It's time for the president to rally his "natural majority."

Opinion Journal ^ | 08/30/04 | Fred Barnes

[TigerLikesRooster]

Shades of '44

It's time for the president to rally his "natural majority."

BY FRED BARNES Monday, August 30, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

The Republican convention that opens in New York today will be unusual. Its chief purpose is the re-election of President Bush--nothing out of the ordinary about that. But it won't remind anyone of the 1972 or 1984 Republican conventions that propelled President Nixon and President Reagan, respectively, to second terms. The Nixon convention was devoted largely to demonizing his Democratic opponent, George McGovern. The message at Reagan's convention was stay the course and good as things are, they'll get even better if Reagan is re-elected.

Amazingly enough, the 2004 convention aims to achieve what the 1944 Democratic convention did. At the time, President Franklin Roosevelt was a commander in chief whose popularity had been worn down by nine years of economic downturn and three of world war. He was politically vulnerable. But he rallied the natural Democratic majority in the country with a convention speech vigorously defending his war record and presenting an attractive vision of a new term. He won going away, 54% to 46%.

George Bush would like to do the same.

[NDJeep]

Great comparison. The difference is that "W" inherited the economy from Clintoon and his stupid tax and fiscal policies

[Mike Fieschko]

Interesting last paragraph from the Barnes piece:

In 1944, President Roosevelt didn't have to worry about debates with Republican Tom Dewey, a New York prosecutor with a stiff presence and dry speaking style. And he had another advantage. Rather than attend the Democratic convention, Roosevelt spoke from the deck of a Navy vessel in San Diego on its way to Pearl Harbor. He stoutly defended the war effort and talked about his vision for "postwar reconversion." Mr. Bush can't match the setting. But offering a persuasive vision is well within his grasp.

And Bush got raked over the coals for landing on the deck of the USS Lincoln.