Yes, I believe George Bush will be reelected and here is why. My optimism comes from an article in Tech Central Station by Ralph Bennett, a retired assistant managing editor of Reader’s Digest. He tells the story of Michael McNaughton, an Army National Guard sergeant from Denham Springs, La. Michael lost a leg in Afghanistan and was recuperating in an Army hospital when he had an unexpected visit from George Bush. Yes, President George Bush. Looking for something in common to talk about the president and the sergeant found they both liked running. Then President Bush made a unique promise to the recouperating soldier, who was being fitted for a prosthesis. He suggestd they keep in touch and when the sergeant was ready to run a mile he’d run it with him. “Just call me.” Good political theater soon to be forgotten, you say. Not so. There were no cameras in sergeant McNaughton’s room that day.
What happened later is why I believe George Bush will be reelected. Let me quote from Ralph Bennett’s article.
One rainy day this past April, Sgt. McNaughton and his family were guests at the White House. President Bush and the sergeant went up to the weight room on the second floor of the Executive Mansion. There they worked out and chatted for almost an hour. Bush was fascinated by McNaughton’s new “leg” and asked many questions about it.
Then they went out in the rain to run. Just the two of them. “I didn’t care if it was storming or lightning all around,” Sgt. McNaughton later told a Baton Rouge television reporter. “I didn’t care. It was nice to run with him.”
Bennett closes the article with the following observation:
I don’t know the exact words President Bush used when bantering with Sgt. McNaughton.
But I know he kept his word.
That’s important.
Two things. First, the only reason we know about this is because Sgt. McNaughton gave an interview and then a buddy of his started emailing the story to friends and aquaintances. There were no klieg lights, microphones, or cameras at the White House that day. It was just George Bush being George Bush, a man keeping his word when only he and Sgt. McNaughton would know. I think that fact is what separates President Bush from his challenger and inspires the average American to support him in November. He keeps his word, even when he doesn’t have to and when only someone who others might consider unimportant would know. That is the hallmark of an honest man. Second, I have to say to Michael Moore, sorry, but Sgt. Michael McNaughton, while he shares your first name, doesn’t share your opinion of the President. You see, he has the real facts.
