Bush, Lieberman, Thompson to Address GOP Convention from FoxNews.com

by FOXNews.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. — President Bush is among the headliners — along with prime-time speakers former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Connecticut Sen Joe Lieberman — to speak at the Republican convention Tuesday night.

The president will address the crowd via satellite at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Convention organizers and John McCain’s campaign adjusted the schedule of the four-day gathering as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast. Since the storm has weakened, Republicans are returning to their scheduled programming with some changes.

Republicans made the decision Tuesday morning to go forward with its convention program, which will focus on the theme of “Country First.”

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had been scheduled to give the keynote address. But Thompson and Lieberman will take the podium instead. Republicans say the two will talk about McCain’s biography and their friendship with him.

Thompson was previously unannounced to the program as he was expected to speak Monday night in the place of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who canceled his appearance due to a budget battle in California.

Lieberman, who casts himself as an independent Democrat, said he isn’t going to spend the night criticizing Democratic nominee Barack Obama, but instead would focus on McCain’s attributes.

The convention, which now appears to be back on track — politics and all — is a chance for the campaign to provide a high-profile introduction for Palin. The governor of Alaska for nearly two years, Palin is little-known outside of her state.

So far, Palin has not conducted a formal news conference or taken questions from reporters, and no such sessions were scheduled Tuesday. Her only statement Monday disclosed that her daughter Bristol was pregnant and that she would marry the baby’s father.

Convention officials said they believe conservatives are “still jazzed” over the Palin pick.

The man who led McCain’s search for a vice-presidential nominee said he thought all the possible red flags unearthed during the background check had now been made public.

Under the weight of Gustav, speeches at the convention on Monday were light on red-meat rhetoric and heavy with appeals for donations to victims of the Gulf Coast storm, which was the main message in brief remarks from Laura Bush and her would-be successor, Cindy McCain.

“This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats,” said Cindy McCain.

Added the first lady, “Our first priority for today and in the coming days is to ensure the safety and well-being of those living in the Gulf Coast region.”

But good will and assistance aside, Republicans are ready to get back to the business of politics.

“I would like for us to be able to have a more complete convention,
like the Democrats had theirs, but we also have to think about the country and the people in Louisiana,” said Grace Hickman, an Oklahoma delegate.

The debate about the Iraq war — a chief issue in the presidential race — was largely avoided in the Republican Party platform adopted during the opening session. The platform said “the waging of war — and the achieving of peace — should never be micromanaged in a party platform. … In dealing with present conflicts or future crises, our next president must preserve all options.”

The war was likely to get a second day of attention outside the convention on Tuesday as Ron Paul, a former GOP presidential candidate who opposes the war, was expected to speak to supporters at a Minneapolis rally. Separately, a group advocating for the poor was planning a protest march toward the convention center.