The third day of the
True American Republican convention has come and gone. The level of excitement is starting to reach the crescendo that will erupt tomorrow night when John McCain will address the assembled delegates when he accepts the nomination of the Republican party.
The warm up acts, before the main attraction came out swinging.
Mike Huckabee told the assembled:
So, I say with sincerity that I have great respect for Sen. Obama's historic achievement to become his party's nominee -- not because of his color, but with indifference to it. Party or politics aside, we celebrate this milestone because it elevates our country.
But the presidency is not a symbolic job, and I don't believe his preparation or his plans will lift America up. Obama was right when he said this election is not about him, it's about you.
When gasoline costs $4 a gallon, it makes it tough if you're a single mom to get to work each day in the used car you drive. You want something to change.
If you're a flight attendant or baggage handler and you're asked to take a pay cut to keep your job, you want something to change.
If you're a young couple losing your house, your credit rating, and your American dream, you want something to change.
John McCain offers specific ideas to respond to this need for change. But let me say there are some things we never want to change -- freedom, security, and the opportunity to prosper.
And Mitt Romney gave this blow to the Democrats:
You know, for decades now, the Washington sun has been rising in the east. You see, Washington has been looking to the eastern elites, to the editorial pages of the Times and the Post, and to the broadcasters from the -- from the coast. Yes.
Last week, the Democratic convention talked about change. But what do you think? Is Washington now, liberal or conservative? Let me ask you some questions. Is a Supreme Court decision liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitutional rights? It's liberal.
Is a government liberal or conservative that puts the interests of the teachers union ahead of the needs of our children? It's liberal.
Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and off-shore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle Eastern tyrants? It's liberal.
Is government spending, putting aside inflation, liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It's liberal.
We need change all right: change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.
We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington: Throw out the big-government liberals and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Rudy Giuliani gave the delegates a rock solid speech.
To those Americans who still feel torn in this election, I'd like to suggest one way to think about this to help make a choice in 2008.
Think about it this way. You're hiring someone to do a job, an important job, a job that relates to the safety of yourself and your family. Imagine that you have two job applications in your hand with the name and the party affiliations blocked out.
They're both good and patriotic men with very different life experiences that have led them to this moment of shared history. You've got to make this decision, and you've got to make it right. And you have to desire -- you've got to decide, who am I going to hire?
On the one hand, you've got a man who's dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He's been tested time and again by crisis. He has passed every test.
Then came out the star. While the other speakers in any other convention would be star speakers in their own right. This was the night Sarah Palin shone brightly. She talked about her children, her husband, the values she was raised with. She condemned the Democrats and Obama in particular. She pointed out that the values of the 2 parties were diametrically opposed. That one stood for liberal, wasteful spending and the other for family values. She praised John McCain's service to the nation, first in the military and then in the Senate.
It's the journey of an upright and honorable man - the kind of fellow whose name you will find on war memorials in small towns across this country, only he was among those who came home.
To the most powerful office on earth, he would bring the compassion that comes from having once been powerless ... the wisdom that comes even to the captives, by the grace of God ... the special confidence of those who have seen evil, and seen how evil is overcome. A fellow prisoner of war, a man named Tom Moe of Lancaster, Ohio, recalls looking through a pin-hole in his cell door as Lieutenant Commander John McCain was led down the hallway, by the guards, day after day.
As the story is told, "When McCain shuffled back from torturous interrogations, he would turn toward Moe's door and flash a grin and thumbs up" - as if to say, "We're going to pull through this." My fellow Americans, that is the kind of man America needs to see us through these next four years.
For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words.
For a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his deeds.
If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.
Character is the issue. And in the Presidency, character matters.
