A kinder, gentler Bush reinvents self for 2004

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/23/a_kinder_gentler_bush_reinvents_self_for_2004/

Like the Social Security lockbox, the furor over Bob Jones University's dating policies, and questions about the appropriateness of locking lips with your spouse on the convention podium, George W. Bush's good humor seems to have disappeared since the 2000 election. Remember the great joshing Bush who gave everyone on his campaign plane nicknames and gamely put on a Chicago-mobster suit to make fun of Regis Philbin's wardrobe during an appearance on "Live with Regis and Kelly"? Remember how he disarmed Al Gore by responding to a debate point about how Bush had tried to limit the number of children eligible for a health-insurance program by saying, "If he's trying to allege that I'm a hardhearted person and I don't care about children, he's absolutely wrong"?

<snip>

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Bush performed one of the truly great acts of presidential leadership with his heartfelt expressions of gratitude to rescue workers in New York. But his aides seem to have taken the wrong message from the event, believing that Bush comes off best when surrounded by people in uniform. That has led to a series of speeches before military groups, where he's overwhelmed his expressions of gratitude with ever-greater amounts of cowboy rhetoric.

In some ways, these speeches show Bush at his most zealous and least presidential, such as the one two weeks ago at Fort Stewart in Georgia where he used the Army cheer "Hooah" and cued the audience to chant along when he recounted his victories over the Taliban and Saddam Hussein's regime. These expressions of confidence, bordering on cockiness, haven't changed as the public grows more concerned about the situation in Iraq. And that fact alone may be making Bush seem more distant, and less responsive, to the average American.

<snip>

The 9/11 attacks and the Iraq invasion may have established Bush as a defender of the nation, but he's not a reassuring presence like Roosevelt or Eisenhower. He asks for respect, citing the tough decisions he's made, but has yet to stake a deeper claim on the hearts and minds of the country.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Shades of Al Gore

* can reinvent as many times as he wants. Shit is still shit, no matter how much you change it.

[realFedUp]

2. This is from the Texas playbook

I read somewhere in a book about Bush that this
is how they operated in Texas. People have short memories
the first two years. It'll be up to a lot of us to
remind them in short soundbites.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Too late dumbass!!!

:puffpiece:

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. He has fowled up too much

Bush himself is just the eye candy, while he was chopping down trees on his fantas ranch in texas it was cheney appointing the cabinet:wtf: (ALL oil execs:+ and enron employees:evilfrown:). :puke: