I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. As I write this, I don't know who Time Magazine will pick as its man of the year. But I know who they should pick, and that's President George W. Bush.
Bush was doing well even before September 11. He had some domestic triumphs, and he'd silenced all but the most partisan critics. But his actions since then both as commander in chief and as leader of the country have been exemplary. He's built a coalition that backed military action, and from the start he's conducted, not only just a war in Afghanistan but a multifaceted campaign on a variety of fronts, including finance and intelligence, to destroy the terrorist network.
And he's done it so very quickly. There were complainers who wondered why we weren't moving fast enough. Who else could have moved as fast we did, going from a standing start to a full-fledged war in less than 60 days! What we did was amazing, and it was Bush – the accidental president, the guy not smart enough to be in the white house – who made it happen.
Man of the year. No question about it.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, some thoughts on the ending.