WASHINGTON — President Bush promised Tuesday that the nation would be safer with John McCain as president, saying his impressive life story and sound judgment make the Arizona senator the man Americans need in the White House.
“I’ve sat at the Resolute desk (in the Oval Office) and received the daily intelligence briefings, the threat assessments and the reports from our commanders on the front lines,” Bush told delegates to the GOP convention via video hookup from the White House. “I know the hard choices that fall solely to a president. John McCain’s life has prepared him to make those choices.”
Bush added in the eight-minute address: “He is ready to lead this nation.”
Inside the hall, the Bush family legacy was on display. Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, drew a standing ovation when he entered the arena with his wife, Barbara, and other relatives. And first lady Laura Bush took the podium to introduce the president’s speech.
She was the voice of defense for her husband’s record, tossing out statistics on everything from education gains to fighting AIDS around the globe. She said that fewer than 50,000 Africans suffering from AIDS were getting the medicine they needed to survive when Bush took office and that the number now is nearly 2 million.
“You might call that change you can really believe in,” the first lady said, a clear poke at the slogan of McCain’s opponent, Sen. Barack Obama.
