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Bush Returns to Full Campaign Mode
The passion in President Bush's latest news conference was reserved, not for terrorists or evil dictators or makers of dangerous toys for tots, but mainly for Democrats. He doesn't seem to like them.
The president's greatest ire was directed at a liberal political group called MoveOn.org, which is not part of the Democratic Party but an independent group that paid for an advertisement referring to Army Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us." Petraeus just endorsed Bush's "surge" tactic in Iraq.
Although the ad ran several days ago, as Petraeus testified that going from 130,000 troops in Iraq at the start of 2007 to 160,000 now and back to 130,000 in the spring of 2008 makes sense to him, Bush managed as much outrage as if he had just seen it. He said the ad was "disgusting" and "a sorry deal" and should be regarded as an attack not just on one respected general but on the U.S. military as a whole.
"Most Democrats," he said, are more afraid of irritating or alienating MoveOn.org than the military. Most Democrats? And since when is a sophomoric twist on the name of a general (who presumably can take care of himself) an attack on the men and women in the armed forces?
Bush also castigated Democrats who want to "raise taxes" by expanding the availability of state health insurance programs from 6 million children of poor working families to 10 million through a 61-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes. He pledged to veto any such plan.
As for the suggestion that U.S. race relations may be deteriorating, as might be evidenced by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, nooses on a tree on high school grounds in Louisiana and the refusal of most Republican presidential candidates to participate in a diversity debate, Bush insisted Republicans have a good record on race to run on.
With great enthusiasm, the president has returned, if he ever left, to full campaign mode.
Asked if he is an asset or a liability for Republicans in next year's elections, when a president, a third of the Senate and the entire House will be elected, Bush responded snappishly, "strong asset."
Presidents inevitably say, with a sigh, that they yearn just to govern (wisely, of course) and that they are soooo tired of political wrangling.
Nonsense. They love political jousting.
Just as former President Clinton returned eagerly to campaign mode after the election of 1994, when Democrats lost control of Congress largely as a result of his policies (including his wife's disastrous health care task force), this president, whose party lost control of Congress last year, is as eager as ever to release partisan fusillades.
For this White House, as for the Clinton White House, if you are not "for us," you are "against us." Those who oppose keeping 130,000 American soldiers in Iraq in 2008 are unpatriotic. Those who want 4 million more children to have health insurance are advocates of the slippery slope to federalization. Those who want the United States to have a broad foreign policy that advocates talking to those who don't agree with us are throwing in the towel to terrorists.
Bush came to Washington promising compassionate conservatism, unity, civility and a grim determination to return competence to government.
Historians are likely to judge his administration as just as divisive and inept as any previous administration. The war in Iraq almost certainly will be seen as his signature stroke for all time.
With more than a year left in office, now is the time for Bush to put partisan politics aside and govern as a statesman. There must be some Democrats with whom he can get along. There must be some tasks he can get done without every discussion disintegrating into partisan rancor. Let Democrats rant against him -- he could look above the fray if he disdained to get down in the dirt. Imagine a president who acted classy instead of bush league.
Alas, it is not to be. At his press conference he made clear he will go out of office with his dukes up and sarcasm on his lips, as thin-skinned as ever.
The fact that nearly all the GOP presidential candidates so far seem afraid to distance themselves from his policies means that even as a lame duck he -- and Iraq -- will continue to dominate the political landscape. There have been few if any new ideas discussed during the campaign to deal with global warming, the explosive growth of entitlement spending, the continued erosion of educational standards, the crumbling infrastructure, health care costs or our bankrupt foreign policy.
We seem to be in a holding pattern, getting nowhere fast.
Scripps Howard columnist Ann McFeatters has covered the White House and national politics since 1986
© 2007 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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12 Comments so far
Show All"With more than a year left in office, now is the time for Bush to put partisan politics aside and govern as a statesman."
Woehahahaha! For a foreigner like me it is unbelievable how even progressive Americans can be so ignorant! This is the most childish blather I have ever read on this site. Keep on dreaming!
Campaigning is Bush's #1 priority. Keeping Republicans in charge of everything is the fascists' plan.
No. Keeping Fascists in charge of everything is the Fascists plan. Like, well, Democrats.
The majority of Americans have come to expect no better from Bush. He's never been anything more than a two bit political hack, just like his mentor Karl Rove. That's why he'll surely go down in history as this country's absolute worse president. All this outrage over MoveOn was a big transparent show brought to you by the republicans, who are always looking for a little meat to throw their base. If we had any mainstream journalists that were worth a damn, they would have quickly pointed the underlying truth in this whole sad story. People in this country are treated like a bunch of children who can't handle the truth. The truth is Patraeus IS a proxy for the president. That's his job. The truth is he wasn't entirely honest. But of course, that wasn't the story. It was all about those horrible people at MoveOn, the ones whose opinion about the war is consistent with 70% of the country. Yet, somehow they've been portrayed as a wacko far left wing fringe group? How is it that 70% of the country are now considered "fringe"?
Q: Mr. President, for Republicans seeking election next year are you an asset or a liability?
THE PRESIDENT: Strong asset.
The reporters all laughed - and the Loonitary Decider thought they were laughing... with him? Same as it ever was...
Most football coaches that lose every game they have ever played and decimate their team are not treated as successes and made into great heroes. Let`s just watch football and forget this stinking rotten mess our country is becoming, thanks to right wing loonies, NRA gun crazies, political hacks, self serving dumbells for leaders and representatives, and a bought out press and media. Nothing will change short of depression or (nucular) war, and I don`t think we will like that either.
perhaps it`s time for heavyweight Al Gore to step up and announce his candidacy for president ....say what you will about him but maybe the american people need to be reminded once more he was actually the winner of the 2000 election, he spoke out against the invasion of iraq before it happened, and has done his homework regarding environmental issues...he just needs to be wiser in who he selects as his running mate, someone like Kucinich or even Edwards could work......hey , lets give the guy one more chance, afterall we need to come to the realization again of what really happened in 2000....come on Gore, the time is ripe and we all are yearning for more of the truth.
"…when a president, a third of the Senate and the entire House will be elected …"
Wow! Beautiful! I love that! Now we got a chance to throw out all the warmongering rascals, Democrats and Republicans alike, and reinstate a government of, by, and for the people—that is, of course, if Bush does not declare martial law. But wait up; we can do that only if:
1) We insist that voting machines with paper trail be used.
2) We insist that UN election monitors are asked in to supervise the election.
The time to demand is right now, otherwise we will end up with what we've got now.
Iraq is 1/13th the size of the USA. If the US in any way lessens it's assault on Iraq it will be "surrendering to the terrorists". If arguments such as this are convincing people to back this occupation, then reason and logic are dead.
This is what Bobblehead does best, campaign where he and his minion's can smear, mislead and plain out lie. That is his public drug of choice. It's that other stuff that bores his chimp mind; Governing.
"The truth is Patraeus IS a proxy for the president. That's his job. The truth is he wasn't entirely honest. But of course, that wasn't the story. It was all about those horrible people at MoveOn, the ones whose opinion about the war is consistent with 70% of the country. Yet, somehow they've been portrayed as a wacko far left wing fringe group? How is it that 70% of the country are now considered "fringe"?"
Right on, spicegal! It boggles the mind that this administration continues to get away with tarring critics of its military policies as traitors who don't "support the troops." Surely we can admire the service and selflessness of our troops even as we deplore what Ray McGovern, in his September 17th article on commondreams.org ("Greenspan Misses Cheney's Memo: Spills the Beans on Oil"), describes as "the cynical exploitation of genuine patriotism." If we truly do support the troops, we will not allow the likes of Bush and Petraus to misuse them in a manner that disrespects their sacrifice.
"The truth is Patraeus IS a proxy for the president. That's his job. The truth is he wasn't entirely honest. But of course, that wasn't the story. It was all about those horrible people at MoveOn, the ones whose opinion about the war is consistent with 70% of the country. Yet, somehow they've been portrayed as a wacko far left wing fringe group? How is it that 70% of the country are now considered "fringe"?"
Right on, spicegal! It boggles the mind that this administration continues to get away with tarring critics of its military policies as traitors who don't "support the troops." Surely we can admire the service and selflessness of our troops even as we deplore what Ray McGovern, in his September 17th article on commondreams.org ("Greenspan Misses Cheney's Memo: Spills the Beans on Oil"), describes as "the cynical exploitation of genuine patriotism." If we truly do support the troops, we will not allow the likes of Bush and Cheney and Petraeus to misuse them in a manner that disrespects their sacrifice.