Why Others Are Supporting Bush

ELECTION EVE UPDATE: This is my final update to this post, which you may or may not find to be a useful resource. May the best man win.
Well, I�ve more or less said my piece about who I�m supporting this year, offering one of the least-coveted endorsements of the season here. The following are just a few of those who seem to agree…

John McCain: �President Bush deserves not only our support, but our admiration.�
Rudy Giuliani: �President Bush will make certain that we are combating terrorism at the source, beyond our shores, so we can reduce the risk of having to confront it in the streets of New York.�
Ed Koch: �I intend to vote for President George W. Bush in the next election, because in my view he is best able to wage the war against international terrorism.�
Bernard Kerik: �George W. Bush has my vote…for the future and safety of this country.�
9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America: �We are deeply grateful to President Bush, who rallied this nation on that dark September day, who has earned our respect and confidence, and whose leadership we trust to steer this country on the right path.�
Firefighters for Bush: �We haven’t forgotten the way our nation rallied around the President, or the confidence he gave us all, showing up at Ground Zero against the wishes of the Secret Service.�
Fraternal Order of Police: �For the past four years, President George W. Bush has proved himself to be one of the very best friends that rank-and-file law enforcement officers have ever had.�
Catholics for President George W. Bush: �President Bush’s views on issues such as life, marriage, and family are in accord with the Catholic Church.�
Athletes for Bush: �George W. Bush�is a leader we can depend on to make the tough decisions and the right decisions.�
P.J. O�Rourke: �Because I don�t want Johnnie Cochran on the Supreme Court.�
Armed Liberal: �In a pre-9/11 world, this balance would have certainly tipped me toward Kerry. Sadly, I live in a post 9/11 world.�
Gregory Djerejian: �I don’t believe, in his gut, Kerry believes that we face an existential challenge with regard to the war on terror.�
Debra Saunders: �Bush chose to send U.S. troops to hunt down al Qaeda and oust the Taliban regime that protected the terrorist group, even as the anti-war left accused him of killing innocent Afghans in an act of misguided vengeance.�
Ron Silver: �Under the unwavering leadership of President Bush, the cause of freedom and democracy is being advanced by the courageous men and women serving in our Armed Services.�
Zainab al-Suwaij: �America, under the strong, compassionate leadership of President Bush, has given Iraqis the most precious gift any nation has ever given another — the gift of democracy and the freedom to determine its own future.�
Christopher Hitchens: �I am in fact a member of a small international regime-change �left� that originates in solidarity with our embattled brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and Iraq, brave people who have received zero support from the American �antiwar� movement.�
Zell Miller: �I have come to believe that George Bush is the right man in the right place at the right time.�
The Express-Times (Easton, PA): �Now is not the time to back away from the fight. Or the president.�
The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH): �The Dispatch believes a second-term George W. Bush would stand a better chance of leading the nation up the difficult road that lies ahead.�
The Cincinnati Post: �With George W. Bush we choose stability, continuity and decisive leadership.�
The New York Post: �America will be safer with George Bush in the White House.�
More…
John Howard: �I certainly think George Bush has given great leadership to the world fight against terrorism, I think he�s been a very strong leader in that fight and I hope he wins.�
Silvio Berlusconi: �We hope and believe that the next president will again be Bush.�
Junichiro Koizumi: “I don’t want to interfere with another country’s election but since I’m well-acquainted with President Bush, I want him to carry on.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: �We are one America, and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul.�
Tommy Franks: �I support George W. Bush.�
Ann Althouse: �I never forgot that [Kerry] got testy and accused a man of not listening, when in fact Kerry had never expressed himself clearly about what he would do in Iraq.�
Beldar: �Dubya has my vote, and I feel good about that.�
Sarah Baxter: �If Bush is ousted, there will be victory celebrations across the undemocratic Arab world.�
Randy Kelly: �In turbulent times, what the American people need more than anything is continuity of government, even with some imperfect policies.�
Al Leiter: �I don’t absolutely agree with the president. But the Republican platform is more suitable for me than the other one.”
Kathleen Acton: �Your leadership since September 11, 2001 has inspired me to change who I am as a person and what I do with my life.�
Scott O�Grady: �We have a very strong commander-in-chief. In these critical times, that’s exactly what we need.�
The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, WI): �We believe that the leadership of George W. Bush during the past four years shows a man who resolutely stays on the issues that affect Americans.�
The Denver Post: �On Sept. 11, 2001, this country accepted a great challenge – to inflict justice on terrorists who would attack us and to take every reasonable step to protect our homeland. The task has been pursued with dogged resolution, and we think President Bush is best suited to continue the fight.�
Still more�
Peggy Noonan: �With the decline of the Democratic Party, I have become convinced there is a greater chance we will win the war if the Republican Party wins the election.�
George Pataki: �President Bush understands we can’t just wait for the next attack.�
James Na: �I do not agree with Bush on everything, but because I know the choice is crystal clear on this issue of life and death, my vote is for him.�
Dale Franks: �A retreat in the War on Terror that results in a decade of threats to American security like those that appeared in the 1970s could very well make domestic political calculations about the relative libertarian-ness of the GOP moot.�
Brian Golden: �President Bush speaks of supporting the �culture of life� � the call to �uphold and affirm the dignity of every person, rich and poor, able and disabled, born and unborn� � and he has backed his words with action.�
Norma McCorvey: �I am the former ‘Jane Roe’ of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision Roe vs. Wade, and I am writing this note in my personal capacity, not as the representative of any organization. This year I am going to vote to re-elect President Bush�
George McKelvey: �Although I have never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate, the significance of this election – an election which I view as the most important of my lifetime – has motivated me to acknowledge my support for President Bush.�
Kelsey Grammar: �I�ve been a pro-Bush guy for some time now. I think he�s got a clear message; I think he�s got a conscientious message, and I think he has some real courage. So it�s just nice to see in a President and I�m actually a fan.�
Bill Owens: �Thanks to the President’s firm decision to confront and defeat terrorists and the regimes that support them, America is safer, and more than 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan are free.�
Steve Dunleavy: �I want my GI son to serve under Bush.�
Matthew Manweller: �Down one path lies retreat, abdication, and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands.�
Even more�
William Kristol: �September 11 saw horrible hours. But it could also be the beginning of one of America’s finest hours. The chances of that will be greatest under President Bush.�
Mitt Romney: �President Bush has shown unwavering commitment to win the war on terror, and to rebuild the economy.�
Michele Catalano: �I have to vote with both my head and my heart, and they both want to vote for George W. Bush on November 2.�
John S: �I trust and support President Bush in his leadership of the war and our nation’s role in the world. I do not trust John Kerry’s instincts, voting record, and positions on the same.�
Dennis Prager: �There are overwhelmingly powerful Jewish reasons to vote for President Bush and equally powerful Jewish reasons not to vote for John Kerry.�
The Jewish Week: �Bush�s changing of the Oslo tactics, by letting Israel protect itself, has changed the course of Israel�s history.�
The Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, OH): �Between the two, it seems clear Bush will put the safety of America first on his agenda. He understands the threats posed against this country. He is willing to do whatever it takes, regardless of domestic or world political opinion, to destroy those who seek to destroy us.�
Still going�
Max Boot: �I’m a one-issue voter…Bush gets it; he was transformed by 9/11.�
Bob Dole: �President Bush is my guy.�
Captain Ed: �I’m going to vote for the man who woke up on 9/11 and saw the danger that our country and the Western world faces, and who has remained consistent in his determination to fight and beat that danger regardless of the polls and the calls for appeasement from weak and corrupt allies. �
John Hawkins: �The War on Terror is serious business and our country desperately needs George Bush to lead the fight for the next four years.�
Hugh Hewitt: �Because John Kerry isn’t a credible Commander-in-Chief. Bush is. He’s led through the first two battles of the GWOT to victory and he’ll lead this one as well, and the ones that come later.�
Anne Bayevsky: �President Bush made it clear that the Israeli fight against terrorism is not a localized dilemma but rather part of the same war being waged by Americans against global terrorism.�
David Gelernter: �Bush makes me laugh�and I’m voting for him.�
David Zucker: �I was really a liberal Democrat until 9/11�There is no question in my mind that President Bush is doing a great job fighting the war on terror.�
Dan Ackroyd: �Let this administration finish this war and this fight against terrorism.�
Pat Buchanan: �I cannot endorse the candidate of Michael Moore, George Soros, and Barbra Streisand, nor endorse a course of action that would put this political windsurfer into the presidency, no matter how deep our disagreement with the fiscal, foreign, immigration, and trade policies of George W. Bush.�
The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD): �Four years ago, the Argus Leader endorsed Al Gore over President Bush. We’re facing a different world situation now, with different needs. In 2004, given the choices, George Bush is the right person to lead our nation.�
Still going�
Glenn Reynolds: �I’m certainly not a Republican, although I will very probably – actually, almost certainly – vote for George Bush this time.�
Roger L. Simon: �I am a registered Democrat. I disagree with George W. Bush on gay marriage, stem-cell research, a woman’s right to choose, and, to a lesser extent, a host of other issues, but I am supporting him unreservedly for president. We are in a protracted war with Islamofascism and I do not trust John Kerry to lead us in that war for one minute.�
Orson Scott Card: �I’m a Democrat voting for Bush, even though on economic issues, from taxes to government regulation, I’m not happy with the Republican positions. But we’re at war, and electing a president who is committed to losing it seems to be the most foolish thing we could do.�
Jay Caruso: �I�m a one issue voter this year. It�s only because I feel that President Bush will do a much better job fighting terrorism than John Kerry, that I am voting for him. Otherwise, my vote would go elsewhere (though not to Kerry).�
Stephen Green: �There’s a war on, and I don’t trust Kerry to wage it.�
Bob Geldof: �Clinton talked the talk and did diddly squat, whereas Bush doesn’t talk but does deliver�You’ll think I’m off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush administration is the most radical, in a positive sense, in the approach to Africa since Kennedy.�
Pete du Pont: �Mr. Bush believes in an ownership society in which individuals have the resources to improve their lives, owning their own health-care and retirement accounts.�
Dennis Miller: �9/11 changed me�I’m shocked that it didn’t change the whole country, frankly.�
MORE (From the Crank):
Meryl Yourish: “I will be breaking a lifelong streak of voting for Democratic Presidential candidates on Tuesday: I’m voting for George W. Bush. . . . I think Kerry is a liar and a poseur. You cannot have a career of pacifism and voting against military issues and suddenly turn around and declare yourself a fit commander-in-chief. . . . I disagree with nearly every single part of George Bush’s domestic policies. . . . We are at war, and we need a president who will recognize that, and act accordingly.”
Thanks for that one. Now, still going�
Paul Johnson: �I cannot recall any election when the enemies of America all over the world have been so unanimous in hoping for the victory of one candidate. That is the overwhelming reason that John Kerry must be defeated, heavily and comprehensively.�
LT Smash: �You know where he stands.�
Drew: �George W. Bush has served our nation well for four years. It has not been an easy time for our country, but I thank God that he provided us with someone that has put America first and helped to keep us strong.�
Bill: �A guiding factor that holds sway over steering a massive and inherently flawed bureaucracy in the right general direction is sincerity and strength of character. George W. Bush possesses these qualities, and that goes a long way towards earning my vote.�
Robert Bidinotto: �President Bush — though far from ideal — is much better than Kerry�[A] vote for the Libertarian, instead of Mr. Bush, is a de facto vote for Kerry.�
The King County Journal (King County, WA): �No one can question the patriotism of Sen. John Kerry, but it is the resolve of President Bush that our country needs at this critical time in American history.�
Still going�
An Ex-Pat in Bulgaria: �Most of the fellow ex-pats I meet around here are split 70/30 Bush…Kerry is seen as weak. And frankly, many people, even here, work in risky jobs and don�t want another �Tomahawk thrower�.�
Walt Latham: �George Bush has made tough decisions on the defense of the United States and civilization. He has put his presidency on the line.�
Curt Schilling: �[M]ake sure you tell everybody to vote, and vote Bush next week.�
More:
Bill Frist: �Mr. Kerry will empower those who tax you. President Bush will empower those who cure you.�
Elaine Chao: �President Bush speaks our language: the language of opportunity, family and a better future for each new generation.�
John O�Neill: �We resent very deeply the false war crimes charges [Kerry] made coming back from Vietnam in 1971 and repeated in the book �Tour of Duty��We believe, based on our experience with him, that he is totally unfit to be the Commander-in-Chief.”
George �Bud� Day: �John Kerry’s character is not only fair game, it is the primary issue�Can anyone trust John Kerry?�
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: �[M]y dad was a Republican, and I’m a Republican.�
Professor Bainbridge: �I’m a yellow dog Republican who voted the straight party ticket.�
Jews for George: �We believe The President’s record on Israel, Homeland Security, and the War on Terror demands the full support of Michigan’s Jewish community.�
Gerard Baker: �[P]erhaps less because he has been right and more because those who hate him so much have been so wrong, I want this President re-elected.�
For now at least, the last words…
Rich Lowry: �Kerry is attempting to boost his own toughness by the association with Reagan�It is Bush, of course, who has the national-security policy organically connected to Reagan’s, featuring the same strength of purpose and moral resolve.�
Ramesh Ponnuru: �If Bush is serious about what he said in New York City�then his second term will indeed see an increase in liberty�Conservatives have good reasons to see Bush through this November and to hold him to his word.�
Jim Geraghty: �Kerry’s incoherent, sort-of-for, sort-of-against, shapeless gray blobs of linguistic ooze make debating his views impossible, because there’s nothing to support or to dispute.�
Mark Steyn: �This is the 9/11 election, a choice between pushing on or retreating to the polite fictions of September 10. I bet on reality.�
James Lileks: �I do not believe Bush walks on water�I have one issue above all: the war. And yes, I�m one of those deluded types who thinks we�re at war, and that the absence of attacks since 9/11 no more means we�re not at war than the absence of air raids on Manhattan in 1942 meant we weren�t at war with Germany and Japan.�
Andrew McCarthy: �President Bush is promising to win. If we leave Iraq without winning, we lose. Militant Islam grows stronger, and bolder�We can defeat them there, in Iraq, where they are massed against us; or we can duck and meet them in Manhattan � once again � when they are stronger, and when they have been fortified in the conviction of our weakness and their own invincibility.�
Jonah Goldberg: �George W. Bush is the best option available in the range of possible options given the fact that we are at war. John Kerry is the best option for those who are in denial about the fact that we are at war.�
John Ellis (added by the Crank): “The man I know is smart, extraordinarily disciplined, enormously hard-working, open to new ideas and approaches, decisive, shrewd and gifted with a keen sense of the possible. He is decent and honest and true, which cannot be said of many of his critics. . . . Our enemies will brace for four more years of hell if Bush is re-elected. They will celebrate if Senator Kerry wins. Here’s to four more years of hell.”
Megan McArdle: �I’ve decided to take the advice of a friend’s grandmother, who told me, on her wedding day, that I should never, ever marry a man thinking he’d change�Kerry’s record for the first fifteen years in the senate, before he knew what he needed to say in order to get elected, is not the record of anyone I want within spitting distance of the White House war room�I’m sticking with the devil I know. George Bush in 2004.�
Jason Steffens (added by the Crank): “There is a cause. And one candidate willing to fight for that cause.”
Charles Johnson (added by the Crank): “In this presidential election, you need to vote as if your life depends on it.”
The New York Daily News: “Returning Bush to office is the wise course, The News believes, despite our sharp disagreement with his domestic policies. Those pale in comparison with the overarching challenge of securing the nation and preserving New York’s vital way of life.”
Victor Davis Hanson: �We should remember that all our victorious past presidents were, at the moments of their crises, deeply unpopular precisely because they chose the difficult, long-term sacrifice for victory over the expedient and convenient pleas for accommodation (if not outright capitulation). We are faced with just such an option today: a choice between a president whose call for patience and sacrifice promises victory, and a pessimist stirring the people with the assurances that we should not have fought, and now cannot win, the present war in Iraq.�
Spoons (added by the Crank): “When the MSM, especially the NYT and CBS, is so in the tank for John Kerry that they’re willing literally to make up phony story after phony story in order to defeat the President, then I just can’t stay on the sidelines.”
More…
Tom Wolfe: �I would vote for Bush if for no other reason than to be at the airport waving off all the people who say they are going to London if he wins again. Someone has got to stay behind.�
Tammy Bruce: �As a Democrat and a pro-choice feminist, it�s time for me to explain why I support the president, and why other thoughtful Democrats should join me in doing so�I voted for President Bush because he has freed 50 million people, 25 million of which are women and girls. The feminist establishment, in a shameful exhibit of their hypocrisy, has ignored that fact.�
Greyhawk: �A very necessarily empty throne in Baghdad. It’s not that hard to understand, is it?�
Brendan Miniter: �Tomorrow’s election is the most consequential since Ronald Reagan sought re-election in 1984 and perhaps on par with the Gipper’s run in 1980. The reason for this is simple: Sept. 11.�
Dale Amon: �I have voted for a Republican for President for the first time in my life. I don’t agree with George Bush on many issues, but I do indeed agree with him on the war and the war cabinet is one I quite like.�
Bill Whittle: �[T]he fact remains that George W. Bush was Commander in Chief and President when we needed him the most. I made a mistake when I cast my vote for Al Gore in the most important election of my lifetime. I won’t make that mistake again on Tuesday.�
Vanderleun: �It will be the first time I’ve ever voted for a Republican ticket in a National Election. Before this, I voted Democrat right down the line. But I was asleep and I was foolish. Now, at least I can say I’m awake.�
A few more�
Norman Schwarzkopf: �I am supporting President Bush for reelection, because he is the candidate who has demonstrated the conviction needed to defeat terrorism. In contrast to the President’s steadfast determination to defeat our enemies, Senator Kerry has a record of weakness that gives me no confidence in his ability to fight and win the War on Terror. His attempt to make up for these deficiencies by falsifying my endorsement only confirms my impression that he is not the man we need to lead our nation.�
Mike Tice: �When it’s the fourth quarter and the game is on the line, you want somebody with a cool head calling the plays.�
Virginia Postrel: �Given the current balance of power in Congress, there are only two things the president can significantly affect: foreign policy and regulatory policy. I prefer Bush to Kerry on both. It’s a cold calculation.�
Donald Crankshaw: �The war is the main reason I support Bush.�
Stephen Faulkner: �I’m a New Yorker and terrorism is a key concern for me.�
The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ): �In a time of great peril, George W. Bush has stepped forward to provide, certainly not perfect leadership, but steady, unwavering leadership and, overall, effective leadership. We therefore urge — strongly urge — his re-election.�
Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, NJ): �Bush is flawed. But America will be in better hands with him at the helm than someone still struggling to figure out where he wants to take the country and what he stands for. For that reason, we endorse George W. Bush for re-election to a second term as president of the United States.�
The Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom): �The intellectual vacuum at the heart of [Kerry�s] candidacy has profound implications for Britain’s strategic interests and the lives of our troops: in both cases, this country would be better served by the re-election of Mr. Bush.�
The Mesopotamian (Iraq): �President Bush now represents a symbol of defiance against the terrorists and it is a fact, that all the enemies of America, with the terrorists foremost, are hoping for him to be deposed in the upcoming elections.�
The final word goes to�who else?
The Baseball Crank: �There are many other issues at stake here, and many reasons I have not discussed. But on the biggest of the big things – leadership, determination and strategy at war, the role of the courts in our society, and the long-term structure of the entitlement programs that consume the largest share of the federal budget – the choice of Bush over Kerry is clear. May the right man win; I cast my vote for him already, and hope you do too.�