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The Morning Grind / Political Hot Topics |
Convention debut dominated by 9/11 attacks
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 VIDEO |
 The Morning Grind's John Mercurio at the GOP convention.
 CNN's Joe Johns on John Edwards' and Bush on terror.
 CNN's Kelly Wallace on the Schwarzenegger speech to come.
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| MAKING THEIR CASE |  Day Two: Tuesday
• Theme: "People of Compassion"
• 7 to 11:15 p.m. ET: Speakers include Elizabeth Dole, George P. Bush (son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush), Sam Brownback, Bill Frist, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush
• Continuing from Monday: The roll call of the states
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Check out the links below to hot political stories around the country this morning.
9/11 SHADOW: Four miles from the pit at ground zero, Republicans opened their national convention yesterday with Rudy Giuliani paying tribute to the heroes and dead from the September 11 terrorist attacks, and Senator John McCain saluting President Bush's leadership at home and abroad since al Qaeda operatives launched their assault on the city's World Trade Center.
The Boston Globe: 9/11 dominates convention start
WAR LEADER: Portraying John Kerry as wavering and weak, Republicans opened their national convention Monday by hailing President Bush as a leader who had made America safer and, given four more years, could extend that protection to a world shadowed by terrorism.
The Los Angeles Times: Bush is praised as war leader
CENTER STAGE: "Governator" Arnold Schwarzenegger suddenly has become a symbol for Democrats who charge that the California governor's prime-time speech shows a Republican Party desperately trying to distance itself from it conservative core.
The Washington Times: Arnold represents GOP's centrists
MCCAIN'S PAST: As it does for so many who left their youth in Southeast Asia, the Vietnam War follows John McCain around. He doesn't talk endlessly about it; few veterans do. But sometimes he can't help himself.
The New York Times: McCain, trying his best not to look back
HEAVY DUTY: At a convention to renominate a president, in an election that polls show could be as close as 2000, and in a state that could be among those that determine the November election, prominent party leaders were being asked to perform functions once reserved for volunteers and college students.
The Boston Globe: Leaving no stone unturned
PLATFORM APPROVED: Republicans approved a platform yesterday that puts the party firmly on the record against legalized abortion, gay marriage and other forms of legal recognition for same-sex couples, reflecting the political clout of social conservatives and setting up a stark contrast with the Democrats for the fall campaign.
The New York Times: Social conservatives wield influence on platform
PARTY TIME: Those who raised $100,000 or more for Bush could get invited to be state delegates. They also enjoy special access and other perks as they schmooze with politicians.
The Los Angeles Times: Top fundraisers earn right to party
MOORE PRESS: Michael Moore -- filmmaker, rabble-rouser, citizen -- wandered into a dangerous neighborhood on Monday. As a guest columnist for USA Today at the Republican National Convention, he only wanted to take some notes, he said, to observe. But from the moment he entered Madison Square Garden, Moore was the one being observed.
The Washington Post: Michael Moore joins the press -- and gets some
BACK TO OHIO: Hours after George Bush is to accept the Republican Party's nomination for re-election in New York on Thursday night, John Kerry plans to respond at Ground Zero of the presidential campaign -- Ohio. Kerry is kicking off the general election in the battleground state that George Bush won in the last race, as has every other Republican who's ever been elected president.
The Associated Press: Kerry plans to respond to Bush speech
GIULIANI, MCCAIN: Republicans built a case Monday for President Bush's re-election as a wartime leader of strength and decisiveness as they opened their national nominating convention with a flag-waving, patriotic recollection of the terrorism attacks of September 11, 2001
USA Today: Giuliani, McCain build case for Bush
LOOKING TO 2008: Delegates and Republican officeholders already are thinking about the 2008 campaign, with governors and the popular former mayor of New York leading the buzz.
The Washington Times: Delegates already looking toward 2008
STANDING BY DAD: Twins Jenna and Barbara Bush, said to be the president's aces in the hole on sewing up the youth vote, have been the most elusive of all the celebrities and politicians at the Republican convention.
The Washington Times: Jenna, Barbara give dad a boost
STREET FIGHT: Although the organized protests yesterday and Sunday have been largely peaceful, there has been a starkly different tone to smaller incidents in Midtown and elsewhere: angry encounters and planned harassment of convention delegates as they go out on the town.
The New York Times: Protesters' encounters with delegates on the town turn ugly
NO EDGE: President Bush holds clear advantages over John Kerry on national security issues and leadership in the war on terrorism, largely erasing the broad gains Kerry made at his party's Boston convention last month, but voters continue to give the president negative marks on the economy and his handling of Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The Washington Post: Kerry loses edge on issues of security
Compiled by Heather Riley
