George Bush Republican Convention Speech (VIDEO)

Watch Bush's speech from the Republican convention. Scroll down for excerpts.

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On Hurricane Gustav:

We are thankful that the damage in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast was less than many had feared.

I commend the Governors of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas for their sure-handed response and seamless coordination with the Federal government. I thank all of the wonderful volunteers who stepped forward to help their brothers and sisters in need.

On Senator McCain Being Prepared To Make the Hard Decisions That Fall Solely to the President:

John McCain's life has prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this Nation.

We live in a dangerous world. And we need a President who understands the lessons of September 11, 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain.

On Senator McCain's Courage and Vision:

John McCain's life is a story of service above self.

John is an independent man who thinks for himself. He's not afraid to tell you when he disagrees. ... No matter what the issue, this man is honest and speaks straight from the heart.

Last year, John McCain's independence and character helped change history. The Democrats had taken control of Congress and were threatening to cut off funds for our troops. In the face of calls for retreat, I ordered a surge of forces into Iraq. Many in Congress said it had no chance of working. Yet one Senator above all had faith in our troops and the importance of their mission - and that was John McCain. 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.

On Americans Choosing the McCain-Palin Ticket:

I am optimistic about our future, because I believe in the goodness and wisdom of the American people. I am optimistic because I have faith in freedom's power to lift up all of God's children and lead this world to a future of peace.

And I am optimistic about something else: When the debates have ended, and all the ads have run, and it is time to vote, Americans will look closely at the judgment, the experience, and the policies of the candidates - and they will cast their ballots for the McCain-Palin ticket.

Comments

[DisabledRetiredVet]

07:08 PM on 09/03/2008

i'm not naive enough to think that the president is considered a federal employee...however, isn't it a violation of law to use the whitehouse for political purposes? (i.e. speaking to the RNC from the whitehouse)... and did the GOP pay for the satellite link or did the federal government? how much did bush abuse his office when he gave his speech?

http://www.osc.gov/ha_fed.htm

[AbbyStorm]

12:48 PM on 09/03/2008

Last night George Bush spoke on behalf of John McCain at the Republican Convention. He spoke "live" via remote feed from the FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, OUR HOUSE. The President of the UNITED States stood in front of the AMERICAN flag, a symbol of all the rights and freedoms that Americans fought, bled and died to keep. He called those that do not support the Republican agenda, "THE ANGRY LEFT".
The President did this on national TV (international actually) at a political convention . The Majority of Americans; The Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Liberals, and all the rest, WILL NO longer subscribe to the BUSH-MCCAIN politics; in McCains Country it's ok to spit all over the rights, freedoms, and voices of Americans who do not agree him and Mr Bush.
As new democracies are trying to form & others are being threatened, OUR leader, OUR President had a chance to literally and figuratively be bigger than life. He had a personal chance to be an example in the election process in real time. And look what he did with that moment. Shame Shame Shame.
Who is running this Republican Party? Bush passed the torch to Mccain. Is this an example of how Mccain runs the party? The shame is on Bush of course, and all the people in attendance that clapped liked mindless drones without listening to what was actually being said. But the shame is also on John McCain, and HIS convention. The "COUNTRY FIRST" convention. Whose country John?

[OmnesOmnibus]

10:10 AM on 09/03/2008

When are the Dems going to start hammering McCain for being one of the notorious "Keating 5" in the most serious banking crisis in modern times? When are they going to highlight the fact that he received a stinging rebuke from his colleagues in the form of a censure?

[andre]

09:58 AM on 09/03/2008

"We need a President who understands the lessons of September 11, 2001: that to protect America, we must lash out at the world like a little baby. We must resolve to break our military by ensuring our troops are forever in harms way. We must demolish our economy from the ground up. We can show the world: the Soviet Union wasn't the only superpower with the will to collapse. Where there's a will, there's a way. Thank you all and God Bless America."

[sugarmoes]

09:06 AM on 09/03/2008

"in these past 8 years i've sat at the resolute desk..."?????? W - T - F????????????????? he really did sign the bills in crayon, didn't he?

[Nan2008]

09:37 AM on 09/03/2008

LOL...Oh sure George, you paided attention to ALL THE WARNINGS ABOUT 9/11. YEAH RIGHT, we've GOT YOUR RESOLUTE DESK. Wouldn't all the infomration on Iraq and WMD's fall under that same catagory? Or information about the location of OBL?

[eljodio]

09:04 AM on 09/03/2008

The kiss of death itself. Bush has been wrong on everything, how can he be right about McCain?

[jakie]

08:54 AM on 09/03/2008

ALL I HEARD LAST NIGHT POW POW POW I HAD TO TURN THE TV IT IS FUNNY THEY TRASHED A VIET NAM VETERAN LAST ELECTION AND NOW THEY ARE PRASING ONE WAKE UP AMERICA THESE PEOPLE ARE SCREWED UP

[sugarmoes]

08:47 AM on 09/03/2008

a sea... of white people.

[mamacat]

06:37 AM on 09/03/2008

The last time a sitting President stayed away from his party's convention was LBJ in 1968. I can honestly say that I had a LOT more respect for LBJ than I do for W.

LBJ was a very good man who made some mistakes.
Dubya is a very bad man who did exactly what he intended to do.

For embracing this President and his terrible policies, McCain deserves to lose.

[roxn]

05:32 AM on 09/03/2008

A quick look a GOP convention - and it didn't look diverse ..

At the DMC it looked like so many different types of people were there - and they were having more fun. And you got no sense of a stodgy hierarchy.

It's without a doubt John McCain is more of the same -

[emory]

03:48 AM on 09/03/2008

BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!

BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!!!!!!!BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!!!!!!!
BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!!!!!!!BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!!!!!!!

BUSH'S SPEECH WAS PRE TAPED!!!!!!!!

[TheAlchemist]

08:28 AM on 09/03/2008

Your reference?

[sugarmoes]

09:10 AM on 09/03/2008

eyes and ears.

[lecraftygirl]

09:02 AM on 09/03/2008

it sounded like it was. he spoke before people stopped clapping.

[Larkinvos]

02:54 AM on 09/03/2008

Did anyone notice Father Bush checking his watch during Laura's speech?
Ring any bells? Anyone? Bueller?

[DontSpinMeBro]

01:19 AM on 09/03/2008

Did you all notice every other seat was empty and there was room for another person between each> Plus, did you notice the entire upper sections were empty? They were a little late in turning the lights off up there to hide it.

[BigMike75]

01:07 AM on 09/03/2008

That was a convention? I tried to watch an hour or two, and I gotta say that I had more fun getting 8 stitches in my arm last week. I watched parts of that convention, and could not help but think I am scared at the prospects of this country being run by this rogue party. When I looked across that gathering all I saw was old white people, that think they have the monopoly on patriotism. Where was the diversity, where was the electricity so evident in the Democratic party. This isn't about partisan politics, but when I watched that Democratic convention last week, when I watched over 80 000 people gather at Invesco field, I saw a cross section of America, what this country should look like for the future. Honestly, the Rethug party scares the s%!$ out of me.

[ltfcrazy]

12:29 AM on 09/03/2008

I notice there are only 15 comments here and they all say the same thing basically....aaaaaaaaack!
I can't keep watching this guy lie....gotta go!