<snip>
MR. DAVID BRODER: Well, it's been a terrible week or 10 days for this country and therefore for the administration. But I think compounding it has been the fact that of all moments, the president chose this moment to disappear. At a time when the country really needs to hear from a president, from its president, and the world needs to hear from the president, he's gone silent on us, and it's inexplicable to me.
MR. RUSSERT: Ron Brownstein?
MR. RON BROWNSTEIN: Well, especially given how much they are trying to emphasize his identity as a decisive wartime leader as the core of the argument for re-election. What those numbers tell you, Tim, is that this election is primary a referendum on President Bush and his performance. The country seems to be judging him on three different variables. The economy, he has some good news, but his ratings on that are poor and may take some time to improve. Terrorism, he's under increased pressure and will be as the commission report continues, obviously, with the release of the daily briefing. But because we haven't been attacked since September 11th, his ratings on that have been strong and are likely to stay strong. And Iraq is sort of a wild card or a tipping point. The country's view of how Iraq is going and how the president is handling it is much more volatile than either of those other issues, the economy or terrorism. Very sensitive to contemporary events. It has plummeted over the last few weeks. It's brought down his approval rating with it, and when that happens, John Kerry moves into the lead.
MR. RUSSERT: I sense if there's anxiety about Iraq and anxiety about jobs and the economy, then an incumbent president has to worry?
MS. LISA MYERS: Oh, absolutely. I mean, especially one of the things the pollsters watch most closely are right track, wrong track, whether the country's at--in the right or wrong direction. And clearly this is a profound switch to find so many people who find what's going on in this country heading in the wrong direction, and that tends to be a referendum on the incumbent.
But I talked to a lot of senior Republicans with a lot of political experience in the last 48 hours, and they're concerned primarily about a couple of things. They think the images coming out of Crawford are just terrible. It doesn't look like the president is in charge. It doesn't look like he's concerned. They're particularly concerned that he doesn't seem to be showing more empathy for the families and for the troops in Iraq. And no one's suggested that the president doesn't care, but it's not being conveyed to the American people. I did notice the White House has added a visit to the wounded...MR. RUSSERT: This morning.
MS. MYERS:
...to the president's schedule, and I think they're hearing a lot from Republicans around the country, "Hey, this has got to stop. You've got to get your act together and you've got to convey that you are in charge."<snip>
Plus...
<snip>
MR. RUSSERT: But the president has to convince the American people Iraq is a centerpiece in the war on terror, because they support him on the war on terror. If they think it's a foolish, "side venture," then he does...
MR. BROWNSTEIN: Not only a side venture, but more people are making the argument that it's actually counterproductive. I mean, there's an argument out there saying, A, that he's diverted resources, the Dick Clarke argument, or, B, that he is allowing al-Qaeda to recruit, is becoming a recruitment tool for them to recruit Islamic extremists. So that is a threat to him, no doubt.
MR. BRODER:
And the calendar works against the president at this point on Iraq because he is insisting on that June 30 hand over-date. And when you asked Ambassador Bremer, "To whom are you going to hand power," his response was, "That's a good question, Tim." That is not a good answer. And when we do not know--and not only don't we in the press know, not only does Tim Russert not know, but we've had the leading members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Lugar and Senator Biden, say, "Nobody in the administration is talking to them about what we think will happen or what we want to happen in Iraq after June 30th."<snip>
Link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4717276/I just love the smell of fretting rePublicans!!!
:hi::evilgrin::hi:
On edit: spelling.... again
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