[rface]

I am getting a little nervous - not because of this article, but because of the undercurrents I am feeling...

I am still optimistic because I think this is the right approach - the remarkable thing about the Bush administration is that it is on the offensive, not on the defensive....

Ashland, Missouri

[Mo1]

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[Coop]

(when popular Bill Clinton withstood a feeble challenge from Bob Dole).

Yes, the Impeached Rapist was SO popular he pulled in a whopping 49% of the vote.

[gaspar]

Shribman does not make it clear if Johnson was popular two years after taking over from Kennedy, or two years after being reelected in 1964. If it is the latter, as I assume, then he had already faced nearly four years of protest over the Viet Nam war, a protest that would come to a head in 1967. He was a know and increasingly disliked commodity.

Johnson's high approval ratings reflected his "War on Poverty", but neither he nor Bush can escape the consequences of an unpopular war. Bush knows that and the Iraq business will not be a long drawn-out affair run from the White House with a automaton running the Department of Defense.

[Coop]

I don't really see a need to be nervous. President Bush could barely achieve a majority approval rating in 2001 prior to the cowardly terrorist attacks, yet he still won. Since then he has solidified himself as a leader, his approval ratings are higher despite a sluggish economy and constant negative press, and he actually gained about seven electoral votes from redistricting.

So, in my view, his challenge is to hang on to FL, NH, AR and WV. If he does that, he wins. Or if he loses one or two of those states, he just needs to win some competitive states like WI, NM, IA, OR, WA, PA or MI. Losing Florida would make things much tougher, though, so you can bet that little brother will be working hard (again) to deliver that state.

If the economy improves, as I expect it will, Bush will win. And I don't expect a war with Iraq to affect him much either way.

[ClearCase_guy]

The White House is playing a form of political hardball not seen in this city since, well, the Nixon years.

Is this the new strategy?
George W. Bush is an airhead like Ronald Reagan. Oops! Didn't work.
George W. Bush is weak, like his father was weak. Oops! Didn't work.
George W. Bush is a evil, dictatorial socio-path like Nixon. Waiting ... waiting ...

[Brett66]

The press always play up the economy as the paramount issue, it's usually unforseen factors, and how the president reacts to them that doom him.

Nixon: Watergate may not have doomed him if he didn't try a coverup,came out and apologized profusely.

Carter: He had a miserable economy but it was the Iran hostage crisis that drove his numbers into the dirt.

Bush Senior: He made "read my lips" the centerpiece of his campaign and committed the biggest political blunder since Watergate when he broke that promise.

[ex-snook]

President Bush started out with three mistakes which are now coming home to roost. (1) He ignored Israel/Palestine and we got war. (2) He ignored the economy and now needs a 10 year plan and huge deficits to fix it. (3) He ignored NK and now faces a war threat.

What he did not realize is that problems won't go away if you ignore them. Fortunately for the country he now has solutions for these problems. If the solutions work he will have clear sailing. If not, ???

(however he might keep checking the rest of the world and make sure small problems don't develop into big ones)