A year ago, the media and the Democrats counted President Bush out. He was a lame duck and Congress was going to walk all over him. They were wrong. He kicked their asses while he was kicking al Qaeda’s ass in Iraq. He didn’t do that all by himself – he never lost hope that he was doing the right thing, and he knew a whole lot of us still had faith in his inner strength.<\/p>\n
I hope we all learned a lesson – a lesson we’ll all take through the upcoming election season and the challenges we’ll no doubt face overseas<\/a> and in our own country<\/a> during 2008. I have faith in the American people to do the right thing this November, just like they’ve done the right thing over the last 200 years. I have faith in our new allies in Old Europe<\/a>, I have faith in our new Iraqi allies<\/a>. I have faith in those troops that sacrifice everything for u<\/a>s, asking so little, relatively speaking, in return.<\/p>\n Thank all of you for taking time out of your lives this last year to read my blog and for sending me tips. I hope I’ve lived up to your expectations and, even more, I hope you keep up your good work of keeping this blog and this nation going.<\/p>\n This first one is to all of you, America, and to my new friends across the world who stand with us and with whom we stand.<\/p>\n![\"First](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2295\/2153442210_9402b5d710.jpg\" "\\"First")
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