President Bush with John McCain

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Live from St. Paul, Minnesota, and a bare-bones Day One of the Republican National Convention.

No George Bush at the convention tonight. No Dick Cheney. Hurricane Gustav has thrown them, and a whole lot of conventioneers, right off the program tonight.

But the incumbent Republican president still looms large over the campaign of John McCain. In policy, on taxes and war. In photos, like the famous hug.

John McCain has fought George Bush and hugged George Bush, and now he must run both with and against George Bush.

This hour, On Point: Live from St. Paul, the Bush legacy and John McCain.

You can join the conversation. How will you remember George W. Bush? And if you plan to vote for John McCain, is it because you want more of the same, or something different? Tell us what you think.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from New Orleans is Mark Schleifstein, environmental reporter for The Times-Picayune. He’s been following Hurricane Gustav’s progress.

With us here in St. Paul is Michael Carey, columnist and former editorial page editor of the Anchorage Daily News. See the paper’s coverage of Gov. Sarah Palin.

Also with us in St. Paul is Byron York, White House correspondent for National Review and commentator for Fox News.

We’re joined here as well by Juliette Eilperin, national political correspondent for The Washington Post. Her piece in today’s paper, co-reported with Michael Shear, looks at how McCain’s choice of Palin as running mate has energized Republican evangelicals.

And from Washington, we’re joined by Michael Gerson, former speechwriter and policy advisor to President George W. Bush, now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post.

The day after President Bush’s final State of the Union address, it’s hard not to think about this man’s legacy.

With grinding wars underway and the economy in trouble, the Republicans who would succeed Bush in the White House barely mention his name.

But they do talk about Ronald Reagan — almost ceaselessly. There was a time when George W. Bush was hailed as Reagan’s heir. Now, two reporters who know both presidents well compare their leadership and imprints.

This hour, On Point: Lou and Carl Cannon on “Reagan’s disciple,” and the troubled legacy of George W. Bush.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Lou and Carl Cannon, co-authors of “Reagan’s Disciple: George W. Bush’s Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy.”

With all the hullabaloo in Washington over Dubai port operators and Iraq war woes, President Bush may glad to get out of town this week – and he’s getting way out of town, to India and Pakistan.

Half a world away, booming India is emerging as a new partner and a new challenge — as a nuclear-armed power, as an economic power and destination for outsourced American jobs, as an ancient, post-colonial nation with its own distinctive view of the world.

For decades the US and India barely spoke. Now, India needs America and its markets. And America needs India — as a market, as a balance to rising China, as an example of democracy at work in the developing world.

Hear about America, and the meaning of booming India.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Scott Baldauf, South Asian bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor.

Jim VandeHei, White House correspondent for the Washington Post.

Sumit Ganguly, Professor of Indian Cultures and Civilizations, and Politcal Science, at Indiana University.

Teresita Schaffer, Director of the South Asian program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.