A moving speech

Editor's Note: Donna Lichtenegger of Jackson was a delegate at this week's Republican National Convention. This is her fifth and final report on the convention.

President Bush had us all rocking and rolling at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.

I thought it was a great speech. It may have been a little slow at first, but by the time it was finished, it was wonderful.

The first part of his speech was kind of like a state of the union address. He was laying out his plans for the future. Then he kind of went into his campaign mode.

When he talked about our men and women in the military and their families, I thought that was very touching because I have four relatives who are in the military. I had tears in my eyes.

The Missouri delegation was seated only 50 feet from the stage where the president spoke. We had incredible seats. I was really shocked. This is my third convention, but we have never had seats this good.

Security was extremely tight. Even so, security officers still took out two protesters who managed to crash the convention using press passes.

We knew what was going on. The whole crowd erupted with chants of "four more years," drowning out the protesters.

While the speech was largely a serious one, the president did joke about his swagger, remarking that in Texas "we call that walking."

That was one of my favorite lines.

The convention ended with thousands of red, white and blue balloons and confetti showering Madison Square Garden. Mixed in the confetti were pictures of the president, vice president and their wives.

Most of the people in New York were so nice. The traffic was three times worse than normal, but the cab drivers were absolutely wonderful.

I wouldn't mind going back to New York again.