Bush's shuffle to the centre

[Paragon]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ft/20040609/bs_ft/1086445553136

Karl Rove, President Bush's master strategist, is once said to have remarked that the 2004 election campaign would be about guns, gays and God.

His observation - whether apocryphal or not - sums up the conventional wisdom that the Republicans will use cultural "wedge issues" to win votes, particularly in the South.

But recent polls suggest this approach will not be enough to win the election. A Los Angeles Times poll reported this week that 58 per cent of Americans feel the country is on the wrong track. Most are concerned about the war in Iraq, the economy in general, unemployment, terrorism and rising oil prices. Ethics and moral decline ranks somewhere in the middle, according to a Gallup poll.

These numbers explain why Mr Bush has been shuffling toward the centre. The shift is most noticeable in foreign policy. Mr Bush still carries the mantle of "war president", but he has reached out to allies and the United Nations over Iraq, where he now sits in a more "centrist" position favoured by Colin Powell, US secretary of state (and Senator John Kerry, his Democratic opponent)...

[Hawkeye-X]

1. * can shuffle to the socialist side

and we'd see through the transparency of his extreme right-wing agenda. It will fall very flat.

Hawkeye-X

[Born Free]

15. he'll turn more to GOD

Just as any desperate person turns to GOD as a last resort, the bush team will inject GOD everywhere, however it is an idication they truly believe they are losing

[Journeyman]

2. His supporters, however, favor him because he's "resolute". . .

so as Nixon used to say, this shuffle to the center "won't play in Peoria" . . . and it certainly won't convince those on the fence.

[grilled onions]

3. To the tune of Harlem Shuffle

His actions of middle of da road and then easing to the right the rest of the time could be a great video done to the "Harlem Shuffle". It was written years ago that he pulls this crap all the time. Fake to the middle to grab the vote of the gullible and then a hard right once the votes are in your favor.

[Just Me]

4. Shuffle my butt. That man & his entourage will NEVER reach "centre.n/t

[northern]

6. I was in San Francisco

yesterday on business. After one meeting I was having a coffee with three American colleagues. One of them made a comment that I didn't hear, then said " I hope none of you are Republicans". I explained that I couldn't be a Repug because I'm a Canadian. The rest was awsome. All three opened up on Shrub. Saying that if he is re elected the US is finished.
The conversation gave me some hope that you guys will be able to pull through this November.

[Lisa]

14. Hi northern!

Good to see another Canadian -- one US expatriate I know, with "Democrats Abroad", tells me that there are so many Americans living up here that they exceed the number of votes available in the 8 smallest states plus DC!

[Tempest]

5. Lipstick on a pig

Sorry Dumbya, we have 4 years of failures to hang around your neck.

[amber dog democrat]

7. He can shuffle off to Buffalo for all I care

and it still won't matter. We know who he is.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

8. EXACTLY

Too late, Shrub, people have you figured by now-and a lot of us remember all your empty centrist rhetoric in '00. I hope he does go through with this; the only thing that will happen is that a lot of his base will get pissed and that his reputation for being "steadfast" (I prefer "pig-ignorant and stubborn"-like the Bourbons, he's learned nothing and forgotten nothing) will go out the window.
GO FOR IT, BABY

[Carolab]

9. NOW who's flip-flopping? n/t

[amber dog democrat]

17. Where is Robespierre ?

and the Committee of Public Safety, when we need them?

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

[WhiteTara]

10. At first I thought the Shuffle was because he was in chains

Imagine my dismay that it was not so.

[TahitiNut]

11. They're LIARS. What they say means nothing about what they do.

They use rhetoric without conscience and without integrity. They use rhetoric to manipulate others, not to truthfully portray either their own intentions or their own values.

They are LIARS. The Busholini Cabal is the most corrupt administration in the history of the US. They're more corrupt than the Warren Harding administration. They're more corrupt and antithetical to the interests of the People than King George III.

They're liars. They are completely undeserving of the trust of either their own party or other Americans. They're corrupt.

[hippiegranny]

12. the transparancy

will be lost on some, but will piss off some of his base and will not fool the rest. not a good move, but let's not tell him.

[crossroads]

13. I notice he has borrowed a page from Kerry on wanting the UN...

to be more involved in Iraq... waffling or flip-flopping?
:dem: :eyes: :shrug:

[freethought]

16. Hold on a sec!

I do recall Mr. Bush saying that he did not pay attention to polls! Gee, I guess he had a change of heart. Prick!