Bush hails McCain’s security credentials

President George W. Bush invoked September 11, 2001 at the Republican convention on Tuesday night, hailing John McCain as a president-in-waiting who would prevent such attacks before they occurred.

In comments signifying a renewed focus on politics in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, Mr Bush stressed the national security credentials of the presumptive Republican nominee and his willingness to take on threats to the US – pre-emptively if need be.

“We live in a dangerous world,” Mr Bush told the convention in St Paul by video link from the White House. “We need a president who understands the lessons of September 11 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offence, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain.”

But the best-received speech of the night came from Fred Thompson, Mr McCain’s former rival for the Republican nomination.

After giving a detailed, at times gruesome account of Mr McCain’s five and a half years in Vietnamese captivity, he said: “We hear a lot of talk about hope these days. John McCain knows about hope. That was all he had.”

Mr Thompson, whose address elicited roars of applause, also made a series of thinly veiled attacks on Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee: ”There are two questions we will never have to ask of John McCain: ’Who is this man? And can we trust this man with the presidency?’” He added that Mr Obama was “history-making, in that he’s the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee ever to run for president”.

Tuesday night’s speeches marked the first full-blown political events of a convention that has been badly disrupted by Hurricane Gustav and roiled by the controversy surrounding Mr McCain’s unexpected choice of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as running mate.On Monday all political events were cancelled as 2m people along the Gulf coast fled Gustav’s path.

Both Mr Bush and Dick Cheney, US vice-president, cancelled plans to attend in person – a move that also helped the McCain campaign distinguish itself from the unpopular Bush administration. Democrats had planned to use the president’s speech to reinforce their argument that Mr McCain would represent a continuation of Bush administration policies.

Like other speakers, Mr Bush praised Ms Palin, hailing her as “an outstanding leader” who would make “a strong and principled vice-president”. But he focused his comments on Mr McCain.

“One senator above all had faith in our troops and the importance of their mission – and that was John McCain,” he said of Mr McCain’s stance on Iraq. “Some told him that his early and consistent call for more troops would put his presidential campaign at risk. He told them he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. That is the kind of courage and vision we need in our next commander-in-chief.”

Mr Bush added that Mr McCain would invest in new energy technologies and lift the ban currently maintained by Congress on offshore drilling for oil.

Mr Obama’s campaign hit back following the first night of Republican speeches, criticising the speakers for their ”silence” on the state of the US economy.

”Tonight’s speakers at John McCain’s Republican convention proved how out of touch their candidate is by saying not one word about his plans to put our economy back on track and provide real relief to middle-class families,” a spokesperson said. ”Apparently, John McCain’s belief that we’ve made ‘great progress’ economically over the last eight years means he doesn’t have to offer any plans at all to fix our ailing economy.”

David Plouffe, Mr Obama’s campaign manager, said Mr Bush had “enthusiastically passed the torch” to Mr McCain. “The man George Bush needs may be John McCain, but the change America needs is Barack Obama,” he said.

But Mr Obama was criticised at the convention by Joe Lieberman, the Democrats’ former vice-presidential nominee who split with his party over the Iraq war. Mr Lieberman, an independent who still sits with the Democrats in the Senate, contrasted Mr McCain’s bipartisan work with what he said was Mr Obama’s much less-substantial record.

”I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party,” Mr Lieberman told the Convention. “Barack Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who I think can do great things for our country in the years ahead, but …eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times for America.”

Making a direct appeal to Democrats – even “Clinton Democrats” - Mr Lieberman added: “This year when you vote for president vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.”

Mr Lieberman had been considered a contender for the Republican vice-presidential slot, but Mr McCain instead opted for Ms Palin after uproar from conservatives, who feared Mr Lieberman’s support for abortion rights would split the party.

In other remarks, Mr Bush also praised the governors of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas – all Republicans - “for their sure-handed response and seamless coordination with the federal government” in dealing with Hurricane Gustav. The White House is particularly keen to erase the memory of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 catastrophe that partially destroyed New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities and towns, killing hundreds of people. Federal, state and local authorities were widely criticised for having botched their response to that storm.

“We are thankful that the damage in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast was less than many had feared,” Mr Bush said in his address.