At a campaign stop in Little Rock, Ark., yesterday on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchison, George W. Bush bristled at the notion that the speeches he'll be giving on Iraq and terrorism have anything to do with the November elections.
"My series of speeches -- they're not political speeches," Bush said. "They're speeches about the future of this country, and they're speeches to make it clear that if we retreat before the job is done, this nation would become even more in jeopardy. These are important times, and I seriously hope people wouldn't politicize these issues that I'm going to talk about."
At a fundraiser three hours later, Bush invoked memories of "that fateful day of September the 11th, 2001" in asking voters to elect Republicans like Tennessee Senate candidate Bob Corker to Washington.
"It's a day -- after that day, I vowed to the American people that we will do whatever it takes to defend this country from further attack," Bush said. "And I need people in the United States Senate standing by -- side by side who understand our most important task is the security of the United States of America. I need people in Washington, D.C., who are willing to give those who are responsible for protecting America all the tools they need -- tools such as the Patriot Act; tools such as programs that say if al-Qaida is calling into the United States, we want to why, in order to protect the United States of America ... These are historic times, and we must have people in the United States Congress who understand the stakes."
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