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WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Bush said Tuesday that Sen. John McCain's understanding of the lessons of Sept. 11 and his support for the Iraq war make him ready to be the nation's next commander in chief.

The outgoing president aimed to give McCain a boost - albeit from afar and in truncated, satellite-fed remarks - as he argued that national security issues will give Republicans an edge this election year as they often have in previous campaigns.

"We live in a dangerous world," Bush was to tell the Republican National Convention in Minnesota via video from Washington, according to excerpts released in advance by the White House. "To protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain."

Bush referred to McCain as the "one senator above all" who backed the U.S. campaign in the Iraq war even as violence spiraled out of control and the president's decision to invade Iraq grew increasingly unpopular. McCain supported sending more U.S. troops into the fight to stabilize the situation.

Though such rhetoric would likely be well-received by partisan delegates, reminding the national television audience of the Iraq war, and of McCain's link to it, was a somewhat risky move.

But Bush offered McCain's consistency in the face of doubts and criticism as a reason to like him. "That is the kind of courage and vision we need in our next commander in chief," the president said in his prepared remarks.

The image of Bush addressing GOP delegates alone before a television camera in the White House's majestic Cross Hall was to be beamed onto giant video screens some 1,000 miles away in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

It was a far cry from earlier plans, sidelined by Hurricane Gustav's landfall, for the president to make a dramatic, celebratory appearance in person and in the prestigious final-speaker slot of the gathering's opening night on Monday.

Bush had been expected to be warmly welcomed to the convention hall, filled by members of the GOP base who still enthusiastically support the president and his eight years in the Oval Office. While there was no thought of not inviting Bush, the presence of the president, who is deeply unpopular in the broader public, was viewed as something of a distraction or even a problem for McCain.

Gustav made that discussion moot.

Bush's new, brief speech was cut by about half from its original 15-minute version, to accommodate video delivery that White House press secretary Dana Perino allowed "taxes the patience." But it retained its original flavor as an ode to McCain and little else.

After brief remarks of thanks that Gustav's impact was "less than many had feared," Bush planned to explain from firsthand experience what few others can: what the job of being president requires. His pitch on every point was to be that McCain has the goods. He wasn't expected to explicitly say that Democratic candidate Barack Obama does not, but the point was clear.

The president also emphasized McCain's life story, as a former Vietnam prisoner of war and a politician known for his maverick streak, as preparing him well for the White House.

"John is an independent man who thinks for himself," the president said. "No matter what the issue, this man is honest and speaks straight from the heart."

Bush was to be bookended by his decidedly more popular wife, Laura. She was to introduce Bush from inside the hall and then return to the podium afterward.

Once it became clear that Gustav's blow was not as bad as once feared and that the convention could get back on track, Perino said it was left to the McCain campaign - not the White House - to decide how to fit Bush into its condensed convention week.

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