Bush on offensive as Kerry stumbles Excerpt:After months of refusing to respond to attacks by Democrats during their fractious primary elections, the president now appears to be having some success in defining Mr. Kerry as a tax-raising, flip-flopping political opportunist who is dovish on the war against terrorism. Such characterizations have depressed Mr. Kerry's support in the past two weeks, according to a poll released Tuesday by CBS News.
Although the president's re-election numbers stayed steady at 46 percent, Mr. Kerry's dropped from 47 percent to 43 percent. The Kerry number slipped to 38 percent when independent candidate Ralph Nader was added to the poll, while the president remained at 46 percent. Furthermore, 57 percent of respondents agreed Mr. Kerry says what people want to hear, while only 33 percent said the Democrat says what he believes.
The Bush campaign wasn't always so aggressive at driving down Mr. Kerry's numbers. Two weeks ago, Mr. Bush was on the defensive about using September 11 imagery in his first campaign ads. After Democrats produced families of victims of the attacks who spoke out against the ads, Republicans let several days pass before coming up with victims' families who supported the ads. But such hesitancy has been replaced by a rapid-response strategy that prizes speed and overwhelming force.
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"It's weird because half the people are criticizing us for coming out too early; the other half are criticizing us for coming out too late," the campaign source said. "I think we're doing it right."
The campaign rejected the traditional re-election strategy for an incumbent president, which entails staying in the Rose Garden and refusing to even mention the challenger by name until the very end of the campaign. Mr. Bush also was warned to stay in the Rose Garden during the run-up to the 2002 election. Democrats and even some Republicans predicted that the president would be blamed if he actively participated in the first midterms of his presidency, which usually result in major losses for the incumbent president's party. But Mr. Bush ignored the advice and campaigned furiously in dozens of states, helping his party score historic gains in both the House and Senate. The president is betting on the strategy again this year.
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