FLORENCE, S.C. — Playing to South Carolina's large military population, George W. Bush accepted presidential endorsements Thursday from a parade of veterans' groups, Medal of Honor winners, and retired generals, led by retired Adm. Thomas H. Moorer.
Standing in front of the group under a giant American flag, Bush joked, "Just looking around at all these generals, kind of makes me feel like I'm already in the situation room."
Bush's leading rival for the GOP nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has suggested Texas Gov. Bush lacks the military and foreign policy experience necessary to be president, a line McCain continued Thursday. Bush had said he would work harder to dispel that notion after losing the New Hampshire primary to McCain.
"I am fully prepared to be commander in chief. I do not need on the job training," McCain told supporters Thursday in Beaufort. He added: "This is a very dangerous world that we still live in."
McCain also planned a foreign policy speech as he campaigned across South Carolina Thursday. A pilot and prisoner of war during Vietnam, McCain is banking on military support in the state's Feb. 19 primary. Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam.
In Sumter, Bush appeared with Moorer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Richard M. Nixon; five retired generals, including former Citadel President Claudius "Bud" Watts; and three Medal of Honor winners from South Carolina. He also was endorsed by the national Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition, a federation of 102 veterans groups, and the Coalition of Retired Military Veterans, based in Sumter.
"I want to serve my country by getting a new commander of chief in office, and that commander in chief is George W. Bush," Bush said from the Sumter courthouse.
He called for a top-to-bottom military review, saying he wanted new research to build a "lighter, more lethal, more agile, harder to find" fighting force. He called for $1 billion in military pay raises. Bush said as president he would simplify the process for receiving veterans' benefits and promised to reduce overseas deployments — a line that brought a big cheer from the crowd, which included a smattering of service members in uniform.
Bush also got support from former Vice President Dan Quayle.