Lifting Spirits At Center Stage

The First Lady Does Her Part to Brighten Mood

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Laura Bush reprised her role as official spirits-booster Monday, taking the stage at a convention stripped of almost any pomp in an effort to convey to Republican delegates -- and the nation -- that things will be okay.

She'll not be in this role much longer. She does it well. The cocked head, the soft voice -- in times of trouble, Bush's demeanor is that of a mother reassuring a sick child. Throughout the day, she spoke of her excitement over the Republican ticket, her pride over being able to vote for a female vice presidential nominee, and her sense that the nation would pull together in the face of Hurricane Gustav. Message to scared Gulf Coast residents, confused women voters and, never least, to worried Republicans: Here, take this. You're going to be just fine.

When Bush came out onstage in the evening, dressed in a white suit, the standing ovation from the convention floor lasted a minute and a half.

"I see Texas back there," she said through the cheers, waving at the delegation from her home state. "Hey, Texas!"

She and prospective first lady Cindy McCain spoke of unity and called on delegates to give money and assistance to several charities listed behind them on a screen. Bush talked politics, but delicately. She reminded the crowd that "first, we're all Americans" -- before adding that the "strong leaders" from the Gulf states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama "all also happen to be Republicans."

It's a fascinating thing, the nation's enduring affection for Laura Bush. Even as her husband's approval ratings have tanked, the first lady has remained a separate entity in the public's mind. Polls show she is one of the most popular members of the administration -- if you could call her a member of the administration, which Bush herself would not. Much of Bush's talent has been for seeming apolitical, seeming gracefully above it all. A former school teacher, she talks about the value of children and the importance of reading. Who is against children and reading? She comes across to some as an uncontroversial maternal figure in the wake of a certain first lady from the '90s whom they regarded as too partisan, too powerful, too much in the thick of things.

"I said, ' That is a mother,' " said Texas delegate Tammi Sturm, 39, just after Laura Bush left the stage. "She's a mother, she's a teacher -- she knows about right and wrong."

Three Colorado delegates wore the words "WE" and "LOVE" and "SARAH" pinned to their shirts, so that when they sat together, their backs spelled out their support for McCain's vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. They spoke with reverence for Palin ("bulletproof," one of them called her) and with fondness for both Bush and McCain, calling them "gorgeous," "lovely" and "gracious."

Bush "brought great dignity and integrity to the White House," said Charcie ("SARAH") Russell, 59.

Bush blitzed the news this morning, appearing on Fox, CBS, ABC and CNN, and doing her part to smooth over possible problems -- rifts in the Republican Party, delegates disappointed by an abbreviated convention schedule, worries over Gustav. She turned questions about Palin into a not-so-subtle appeal to women voters. She side-stepped talk of McCain distancing himself from her husband, and spoke about how "wholeheartedly" she and her husband support McCain. She talked about how much better the government was handling Gustav compared with how it handled Katrina. She noted that she was worried about the schools along the Gulf Coast.

Asked on Fox about the political ramifications of the hurricane, she refocused the discussion.

"Hopefully, people will be safe, and that's, of course, what's really important," she said.