President promises ‘more hopeful America’
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“We are on the path to the future — and we are not turning back,” Bush said in a speech prepared for the Republican National Convention.
The president ticktocked a litany of differences between Kerry and himself, on Medicare reform, health care, education reforms, child tax credits, and the marriage penalty.
“You face a choice,” the president said. “My opponent’s policies are dramatically different from ours.” He said Kerry has proposed more than $2 trillion in new spending — “and that’s a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts.”
Bush placed the Sept. 11 attacks that scarred this city front and center in his speech, just as he has throughout his campaign.
“In the heart of this great city, we saw tragedy arrive on a quiet morning,” Bush said. “We saw the bravery of rescuers grow with danger. We learned of passengers on a doomed plane who died with a courage that frightened their killers.”
In optimistic language reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s, Bush said: “Since 2001, Americans have been given hills to climb, and found the strength to climb them. Now, because we have made the hard journey, we can see the valley below.”
He sought to project that optimism on an issue that remains a top source of anxiety for many Americans, the economy, and he said his tax cuts were responsible.
“Because we acted, our economy is growing again, and creating jobs, and nothing will hold us back,” Bush said.
Bush’s task was to persuade a divided nation that 3-1/2 years of hard testing have shown he has the wisdom and judgment to lead the nation through dangerous waters.
His campaign issued a glossy, 48-page “Agenda for America” that outlined policy proposals for a second term. It said Bush would:
—Require states to add two tests in reading and math in the high school grades over the next several years, pledging $250 million a year to help them do it. He also wants to require all states to take part in the 12th-grade version of a national test in reading and math, just as they must do in fourth and eighth grades under a 2001 law he championed.
—Create “Opportunity Zones” that would use tax incentives to encourage private and public investment in poor neighborhoods.
—Request line-item veto power that would allow a president to reject new spending the White House deemed “not essential government priorities.” All savings would go to reducing the federal deficit. Presidential line-item veto became law but was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.
—Spend $1 billion to provide “quality health care coverage” for every child eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers low-income people.
—Ensure that a community health center is open in every poor community.
He was speaking on the last night of his party’s national convention here, a gala that launched him into the final two months of his last campaign.
The president was spending only 24 hours in the convention city, his re-nomination wedged between frenetic campaign trips. Rather than spend a second night in New York, a state that appears a lock for Kerry, Bush was leaving after his speech for his 34th trip to Pennsylvania. It was one of four states he will visit on Friday, signaling the breakneck pace he plans to keep until Nov. 2.