Bush delivered his standard speech, replete with numerous barbs about Sen. Kerry, to an appreciative crowd.  On the economy, Bush said the tax cuts are working:

"This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger.  Last month, America added 288,000 new jobs.  Manufacturing jobs have increased for three straight months.  Since August, our economy has added more than 1.1 million new jobs.  In the first quarter of 2004, the economy grew at a strong rate of 4.2 percent.  And over the past year, economic growth has been the fastest in nearly two decades."

He also devoted a fair amount of attention to the situation in Iraq declaring that, "Because we acted the world is more free and America is more secure."  "America will finish what we have begun, and we will win this essential victory in the war on terror," Bush stated.

(L-R: Charlie Black, Tony Snow, David Keene and Douglas D.M. Joo, president of the Washington Times).