http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-voters30aug30.story Undecided Voters Want Bush to Offer Specifics
When the president steps up to the podium, they expect to hear answers on Iraq, jobs.
By Maria L. La Ganga
Times Staff Writer
August 30, 2004
President Bush has some explaining to do.
When he steps on stage at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night to accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination, swing voters say, they want to know how he plans to lower gas prices, make healthcare more affordable and create jobs.
America's shrinking cadre of crucial undecided voters say they want to hear Bush promise that he won't touch Social Security funds to pay for something else. They want him to describe how he'll get rid of the national debt. But most of all, they say, they want to know how he plans to extricate U.S. forces from ongoing combat in Iraq.
"We have soldiers dying every day. One thing I learned in the military is you have to have an exit plan," said Terry Eaton, 50, a paramedic training officer in San Antonio. "One of the things George Bush didn't have was a way to get out…. I want to hear what his goals are for Iraq."
Unlike rival John F. Kerry, whose job at the Democratic National Convention last month was largely to tell America who he is, Bush's challenge at the Republican convention is to tell undecided voters what he plans to do in his second term if they help him stay in office.
A Times poll last week showed that only 5% of the electorate is unsure of whom to vote for Nov. 2 — down from 7% a month ago.<snip>