Bush: "Peace And Prosperity" At Stake In Election
WASHINGTON — President Bush, rallying conservatives for a battle against Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, says "prosperity and peace" are at stake in the upcoming election for his successor.
"We have had good debates and soon we will have a nominee who will carry the conservative banner into this election and beyond," Bush said in prepared remarks of a speech he was to give Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"Prosperity and peace are in the balance," the president said in speech excerpts the White House released on Thursday night. "So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward ... fight for victory ... and keep the White House in 2008."
Bush is not expected to mention by name John McCain, who almost surely will be the GOP's presidential nominee. Conservatives are resigned to seeing McCain lead the Republican ticket, but the Arizona senator has a long history of disputes over economic and social issues with the party's right flank.
It remains unclear whether conservative voters will stay at home in November, or try to influence McCain's positions _ and his choice of a running mate. In his own defense, McCain says he is a true conservative and has lined up endorsements of many conservative political leaders.
After Republican Mitt Romney announced on Thursday that he was suspending his campaign, Bush had to pencil in minor changes to his speech, making it more forward-looking to the November election. Still, the White House says it's not time yet for Bush to formally weigh in on the election.
Instead, he is using his speech to the conservative gathering as a venue for comparing and contrasting Republican philosophies with those of GOP critics.
He defended his record on the economy, saying tax cuts contributed to a record 52 months of job creation, which just ended. Bush backed his decision to twice veto legislation that would have paved the way for taxpayer-funded embryo research, and lauded medical advances in stem cell research that would yield good results without destroying embryos.
On Iraq, the president defended his decision to send thousands more U.S. troops into Iraq.
"Our critics had a different view," he said. "They looked at rising violence in Iraq and declared the war was lost. Some concluded the surge had failed before it had even fully begun. ... We stood our ground and we are seeing the results. ... The progress in Iraq is fragile and there are tough days ahead, yet even the enemy recognizes that they are on the wrong side of events."
Bush said his administration stayed on the offense against extremists in Afghanistan because it recognized that the threat was not just a matter of law enforcement. "One commentator said most Afghans would oppose an American invasion and fight the foreign occupiers," Bush said.
Instead, Bush said the hardline Taliban regime was ousted, the Afghan people elected a new president and parliament, roads and hospitals are being built, and while Afghanistan has a long recovery ahead, the United States, NATO and other allies are working to secure the country.
Last year was the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led toppling of the Taliban in 2001.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered 2,200 Marines to go to southern Afghanistan this spring. And on Thursday in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, made a renewed push to portray the war as winnable and worthy of international support despite a so-far-unsuccessful struggle to get more allies to commit frontline forces.
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DEB RIECHMANN | February 7, 2008 09:45 PM EST |
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