From The New York Times:
Offering a preview of the general election campaign, President Bush sought on Friday to unify the Republican Party behind its presumptive nominee and said the contest would present the country with a stark ideological choice at a time of war.
Mr. Bush did not mention Senator John McCain in an early-morning speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference here. But he said that “soon we will have a nominee who will carry the conservative banner into this election and beyond,” in what was widely interpreted as a message of reassurance about Mr. McCain, whose relationship with Mr. Bush has been strained in the past, and who faces misgivings from the Republican right.