Analysis: Bush stubborn streak an issue

AP | 4/03/04 | TOM RAUM

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON (AP) — While his re-election campaign is capable of lightning-quick responses, President Bush himself is often slow to respond to major dilemmas until forced to do so by rising political heat.

Bush had refused to allow national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify before the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks — even after members of Bush's own party, including the panel's Republican chairman, complained.

He finally relented last week, but not until the White House had gone into full damage-control mode.

Perhaps learning from that episode, the administration did a quick public relations pivot later in the week when OPEC announced a price-rising reduction in oil production of 1 million barrels a day.

The White House at first said merely that prices should be set by market forces to ensure adequate supplies. But three hours later, in a dramatic shift in tone, it said Bush was disappointed in the oil cartel's action and that administration officials were in contact with oil-producing countries.

The about face followed criticism from Democratic rival John Kerry that Bush, a former oilman, was slow on the uptake.

As a presidential candidate four years ago, Bush had pledged to use his political influence and "jawbone OPEC" to keep oil prices in check.

Bush has often found himself boxed in by his own statements, sometimes making it hard to act until the pressure becomes overwhelming.

"He is not the most subtle president in terms of leaving escape clauses in his statements about what he stands for," said American University political scientist James Thurber. "So he seems as if he's digging in his heels — and then is forced to compromise."

It's a pattern Bush has set before, one of seeming to be intractable even to the point of political damage:

_He waited until the last minute last December before lifting 20-month-old tariffs on foreign steel. By delaying so long, Bush made it look like he bowed to pressure from the European Union, which was poised to slap $2.2 billion in sanctions on U.S. products. Bush's move will hurt steel makers in states critical in the November presidential election.

_He has never taken responsibility for the fact that weapons of mass destruction haven't been found in Iraq, or acknowledged that intelligence on them may have been faulty. His public jokes about not finding such weapons didn't help, drawing protests from military families.

_ It took Bush weeks to take personal responsibility for his erroneous State of the Union claim in January 2002 that Saddam Hussein was shopping for nuclear materials in Africa. First, he let CIA Director George Tenet and a national security aide take the blame, giving ammunition to Democrats and other Iraq war critics.

_The White House continues to refuse to budge on releasing information about closed-door meetings of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, which crafted the administration's energy policy. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.

_His dogged insistence in 2001 on creating a national defense against incoming ballistic missiles from hostile states wore down most of his international and domestic critics.The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, using airplanes, undercut his early emphasis on missile attacks as the nation's biggest security concern.

Restricting Rice's availability, and his own, to the Sept. 11 commission fueled Democratic criticism that the White House had something to hide in the controversy caused by former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke's accusation that Bush's fixation on Iraq undermined the war on terror.

When he finally capitulated last week and agreed to let Rice testify under oath and in public, and agreed that he and Cheney would go before the full commission in a private session, much of the damage had been done — and it looked like Bush was buckling to political pressure.

The battle over Rice's testimony "was distracting from focusing on the substance," said James Steinberg, a former national security aide in the Clinton administration. Putting aside questions of executive privilege and allowing Rice to testify publicly "was an important thing that had to be done, given the importance of the issue," Steinberg said.

George Washington University historian Leo Ribuffo said Bush isn't the first president to appear intractable in public. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Johnson had similar stubborn streaks that sometimes got them into political hot water, Ribuffo said.

Ribuffo noted that Bush usually compromises in the end, and that his obstinacy may seem heightened in the contrast with his predecessor, Bill "Clinton, who would change his views on anything at the spur of the moment."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Tom Raum has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies.

[kattracks]

DNC/Kerry talking points:

Economy.................X

WOT.....................X

Hmmm.. OK GWB is stubborn.

Yea that's it. That's a winner.

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[goldstategop]

Seinfeld is complex and nuanced and indecisive and to liberals, that's a virtue!

[demlosers]

Analysis: Bush stubborn streak an issue

Translation: can you flip-flop more like Kerry. Waaaah!

[KellyAdmirer]

The liberals are really grasping for an issue. The ground fell out from under their feet on the economy with the Friday jobs report - admit it, liberals, you know it's true. Now they are going the "character attack" way. Unfortunately for them, President Bush has managed things beautifully, even if liberals don't understand what he is doing.

For instance, with the Rice testimony, it has been built up in the press to such a frenzy due to the cluck-clucking over whether she would appear that when she actually does appear, it will get huge attention, more than if she just meekly appeared at the committee's order, and way more than if she appeared publicly BEFORE the partisan Clarke. The administration ultimately gets a boost by drawing this out, something the liberals, looking at the short-term and not the long-term, haven't comprehended.

So, while the liberals grasp at straws, the President is showing his usual cunning. The beauty is that the liberals apparently don't even realize that what is happening to them is totally deliberate and succeeding.

[adam_az]

STUBBORN was a Kerry talking point a few weeks ago.

Tom Raum of AP is turning Kerry's stump speech into an article!



New Ad Highlights Kerry Commitment to Keeping Jobs Here
U.S. Newswire (press release), DC - Apr 1, 2004
... John Kerry. ... George W. Bush is running on the slogan of 'steady leadership.' But ... the same old failed policies, what we've seen is 'stubborn leadership.' George ...


Kerry, Bush Criticize Each Other on Defense Policy
WTEV, FL - Mar 18, 2004
... Kerry on Wednesday accused Bush of "a stubborn pursuit of the same arrogant policies" and vowed to reach out to the international community, maintaining, "we ...


Bush's Vanished Capital
Atlantic Online - Mar 31, 2004
... The answer is not a stubborn pursuit of ... our determination to get the job done.'" But Kerry also called ... For one year after 9/11, Bush was widely acclaimed as ...


Kerry terms Bush stand stubborn
Hi Pakistan, Pakistan - Mar 18, 2004
... bomb blast destroyed a Baghdad hotel, Mr Kerry said there ... by US soldiers in Iraq despite Mr Bush's declaration on ... But the answer is not a stubborn pursuit of ...

Velma — Fashion Victim :
Slate, United States - Mar 29, 2004
... I am a 0. If Kerry's a flip-flopper and Bush is stubborn, which is a worse flaw in a president? Is flippery-floppery a procedural offense or a cosmetic one? ...


Kerry, Cheney Exchange Criticism on Iraq War
TruthNews.com - Mar 18, 2004
... But Mr. Kerry said the United States must help achieve a ... for a reversal of what he termed the Bush administration's "stubborn pursuit" of ...



Kerry takes on GOP head-on in swing through pivotal Va.
Newsday, NY - Mar 16, 2004
... Let's not forget how deep a hole George Bush's stubborn and arrogant foreign policy has dug us into," said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. ...

[WFTR]

I think the administration allowed the controversy over Dr. Rice's testimony to grow so that her testimony would receive more attention. The administration wants people to be interested so that they will watch her for themselves. When they see and hear Dr. Rice speak, they will make comparisons to the type of people that the Democrats put forward as leaders. They will see that Dr. Rice is a genius in comparison to Madeline Albright and the other dim bulbs who represent the Democrats. When they make that comparison, the people will realize that we can't afford to let Democrats regain power.

Ready for a Repeat
Bill

[dirtboy]

So the media has gone from trying to show that Bush flip-flops more than Kerry to trying to show that he's stubborn and won't change positions. More of the damned-if-Bush-does, damned-if-Bush-doesn't nonsense we've come to expect.

[No Truce With Kings]

Actually, Bush's "stubbornness" is just his form of playing rope-a-dope with the Democrats. Bush digs in his heels, and the Democrats push. Bush digs in deeper. The Democrats push harder. Bush stubborns on. The Dems push still harder.

Then Bush give in, the Dems push on, over, and flat onto their faces. Remember the UN resolution? Remember the vote to authorize a war in Iraq? In both those cases Bush doggedly held his ground until the Democrats forced Bush to do exactly what Bush wanted to do -- but only after forcing the Dems to take a vote or position that the Dems would otherwise have avoided.

No wonder the press hates Bush's "stubbornness."

[John Jorsett]

ANALYSIS: Bush critics desperate to find some character flaw to attach to him

[finnman69]

The AP hacks are getting deperate that their slime is not working.

[rogueleader]

This is hilarious!

A few days ago the AP was trying to go after Bush for waffling.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1108329/posts

That didn't stick. Now the AP is going after Bush for not waffling enough.

The irony! The irony! Aaaarrrgggh.

[finnman69]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040403/ap_on_el_pr/bush_digging_in

FYI the DUmmies are rating this story highly at yahoo. Feel free to gove it an appropriate rating. The rating meter is at the end of the story. Currently it's a 4.54 out of 5 with only 38 people rating it. It's being anti-freeped.

[FairOpinion]

Llink to this article in the SF Chrincle:


WASHINGTON TODAY: Bush stubborn streak can make him slow to respond

TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/04/03/politics1255EST0504.DTL

What I would like to know is why the Associate Press reports this as NEWS, when in fact it's an editorial -- one person's opinion.

Not to mention that this is nothing but a hatchet piece. Bush demonstrated that he takes the right amount of time to respond. The Dems are simultaneously accusing him of being a "cowboy" (with the connotation, that he is too fast to respond, without thinking everything through" and that he is "too slow" to respond. Now wonder they like Kerry, who can hold too diametrically opposed positions at the same time.

Bush has proven himself to be a REAL STATESMAN.

[FairOpinion]

"http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040403/ap_on_el_pr/bush_digging_in

FYI the DUmmies are rating this story highly at yahoo. Feel free to gove it an appropriate rating. The rating meter is at the end of the story. Currently it's a 4.54 out of 5 with only 38 people rating it. It's being anti-freeped."

====

It's being "DU-ed".


There are only 41 votes, we should be able to take care of that pronto. I did my part. :)

[finnman69]

I just sent both articles to polipundit and instapundit. Someone else should send this to Rush and Hannity.

[pax_et_bonum]

Hmmmm...

Columbus was stubborn.

Our founding fathers were stubborn.

Settlers of the old west were stubborn.

Winston Churchill was stubborn.

Lech Waleza was stubborn.

and the list goes on...

[Verginius Rufus]

When Bush did decide to let Condi Rice testify, David Broder published a hit piece attacking him for giving in (and thereby supposedly harming Presidential prerogatives for the future).

The first President George W. was also stubborn...that was the main reason he saw us successfully through the Revolutionary War. Tom Raum may not have heard of him, but a fellow named Thomas Paine wrote a famous essay which began, "These are the times that try men's souls." That has been the spirit GWB has shown since 9/11, and for the good of the country he had better not abandon it.

[navyblue]

Columbus was stubborn. Our founding fathers were stubborn. Settlers of the old west were stubborn. Winston Churchill was stubborn. Lech Waleza was stubborn.

I don't follow your logic here. Stubborness is not a virtue. Being pricipled is.

To add to your list:

Hitler was stubborn.

Stalin was stubborn.

Not suggesting our president is anything like them. Just pointing out that being pricipled is not the same as being just plain mule headed! And I think Bush sometimes falls into that category.

[Hardastarboard]

The whole Rice testimony thing reminds me of both sides tugging on a rope, and then Bush lets go just when Kerry thinks he's winning, and he ends up in a briar bush. He's done that a LOT to these guys, and they just don't learn.