Bush In Burlington County

President Bush spoke in my town today and reiterated the Bush Doctrine. I had to work and couldn't attend, but having Bush visit a state Al Gore carried by sixteen points, just two weeks out from the election, says to me that New Jersey is more in play than anyone believed. Bush must have some internal polling that says the state is a maybe for him. An excerpt from the speech:

PRESIDENT BUSH: The prime minister of Iraq is a brave man who survived the assassins of Saddam. (Cheers, applause.) The prime minister -- the prime minister of Iraq deserves the respect of the world, not the scorn of a politician. (Cheers, applause.)As part of his foreign policy, Senator Kerry has talked about applying a global test. (Boos.) As far as I can tell, it comes down to this: before we act to defend ourselves, he thinks we need permission from foreign capitals. (Boos.) Yet even the Gulf War coalition in 1991 did not pass Senator Kerry's global test. Even with the United Nations' approval, he voted against removing Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. (Boos.) If that vast, U.N.-supported operation did not pass his test, nothing ever could. Senator Kerry's -- (applause) -- Senator Kerry's global test is nothing more than an excuse to constrain the actions of our own country in a dangerous world. (Applause.)I believe in strong alliances, I believe in respecting other countries and working with them and seeking their advice. But I will never submit our national security decisions to a veto of a foreign government. (Cheers, applause, chants of "USA.")Fourth -- fourth, we will win the war on terror and make America safer by advancing the cause of freedom and democracy. Free societies are hopeful societies which do not nurture bitterness or the ideologies of terror and murder. Free governments in the broader Middle East will fight the terrorists instead of harboring them. And this is why a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan are vital to peace in that region and vital to the security interests of our country.After decades of tyranny in the broader Middle East, progress toward freedom will not come easily, yet that progress is coming faster than many would have said possible. (Applause.) Across a troubled region we are seeing a movement toward elections, greater rights for women, and open discussion of peaceful reform.The election in Afghanistan, less than two weeks ago, was a landmark event in the history of liberty. (Cheers, applause.) That election was a tremendous defeat for the terrorists. (Applause.)My opponent has complained that we are trying to, quote, "impose" democracy on people in that region. Is that what he sees in Afghanistan, unwilling people having democracy forced upon them? We removed the Taliban by force, but democracy is rising in that country because the Afghan people, like everywhere, want to live in freedom.

Bush has never wavered on the War on Terror and that is why he will win.