"The solution to almost every problem seems to be either to rely on a close personal associate or to pander to his right wing."
Why would he rely on anyone but his close personal associates? I don't recall Clinton relying on anyone but close, personal associates or pandering to anything other than the left!
And for the record, NYT's: Bush pandered plenty to you leftist pigs. It got him nowhere!
Bush needs to say something like this: "The portrayal by the Democrats of any moral opposition to abortion, or of efforts to regulate abortion by law, as "extremism" are an insult to the millions of Americans of all faiths and no faith who find abortion a morally troubling issue. Up until Roe v. Wade, most states restricted abortion in some manner or other, and these laws were not manifestations of extremism, but of the mainstream reverence for nascent human life that is the hallmark of a civilized society. Of course, in a democracy, opinions will vary even on the most profound moral issues, and people will at different times and places respond to those issues according to their best judgment. And these judgments are best expressed by the people's elected representatives, not dictated once and for all by judicial fiat. In our system of government, the Supreme Court was never intended as the final arbiter of all moral issues, but only of those matters explicitly addressed by the Constitution."