NEW YORK – Republicans belittled Democratic Sen. John Kerry 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,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told delegates gathered at Madison Square Garden.
“We need a leader with the experience to make the tough decisions and the resolve to stick with them,” agreed Sen. John McCain of Arizona who with Giuliani was a principal speaker Monday night.
Earlier, U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, who seeks the Republican nomination to run against incumbent Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington in November, told Republican delegates in a two-minute speech that under President Bush’s leadership, the United States is winning the war on terrorism.
When he spoke, Nethercutt was unaware of Bush’s suggestion Monday to NBC-TV’s “Today” show, that an all-out victory against terrorism might not be possible.
Asked “Can we win?” Bush said, “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.”
White House spokesman Scott McClellan later said, “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.”
There was no misunderstanding Giuliani’s meaning as he recalled the day the president stood atop a pile of rubble at ground zero and vowed to avenge the attacks. He likened Bush to Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill for holding fast to his convictions in the face of ridicule.
Bush “sees world terrorism for the evil that it is,” Giuliani said. “John Kerry has no such clear, precise and consistent vision.”
While Giuliani ridiculed Kerry repeatedly, McCain offered no criticism of his longtime Senate colleague. But he gave a full endorsement of Bush as a wartime president.
Critics of the invasion of Iraq believe incorrectly that Bush faced a choice between the status quo and war, McCain said. “But there was no status quo to be left alone,” he said. “It was between a war and a graver threat. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents.”
Since the day terrorists attacked, McCain said of Bush, “He has not wavered. He has not flinched from the hard choices. He will not yield. And neither will we.”
In a prelude to the evening’s political oratory, delegates ratified Bush’s unflinchingly conservative platform. It endorsed additional tax relief and major changes to Social Security allowing individuals to use a portion of their payroll taxes to establish personal retirement accounts. The platform calls for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriages and abortions. It also expressed opposition to civil unions for gays.
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