Republican National Convention
McCain's theme: Bush was right on Iraq war

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

SHAUN HEASLEY / GETTY IMAGES Sen. John McCain of Arizona speaks yesterday at the convention. He called the war "a fight between a just regard for human dignity and a malevolent force."

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"We must learn from our mistakes, improve on our successes and vanquish this unpardonable enemy," the Arizona senator and one-time Bush rival told a packed Madison Square Garden on the opening night of the four-day convention.

The crowd-stopper in McCain's speech, though, was an attack on anti-Bush and anti-war filmmaker Michael Moore, who was in the arena on a press pass. Moore became the focus of a sustained uproar from the crowd.

He then left the convention hall after the speech in the middle of a fast-moving scrum of security officers.

At a time when polls show America deeply split on whether the Iraq war has been worth fighting, McCain took a hard shot at detractors and told delegates, "Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war."

That's the message top Republicans were broadcasting from the first cup of coffee yesterday.

The president himself created a stir when he told NBC's "Today" show the war on terror can't be won outright.

Tonight's featured speakers Sen. Elizabeth Dole, North Carolina Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California First lady Laura Bush

"I don't think you can win it," Bush replied when asked if the United States would win the war on terror. "But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world — let's put it that way."

A coordinated message

At the Washington state delegation's breakfast meeting, all speeches led to Iraq. A White House official, a Cabinet secretary and an Ohio congressman all delivered encouraging words about the war.

"Democracy does not come easy," said Reuben Barrales, White House intergovernmental-affairs director.

He and the others sent out by the Bush campaign yesterday said the war has been successful because it has kept terrorists from striking twice in America.

"If we weren't fighting the terrorists there, we'd be fighting them here," Ohio Congressman John Boehner said. "I think that's lost on a lot of Americans."

Not to anyone within earshot of a Republican yesterday.

Congressman George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, used some of his precious few minutes before thousands of delegates to give his rendition of the day's message, saying, "We are now fighting terrorists on their own soil — and not ours."

	AP Anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore gestures as Sen. John McCain speaks to delegates yesterday.

The Bush campaign wants to reinforce that the Iraq war has enhanced national security, and not, as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has charged, distracted from the war on global terrorism.

"That's going to be reflected in everything you hear," White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said before the day's major speeches began.

He said the focus on the war was not meant as a pep talk for Republicans here, but rather an effort to "highlight the unprecedented challenges our nation has faced over the last three years."

Worth fighting?

A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted through Sunday found the country almost evenly divided on whether, given all the costs, the war in Iraq was worth fighting. The poll found 48 percent believed it was worth fighting and 50 percent said it wasn't.

A senior Republican congressman who is retiring this year, Nebraska's Doug Bereuter, said recently the attack on Iraq was a mistake based on a "massive failure" of pre-war intelligence.

GOP platform Following are some of the positions in the Republican campaign platform that was approved at the party's national convention yesterday. These are the party's official positions but are not binding on the presidential candidate. Security: Support the war in Iraq and government anti-terrorist efforts. Implement further biodefense tactics to become less vulnerable to biological attacks. Strengthen national border control to stop illegal crossings, through better tools, technology and sufficient force. Economy: Strengthen and enhance Social Security, and increase private investment options. Extend tax deductions to the insurance premiums associated with Health Savings Accounts. Prevent taxes on families from rising, make the tax relief of 2001 and 2003 permanent and simplify tax code. Address the alternative minimum tax as a second tax system for individuals. Limit government spending. Energy: Work for an energy policy that increases production and conservation. Remove unnecessary barriers to domestic natural gas production, and support development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Education: Reform high schools and early education, expanding efforts in elementary schools under No Child Left Behind. Make it easier for professionals to enter the classroom through alternative methods of teacher certification. Health care: Reduce the cost of health care by aiding small businesses in offering coverage to employees, providing access to coverage for the self-employed and reducing lawsuits through litigation reform. Endorse limits on stem-cell research. Social issues: Support a constitutional amendment that would prevent legal same-sex marriage. Oppose abortion and support parental-notification laws. Fight the approval of judges the Republican Party calls activist to prevent rulings in areas such as same-sex marriage, abortion rights and the use of the Pledge of Allegiance. Oppose federal licensing of gun owners and national gun registration. Reject quotas and preferences based on skin color, ethnicity or gender. Further efforts to require welfare recipients to work. Double the funding for education on abstinence as a family-planning method. Work for the return of voluntary prayer to schools. Reuters

Kerry responded sharply to Bush's remark that the terror war couldn't be won outright. He said the struggle was "absolutely" winnable. Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards said Bush's remark amounted to a concession of defeat in the war that terrorists launched in 2001, The Associated Press reported.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan hastened to clarify the president's remarks, saying Bush meant the war was not a conventional one, and neither would be the ending.

Washington delegates interviewed yesterday said they had no qualms about the war or how Bush appears in recent days to be acknowledging more problems with the effort.

"I don't think you'll see much dissent out here," said Mariana Parks, a delegate from Mercer Island. "Why nobody in politics ever says 'sorry' is because it's the only thing that makes it into the headline.

"The question is, do you trust him? Making mistakes is not what I think most people will judge him on."

Mike McKay, vice chairman of the Bush campaign in Washington state, said the message yesterday was to help the president's supporters recruit more supporters after the convention.

"He's an example of a humble human being," McKay said of the president. "This is a man who will acknowledge like anyone that things have not gone perfectly."

Seattle delegate Michael Young pulled out the just-published party platform and opened it to the section on national security to show the party's commitment to the war.

"Our commitment to the region and the people of Iraq is a commitment we'll keep until the job is done," he said. "How can you talk about anything until you have a secure and safe homeland?"

America may be safer today than three years ago, McCain said in his speech, but "we're not yet safe. We are still closer to the beginning than the end of this fight."

McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, has been a high-profile player in the presidential campaign. Kerry reportedly tried to recruit him as a running mate. McCain has criticized some attacks on Kerry's military service.

Last night, he sketched the war in broad terms.

"It's a fight between a just regard for human dignity and a malevolent force that defiles an honorable religion by disputing God's love for every soul on Earth. It's a fight between right and wrong, good and evil," he said. And it could get worse, he said, if America's enemies get weapons of mass destruction.

Fury for Michael Moore

Unlike Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, who introduced him, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who followed him with last night's closing speech, McCain made no direct attacks on Democrats or Kerry.

It was a sober speech focused solely on the war. He was critical of those who oppose the invasion of Iraq, and singled out Moore.

Moore directed "Fahrenheit 9/11," an anti-war, anti-Bush movie.

"Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war," McCain said. "It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents.

"And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker," McCain said as the crowd erupted, turning to find Moore seated far to McCain's left. They hooted and they chanted, "Four more years."

It was by far the longest ovation of the day. When the crowd finally quieted at McCain's beckoning, he said, "That line was so good I'll use it again.

"And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe, my friends, that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace, when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children held inside their walls."

Moore said from the center of the police phalanx that he was leaving of his own accord. Asked what he thought of his reception, he said, "Honored."

Seattle Times staff reporter Alex Fryer, staff researcher Gene Balk and The Associated Press contributed to this report. David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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