Home > New York: Third Day Of Convention Protests
Bush Tries Out GOP Convention Themes In Ohio
Freedom, Stable Mideast, Improving Economy Likely To Be In Acceptance Speech
NEW YORK — The first real wave of Republican delegates has descended on the Big Apple, ahead of Monday’s GOP convention. A smattering of delegates had arrived midweek for platform hearings.
Meanwhile, President George W. Bush — campaigning across Ohio by bus — was giving a glimpse of his acceptance speech at the convention, talking about stabilizing the Mideast as well as strengthening the U.S. economy.
The president was also stressing the power of freedom. At a town meeting in Lima, Ohio, Bush said toppling tyrannies in Afghanistan and Iraq will transform the Middle East and make America safer.
"The power of liberty cannot be stopped," Bush said. "Free societies aren’t going to harbor al-Qaida."
Aides said that while rehearsing his acceptance speech, Bush told writers to beef up a section arguing that democracy is a weapon against terror.
Earlier, at a stop in Troy, Ohio, Bush insisted his tax cuts have sparked a strong economic recovery. However, he acknowledged that places like Ohio are "lagging behind."
That state’s jobless rate is a half-point above the national average, and John Kerry has seized on manufacturing job losses to say Ohio is emblematic of how Bush’s policies have failed.
Third Day Of Convention Protests
Back in New York, protests against the Republicans were already in their third day, although the convention doesn’t officially begin until Monday.
Thousands of abortion-rights activists marched across the Brooklyn Bridge ahead of another demonstration planned at the site of the World Trade Center.
The bridge march was organized by Planned Parenthood and a group calling itself "Mothers Opposed to Bush". The march drew hundreds of people — most of them mothers and many toting small children.
One woman said Bush "has no thought for the future." She said she’s worried for her two young daughters who joined her at the protest, along with her husband. Her family stroller bore a sign depicting Bush as a bad apple.
The group behind the protest claims to have 10,000 members scattered across all 50 states.
Protesters were equipped with diapers, baby food, and red, white and blue balloons. One father at the march said he doesn’t want his 3-month-old daughter to "grow up in a world where the only solution to problems is war."
A group called Ring Out planned to encircle ground zero and ring bells in memory of each person who died in the attacks on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The group says Bush does not speak for World Trade Center victims or New Yorkers.
The events are a prelude to Sunday’s protest, which organizers say will draw 250,000 people on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
No arrests of protesters were reported Saturday, but Friday night, 264 people were arrested in a protest bicycle ride.
Another protest group is hoping to make the Big Apple a little less hospitable to people attending the convention.
"Shut It Down, New York" founder Jeff Adler said service workers — waiters, chefs and the like — are being asked to call in sick next Wednesday, as are actors and musicians working various Broadway shows. Adler said he hopes to get his group’s message across by making it difficult for delegates to have a good time while in New York.
Alleged NYC Bomb Plot Foiled
Two men arrested in New York are accused of trying to blow up a subway station and possibly other locations around the city.
Two sources told The Associated Press that although there was no clear tie to the Republican National Convention set to begin Monday, authorities moved to arrest the men before it starts.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that while the two men are not linked to al-Qaida or any terrorist group, they both expressed hatred for America.
The men allegedly discussed putting explosives in the Herald Square subway stations near Macy’s flagship department store. Kelly said the suspects also scouted three police stations and a jail on Staten Island, where one of the suspects lives.
Kelly said one suspect is a U.S. citizen and the other is a Pakistani national. Both have lived in New York.
The mother of one of the suspects said her family is proud to be Americans.