CNN: On friendly turf, Bush scoffs at Dems' optimism (CAUTION: High Smirk Advisory)

[Human Torch]

On friendly turf, Bush scoffs at Dems' optimism
POSTED: 12:59 p.m. EST, October 30, 2006

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/30/bush.campaigning.ap/index.html

STATESBORO, Georgia (AP) -- President Bush, faced with polls that show his party's hold on Congress slipping, said Monday that Democrats haven't won anything yet. "You know what I know -- this election is far from over," Bush said at a Republican rally at Georgia Southern University, campaigning for House candidate Max Burns. He mocked talk of Democrats already considering which offices they'll take if they win control of Congress. "You might remember that about this time in 2004, some of them were picking out their new offices in the West Wing," Bush said of his own re-election bid. "The movers never got the call."

As the last campaign week before the November 7 election got under way, Bush targeted the South. Republicans, bracing for election losses in the House, figure they can buck that trend by winning two Democratic seats in Georgia. Underscoring the stakes, Bush was to spend much of his day in the state and come back Tuesday for a rally about 130 miles west, in Perry. Sandwiched in between, Bush was to spend Monday afternoon outside Houston, a district where Republicans are still coping with the resignation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The midterm elections will heavily influence the last two years of the Bush presidency. With control, Democrats could stifle Bush's agenda and aggressively investigate his administration.

Bush's popularity has long eroded in a nation weary of the war in Iraq, where the last month has been one of the deadliest for American forces. A new Associated Press-AOL News poll shows that likely voters -- angry at Bush and citing Iraq and the economy as their top issues -- overwhelmingly prefer Democrats over Republicans. Yet Bush was in friendly territory in rural Georgia, a state he twice won comfortably. In rolled-up shirt sleeves, Bush fired up a basketball gym of roughly 5,000 people. He spoke in front of an enormous U.S. flag. Protesters were steered to a "free-speech zone" elsewhere on campus.



President Bush, left, appears with House candidate Max Burns in Statesboro, Georgia, on Monday.

[kurth]

1. What's Burns yelling at the Presidunce for?

in that photo.

[C_U_L8R]

2. There he goes again..

peeing into the wind

[Double T]

3. Hopefully the results on November 7th will wipe the smirk off........

that smug chimpanzee's face.

[flpoljunkie]

4. It's only bravado to prevent meltdown. Charlie Cook, on MSNBC, sees no movement toward Republicans.

Charlie Cook, independent pollster, was on MSNBC earlier today with Brian Williams, I believe, or some other NBC/MSNBC talking head. Cook said he sees nothing to indicate any movement toward to the Republicans that would cause this kind of optimism. Something drastic would have to happen to change this.