The Picnic

Yesterday I drove over to Stratham to see the President. Makes me sound pretty important, doesn't it. Actually, I have friends, Mark and Sharon, who live in Stratham. Sharon is active with the Seacoast Republican Women's Club. She offered me a ticket to the President's campaign stop in Stratham at a picnic at the Scamman Farm. I was fortunate enough to be able to take time off from work to attend.

The easy part of the ride was from Nashua to Stratham. I had timed it to arrive in Stratham at 10:00am when the picnic was scheduled to start, but as I neared the farm, traffic came to a standstill. Space for parking was available in a large field, but there was only one point of entry, and cars were coming in from all directions. There were a couple of small clusters of Kerry supporters along the road holding up their signs. After sitting in traffic a while, I got out of line and pulled into a shopping mall, figuring to walk the mile or two that remained.

Security was tight. Those of us lucky enough to get an invitation had to provide date of birth and Social Security number to get a ticket. Getting in to the picnic required a ticket and a picture ID, and once you presented them, you had to pass through a metal detector. I was through all of that by about 10:40. The President didn't arrive until just before 1:00.

In the meantime there were hot dogs and hamburgers, speeches by the Scammans, Judd Gregg, John Sununu, and UNH hockey coach Dick Umile to mention a few. When the President arrived he went through the some of the usual campaign rituals, tossing a football with kids from a local football team, signing a few autographs, shaking lots of hands. Then he got to the podium to deliver his campaign speech. It took about an hour. He made a couple of points that I'm sure we'll here pretty frequently as the campaign unfolds. Regardless of what may not have been found in Iraq, deposing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and he challenged Kerry to say that it wasn't.

Even though we did not find the stockpiles that we thought we would find, we did the right thing. He had the capability and he could have passed that capability on to our enemies.

Now, there are some questions that a Commander-in-Chief needs to answer with a clear "yes" or "no." My opponent hasn't answered the question of whether, knowing what we know now, he would have supported going into Iraq. That's an important question and the American people deserve a clear "yes" or "no" answer. I have given my answer. We did the right thing, and the world is better off for it.

He described the progress we've made in the war on terror. He mentioned Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and of course Iraq.

Before September the 11th, Afghanistan served as the home base of al Qaeda, which trained and deployed thousands of killers to set up terror cells around the world, including our country. Today, Afghanistan is a rising democracy. Afghanistan is an ally in the war against these thugs. Many young girls now go to school in Afghanistan for the first time. Afghanistan is becoming free, and America and the world are safer for it.

Before September the 11th, Pakistan was a safe transit point for terrorists. Today, Pakistan is an ally in the war against terror. Pakistani forces are aggressively to helping -- round up al Qaeda and their friends and associates, and America and the world are safer.

In Saudi Arabia, before September the 11th, terrorists were raising money and they were recruiting and they were operating with little opposition. Today, the Saudi government is taking the fight to al Qaeda and America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America and our allies have sent a strong and clear message, the leader of Libya has abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America. He was defying the world. He was firing weapons at American pilots which were enforcing the world's sanctions. He had pursued and he had used weapons of mass destruction. He harbored terrorists. He invaded his neighbors. He subsidized families of suicide bombers. He had murdered tens of thousands of his own citizens. He was a source of great instability in the world's most volatile region. He was a threat.

After September the 11th, we looked at all the threats of the world in a new light. I want you to remember a lesson of September the 11th was that we must take threats seriously, before they fully materialize. The September the 11th Commission concluded our institutions of government had failed to imagine the horror of that day. After September the 11th, we could not fail to imagine that a brutal tyrant, who hated America, who had ties to terror, who had used weapons of mass destruction might use those weapons or share his capabilities with enemies.

He said he intends to continue to work for the spread of individual liberty as the only realistic way to conquer global terrorism.

In the long run, our security is not guaranteed by force alone. We must work to change the conditions that give rise to terror: poverty, and hopelessness and resentment. See, a free and peaceful Iraq and a free and peaceful Afghanistan will be powerful examples to their neighbors. They live in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom. We believe in America -- we know in America that free societies are peaceful societies. Free societies do not export terror. See, by serving the ideal of liberty, we're serving our own national interests. As freedom spreads, America becomes more secure, and the world will be more peaceful. By serving the ideal of liberty, we're serving the deepest beliefs of our country. Freedom is not America's gift to the world. Freedom is the almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world.

You'd think those on the left with all their talk of "root causes" would be supportive of his efforts, wouldn't you. Oh well. He went on to talk about an ownership society. It's encouraging to see that he will continue efforts to reverse the socialist tide that threatened to overtake us in the Carter years.

This is an exciting time to be an America, in many ways. It's a changing world, and government has got to understand that. You know, you've got workers, when most of our dads were coming up, they worked for the same company, didn't change jobs and so the pension plans or the health care plans were adjusted for that. Now it's a different world. People are changing jobs, people are working out of their homes. Oftentimes, moms and dads are both working. And policy has got to reflect these changing times. Which means, it seems like to me the best way to do so is to encourage an ownership society. For example, we want people owning and managing their own health care accounts that they can take with them, job to job, or go from job to home.

[...]

This administration understands that when you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country. Now, in times of change, some things will never change: our belief in liberty, our belief in opportunity for every citizen, our non-negotiable demands of human dignity.

He was spoke of an emotional moment as he promised to continue to take the fight to the terrorists.

None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another began. As Judd said, I stood in the Twin Towers on September the 14th, 2001. It's a day I'll never forget. There were workers in hard hats yelling at me: Whatever it takes. I remember a guy grabbing me by the arm -- I don't know if he was a firefighter or a policeman. I do know that he had been searching in the rubble for a loved one. He looked at me with bloodshot eyes and said: Do not let me down. These are vivid impressions I will never forget. Obviously, he took it personally; the people searching through the rubble took that day personally; you took it personally; I took it personally. I have a duty that goes on. It is a solemn duty to defend our country, which I will do, whatever it takes.

We have come through much together. We have done a lot of hard work. But there's more to do. There's more to do to spread opportunity and freedom and peace. During the next four years I will work to make sure the American Dream shines brightly for everybody, and that we encourage an ownership society. We will pass enduring values of our country to the next generation. We will lead the cause of freedom and peace. And we will prevail.

After it was over I walked back to my car that I left parked in front of a Mill Stores unfinished furniture outlet. I decided the least I could do was go in and browse, in return for them providing my parking spot. I went up to a lady named Jane, according to her name tag, to ask what they charge to do the finishing. I still had my Bush sticker on my shirt, and she asked me how it went, and said she wished she could have gone. Jane is a strong Bush supporter. She told me she has a son in the Marines in Iraq, and that he is convinced of the rightness of what we're doing there. Jane said she is too. So am I.