Yes, you are missing what is going *unsaid*. Bush does favor a strong Dollar, but what is unsaid is that we are far from the Dollar being just "strong," we are at a point where the Dollar is grossly overvalued (still).
A strong Dollar is vastly below current Dollar levels.
It's an easy test to see fair market value for a currency such as the Dollar: when imports = exports, then your currency is at fair market value. A strong Dollar will have slightly more imports than exports. A weak Dollar will have slightly more exports than imports.
Right now, we still have vastly more imports than exports, so the Dollar has a long way to fall before imports are only slightly more than exports (i.e. the Strong Dollar point).
It is outrageously expensive for an American living in France to pay the basics!
It is so odd, like to fly, I buy the ticket from America (and leave before I come...) and save 30%!
Something's fishy. The cost of living is outrageous! Where did the dollar's value go?