"Other factors........were Mr. Bush's gamble to run on terrorism and his repeated use of a clear, concise message"
Only the Times would consider a clear concise message to be a gamble.
Always better to go with a murky overly verbose message.
Really...'gamble on a clear and consise message'...oh well, the NYTimes is the democrat rag. They suffer from the same mindset so we shouldn't expect more from them.
"Only the Times would consider a clear concise message to be a gamble."
If I had to rewrite it to what I think they meant, it would be something like as follows.
President Bush gambled to run on terrorism. He also repeatedly used a clear, concise message.
so much for the "paper of record"