Nat'l concerns "Neither on the timetable nor under terms" of Bush Admin

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

President Bush said earlier this week that he's capable of focusing on more than one issue at a time. Up until recently, he hasn't had to.

From September 11, 2001 through his re-election in November 2004, Bush and his White House pivoted back and forth between two sets of issues, focusing primarily on national and homeland security and secondarily on the economy and Bush's domestic priorities. With rare exceptions, the Bush White House was able to dictate the agenda, leverage the President's staunch support among Republicans to keep the party's Hill ranks and activists in line, and with the help of John Kerry's twisted tongue on Iraq, dominate much of the discourse in the presidential campaign.

Now, Bush and his Administration are grappling with three national concerns all at once, neither on their timetable nor under their terms: hurricane relief, Iraq, and energy prices.

Ever since the media beat the federal government to the Gulf Coast, producing reports that clearly contrasted with what the Administration was saying, Bush and his officials have been scrambling to get out in front on hurricane relief. Their escalating efforts this week include the rare resignation of a Bush official on Monday, a rare acknowledgement of responsibility by Bush on Tuesday, and a primetime presidential address tomorrow, from the Gulf, in which Bush is expected to take responsibility again and to present an agenda for going forward.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/