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Posted on 01/02/2004 3:42:58 PM PST by Libloather
Bush's Steps in December Boost Prospects
1 hour, 56 minutes ago
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas - A little luck and some pre-emptive moves before the new year began have allowed President Bush to muffle Democratic criticism on a host of political issues, from Medicare to mad cow disease, the CIA leak to Saddam Hussein.
Democrats can no longer criticize Bush about failing to find the Iraqi leader. Got him. The prescription drug benefit Bush promised? Done, although only time will tell if seniors really think it's a good deal.
The sluggish economy? Upticks in financial indicators — the nation's manufacturing sector on Friday reported that it finished 2003 with its most robust month of growth in 20 years — are making the economy a tough issue for Democrats, too.
"Clearly, the visual perception of how Bush is doing has dramatically improved," said David Winston, who polls for House and Senate Republican leadership groups. "People believe the economy is improving, but it's more than that. You finally see signs that it's also generating jobs."
Capturing Saddam was a coup, although the timing could have been better, say Democratic analysts, who argue that the escalation of the terror alert before the holidays has diluted any positive effect that getting the Iraqi leader behind bars had on Americans' sense of security.
"He wants to argue that getting Saddam makes America safer, but two weeks of a high terror alert mutes that message," says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
Democratic consultant Dane Strother, who is not affiliated with any candidates hoping to take Bush's job, contends that Saddam's capture will be old news by the November election.
"As long as we're losing four or five people a day and they're refusing to show us the body bags, Iraq is going to continue to be a problem for them (the Bush re-election campaign)," Strother said.
Amid the frenzy over the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, Democrats were quick to point out that Republican leaders in Congress just weeks ago squelched efforts to halt the marketing of meat from animals, such as the diseased milk cow from Washington state, that are too old or too ill to stand or walk.
The Bush administration, however, promptly announced several steps last week to boost the nation's defenses against mad cow disease — a move that will help keep the Democrats from using it as an election-year issue.
"They're very quick to cut loose of anything that's going to be a problem for them," Lake said, adding that she believes the Bush administration is taking advantage of the holiday season when the public is preoccupied and outspoken Democrats likely to respond are on vacation.
Bush critics will be "back in full force" by the middle of the month, she argues, and continue to gain steam until the election.
"In general, people don't like to review old news, but at election time, people like to review records," Lake said.
Bush also took much of the air out of two political issues that had loomed large weeks ago.
The Justice Department investigation into whether a Bush administration official leaked the name of a CIA operative was a cloud hanging over the White House as the election year began. But just before Bush closed his 2003 calendar, Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from the department's inquiry. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald of Chicago, a career prosecutor, will lead the probe.
And in another late-December step, the Defense Department announced it was removing the Army Corps of Engineers from overseeing oil imports into Iraq. The department acted just weeks after Pentagon auditors said Halliburton — Vice President Dick Cheney's former company — may have overcharged taxpayers under the Corps' supervision.
"The White House, in any administration, is a political machine, and this is a political season," Strother said. "He (Bush) is going to take every issue off the table that he can. They have unofficially entered the re-election campaign."
When was the last time a RAT was proven correct? Seems like a millennium...
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Hey Rat analyst. Bush doesn’t plan it this way it just happens like sh!!. Bad guys don’t cooperate. And Saddam’s capture was not orchestrated.
Democratic consultant Dane Strother, who is not affiliated with any candidates hoping to take Bush's job, contends that Saddam's capture will be old news by the November election.
Oh yeah it will you silly rat.
"As long as we're losing four or five people a day and they're refusing to show us the body bags, Iraq is going to continue to be a problem for them (the Bush re-election campaign)," Strother said.
Losing four or five people a day?? Can you rats ever tell the truth? That would put our combat fatalities well over 1000 dead AND that’s a big lie.
Wondering idly if switcheroos will help Pubbies field more viable candidates. An electorate ready to vote Pubbie, but faced with a dearth of skillful Pubbie Pols would be a shame.
They're still harping on the no-body-bags-to-embarrass-Bush-with theme, I see, with no mention made that this was also the policy during the Clinton years.
What a bunch of f***ing ghouls.
Can they possibly keep it up for an entire year? I doan think so...
Much much better than "Zig Zag" Zell Miller. But I'm just being picky, and it's a little off topic.
Your hair-trigger misfired...
Uh, is it just me, or can you, too, separate those things?
In fact, the heightened alert only made me feel safer, knowing that they are doing their jobs, how about you?
....and they're refusing to show us the body bags
THese people are disgusting.
No serious attacks since 9/11, flights getting canceled from all over the planet, our heroic troops finding really dangerous perps...
I'm with you...
Please add to list of evidence to whoever is collecting proof of left wing media BIAS!
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