This is the president’s night at the Republican National Convention. Through this week, others in the party have set the stage for George Bush. And it’s all led up to the moment when Bush is supposed to rally the party and lay out his plan for four more years.

But on every subject, from terrorism to tax cuts, and foreign policy to faith, the president needs the continued help of his delegates to carry the message to the rest of the country, particularly in those swing states. We convene a round table of Republican delegates from Wisconsin to hear why and how they hope to end the reign of the Democrats in “America’s Dairy Land.”

Guests:

Linda Hanson from Prairie Du Chien. She’s the mother of six children and works at home. ;
Scott Klug runs a publishing firm in Madison, Wisconsin. He was a Member of the state Congress in the 1990’s. ;
Scott Walker is the elected country executive in Milwaukee. He was a state assemblyman for nine years before that.

While Republicans wave red white and blue rhetoric about winning the war on terror, outside the walls of Madison Square Garden, terror seems to be gaining the upper hand.

In Iraq, twelve Nepalese workers were executed by Islamic militants, and 16 are dead in bus bombings in Israel. Hundreds are being held hostage in a school gym in Russia.

When the president takes to the podium tonight, he will once again profess his faith that America can and must win the war on terror — and declare that he is the man to lead the charge. But is his war truly making the world safer? We look at the reality and rhetoric in the war on terror.

Guests:

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Masha Lippman, Moscow-based Washington Post columnist

Jessica Stern, author of “Terror in the Name of God”

Tony Karon, senior editor at Time.com;

Children raised in the Catholic faith are taught that the people of God are the church.

Parishioners in a church south of Boston are testing that bit of holy writ. St. Albert’s was officially dissolved by the Archdiocese of Boston. But the parishioners of St. Albert’s aren’t filing out as directed. Instead they are standing vigil, refusing to leave the place many call their second home. They say it’s their church. They built it, they worship in it, and no one — not even their bishop — is going to take it from them.

Guests:

Jeannine Driscoll, parishioner at St. Anselm’s of Sudbury

Thomas Groome, professor of theology at Boston College

Sharon Harrington, parishioner at St. Albert’s for 25 years

Colin Riley, member of St. Albert’s Parish Council

Father Ronald Coyne, Pastor at St. Albert the Great

This election, Republicans are touting the jobs they’ve created and the taxes they’ve cut. Democrats point to a spike in unemployment and the 45 million people without health insurance. But the rhetoric’s confusing and the economic forecast is mixed. And in the privacy of the voting booth the economy becomes a personal matter, tallied in the cost of health care co-pays and measured at the kitchen table. So pull up a chair. Get out your bank statement. We’re running the numbers. Are you better or worse off?

Guests:

Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform

Gordon Barr, President of Newkor Inc.

John Baker, President of Diamond Tool and Die

Frank Berry, Pa-Ted Spring Company