good grief.
I am not a square, but I certainly am no hipster either. That being said, I found their duet a little bewildering and somewhat off-putting.
I think about 1/3 of the way into it, they took some affectinate jabs at their granny, and that went over like a lead baloon. They could never really recover from that gaffe - it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
If that part had been left out, their routine would have gone over better, I suspect. But what do I know?
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