GOP convention back on track with speeches by Bush, Lieberman and Thompson

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Republican national convention, blown off course temporarily by Hurricane Gustav, roared back Tuesday night with a politically charged program showcasing John McCain as a man of independence and integrity and running mate Sarah Palin as a courageous reformer and victim of media hysteria.

And President Bush, in a cameo appearance via satellite, his last before a Republican convention as the nation's leader after eight years in the White House, reprised the national security issue that helped his 2004 re-election campaign, warning that America needs McCain in the Oval Office in the post-9/11 world.

"We live in a dangerous world. And we need a president who understands the lessons of Sept. 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," Bush said.

But like the battering of the Gulf Coast by Gustav on Monday, the first day of the GOP convention, the news that Palin's teen daughter is pregnant threatened to eclipse Tuesday's proceedings, highlighting McCain's long career of public service, as a Naval officer and Vietnam prisoner of war, as a member of Congress and as a U.S. senator.

Fred Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee who once played the gruff prosecutor on NBC's "Law & Order" TV series and is a longtime friend of McCain's, came to Palin's defense during his prime-time speech to the convention delegates.

Palin, the first-term governor of Alaska, is "from a small town, with small town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family," Thompson said.

The folksy ex-senator, alluding to Palin's hunting skills and taste for moose, also quipped that she is "the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose ././. with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt."

Bush, speaking for roughly eight minutes from the White House, used remarks echoing the core theme of his successful campaign four years ago, said McCain has "the kind of courage and vision we need in our next commander-in-chief."

Bush mentioned Palin only once, as part of the "McCain-Palin ticket." But first lady Laura Bush, in introducing her husband, cited the "impressive women" who have served in the Bush administration. And, she added, "America's first female vice president will be a Republican woman."

In one of the hardest hitting speeches of the night for Democrats, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democratic Party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, cautioned Americans against voting for Democratic nominee Barack Obama with the country at war in Iraq.

"When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge and because of that, today, or troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor," Lieberman said.

Thompson re-introduced hard-hitting politics to the convention, which was transformed into a relief effort for hurricane victims on Monday. Resurrecting the culture war politics that have been a staple of Republican presidential politics since 1980, Thompson took aim at Obama over abortion.

"We need a president who doesn't think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade," Thompson said, a reference to an answer Obama gave at a recent forum with evangelical pastor Rick Warren.

When Warren asked him when he believes human life begins, Obama replied, "Well, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

Obama supports abortion rights, McCain opposes them.

Thompson's attack on Obama reignited the simmering political debate between the two parties that had been all but silenced Monday by the battering of the Gulf Coast by Gustav's hurricane winds.

In the Florida delegation, there was considerable enthusiasm for getting back to a political convention as usual.

"This is the first convention that I've attended and this is more of what I was excited about getting to experience," said Don Yaeger, a delegate from Tallahassee.

The hurricane relief effort continued Tuesday, but the proceedings in the Xcel Energy Center had all the trappings of a political convention, including film tributes to Republican icons, including Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Theodore Roosevelt, the Republican with whom McCain most identifies.

Tuesday night's program was delayed several minutes when the delegates noticed former President Bush and his wife, Barbara, enter the sports arena and rose to their feet for an ovation.

Although his approval ratings hover around 30 percent, Bush is still popular with Republicans. And in his appearance Tuesday, he also helped interject politics back into the convention, crediting McCain's "independence and character" with having "helped change history" by standing with him in backing the military "surge" in Iraq.

"The Democrats had taken control of Congress and were threatening to cut off funds for our troops," the president said. "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."

Bush added: "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."

Thompson came to Palin's defense, calling her "a courageous, successful reformer who is not afraid to take on the establishment." Together, he said, McCain and Palin will "take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking."

As for the controversy about the pregnancy of Palin's daughter, 17-year-old Bristol, Thompson said, "Let's be clear: the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic."

Although the controversy raged in the media and the blogosphere, the delegates to the convention stood solidly with Palin.

"Women are still fired up" about her, said Sharon Day, a delegate from Fort Lauderdale. She said that what is essentially "a family matter" does not alter the values that prompted McCain to pick Palin – strong fiscally and socially conservative values and dedication to reform.

"The things I was excited about – the things that light this party on fire – did not change at all" by the recent revelations, added Day, the head of "Women for McCain" in Florida.

Still, the controversy is unlikely to disappear Wednesday when the delegates formally nominate McCain and Palin and Palin delivers her acceptance speech. It was disclosed Tuesday that Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Palin's unwed daughter, will join the family at the GOP convention on Wednesday.

"That's very bizarre," said former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party, who is observing the GOP gathering.

In addition to the disclosures about her daughter, there was additional news that Palin has hired a private lawyer in an ethics probe in Alaska, prompting questions about McCain's judgment.

The ethics issue involves the dismissal of Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced the governor's sister.

Palin kept a low profile Tuesday, canceling an appearance with anti-abortion activists, the only public event on her schedule. She met privately with McCain's wife Cindy and first lady Laura Bush at an undisclosed location. The McCain campaign provided no details, but released a photograph of the three women together, smiling.

During the convention, which ends Thursday, the Republicans are trying to capitalize on McCain's reputation as a political maverick, despite his having been one of the staunchest defenders of the Bush administration during the past eight years.

Lieberman's presence at the GOP gathering was especially important in that regard, since he, too, has long had a reputation for challenging the political orthodoxies of his party – a reputation Lieberman touted in his endorsement of McCain.

"What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?" said Lieberman, who was Al Gore's running mate eight years ago. "The answer is simple. I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party. I'm here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead our America forward. I'm here because John McCain's whole life testifies to a great truth: being a Democratic or a Republican is important. But it is nowhere near as important as being an American."

Lieberman also came to the defense of Palin, calling her "a great lady" and "a reformer who has taken on the special interests and reached across party lines." He said, "The Washington bureaucrats and power brokers will not be able to build a pen that will be strong enough to hold these two mavericks."

(Bob Dart contributed to this report.)