Chief of staff touts Bush’s sensitive side

NEW YORK – Administration officials at the Republican National Convention are preparing to reintroduce President Bush to millions of Americans who may feel they do not know their president as well as they’d like.

Andrew Card, White House chief of staff, met Wednesday morning with GOP delegates from Maine and Massachusetts to share some of his more personal glimpses of Bush, who has been almost continuously engaged in the war on terror since taking office in 2001.

Pledging to “protect and defend” the United States as part of his oath of office was a solemn vow for Bush, according to Card. He said dispatching troops overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan, knowing full well that their lives could be sacrificed in order to meet his constitutional obligation, weighed heavily on the president.

“I’ve watched as the president wrestled with that tough decision to send young men and women into harm’s way,” Card said. “Those who accept the president’s command have all done it voluntarily. They take the president’s command as he takes his oath: to defend us.”

Card’s remarks were warmly received by the convention delegates from both states, and they were encouraged to bring new voters to the polls on Nov. 2 to support the president. Immediately after leaving the event at the Lexington Avenue W Hotel, Card elicited quite a different response at the Madison Square Garden convention center.

He arrived expecting to address a contingent of Republican youths. But television cameras caught what happened next as a group of AIDS protesters rose from their seats in the crowd, blowing whistles and intoning anti-Bush chants. Card was forced to cut off his speech as young GOP followers turned on the protesters in a miniscuffle that was quickly cut short by police. One young Republican received a minor injury in the fracas and one of the demonstrators from the AIDS group ACT UP was arrested.

In his presentation to delegates earlier, Card said Bush carries every war death with him personally and illustrated how the president, who has been criticized by Democrats as distant and out of touch with Americans, truly sympathizes with the families of casualties.

“I’ve watched as he’s hugged mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, and thanked them on behalf of a grateful nation for the sacrifices that were made, and that’s not an easy thing to do,” he said.

Card said one of his most moving recollections involved watching the president visit a military hospital as commander in chief.

“I’ve seen a soldier try to stand to pay respect to the president, but he doesn’t have any legs or salute when he doesn’t have a hand,” Card said.

Tears flow, he said, as Bush leans over and pins a Purple Heart medal on the injured soldier.

“Never once have I seen a situation where a soldier, Marine, sailor or airman did not say, ‘Thank you for the privilege of serving, Mr. President. I’m anxious to get back to my comrades,'” Card said. “That’s a hard thing to forget.”

Efforts by Card, by first lady Laura Bush and by Vice President Dick Cheney to convey a more personal and intimate view into the personality of the president did not surprise Andre Cushing, a Maine delegate from Hampden.

“People at the convention are now getting a close look at the true person that George Bush is,” he said. “He’s the type of person that we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan, someone who truly has a vision and is more concerned about what must be done to accomplish that vision than whether he appeals to the popularity polls.”