LEWISTON – Krystie Martin wiped tears from her cheeks Thursday night as George W. Bush accepted the Republican presidential nomination. To her, Bush was more than the GOP candidate. More than president, even. He was commander in chief.

Bush was thanking the families of soldiers who served in the war on terrorism.

Martin’s husband, Timothy, could not join her at the Maine Republican Party’s campaign headquarters on Lisbon Street during the convention speech. He is in Iraq, serving as a sergeant with the 619th Transportation Company.

“Having my husband over there makes me really want to support someone who’s going to be the best commander in chief,” she said after Bush’s speech.

Martin, 26, of Livermore, said she also “liked how he stands up for families.”

She agrees with his stance against abortion and for marriage between men and women only. She applauded his tax cuts for married couples and for parents.

Martin had volunteered at the downtown GOP office over the summer, calling voters to ask their presidential picks and urging them to go to the polls in November. She also went door to door handing out campaign literature.

The mother of two girls, 1 and 3 years old, met Bush last month during a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

“It was really cool,” she said.

Dan Suthers, a senior at Lisbon Falls High School, pounded his fist into the palm of his hand in a show of approval for Bush’s policies. In his fist, Suthers clutched a miniature American flag.

After the speech, Suthers said Bush, who sometimes is not a great speaker, “nailed it. He did a very good job.”

Suthers, who will be voting this year for the first time, predicted a Bush win. “He blew Kerry’s acceptance speech out of the water.”

Minnie Pond, 83, of Lewiston, said she enjoyed the the whole speech.

“I thought it was lovely. I thought it was great.”

After voting as a registered Democrat all her life, Pond changed her party affiliation this year because she likes Bush. “He’s a Christian,” she said.

She clapped hardest when Bush talked about education and its importance to American children. She also cheered when he talked about improving health care.

Her daughter Nancy Lajoie said she appreciated hearing Bush say he would seek liability reform to help drive down malpractice premiums.

A secretary at Central Maine Medical Center, she said she sees too many doctors leaving practice because they can’t afford the insurance.

In all, about 25 area Republicans watched the speech at the Lisbon Street office where many of them have been volunteering on phone banks. They clapped frequently during the speech and gave Bush four standing ovations.