Bush invokes Reagan as he woos conservatives By Caren Bohan
2 hours, 26 minutes ago
SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) - Facing a revolt from some conservatives who feel he has let them down, President George W. Bush wrapped himself in the mantle of conservative icon Ronald Reagan on Friday as he likened his "war on terror" to Reagan's struggle against communism.
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Bush hailed Reagan for "never backing down in the face of evil" as he spoke at the Reagan Presidential Library at the opening of an exhibit displaying the Air Force One plane that flew seven presidents, including both Reagan and Bush.
Joined by his wife, Laura, and a frail former first lady Nancy Reagan, Bush also laid a wreath of white roses at Reagan's grave site.
Bush's visit came as anger still simmered among conservatives at his pick of White House counsel Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court and over a buildup of government spending on Bush's watch that has led to rising deficits.
Bush's overall approval ratings have fallen to the lowest levels of his presidency. As it did during last year's presidential campaign, the White House is turning to national security as an issue that Bush aides hope can unify a fractured Republican base.
At the Air Force One ceremony, Bush recalled Reagan's 1982 prediction in London that freedom and democracy would leave communism on the "ash heap of history" and his 1987 call at the Berlin Wall for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
"Because of Ronald Reagan's leadership, America prevailed in the 20th century's great struggle of wills," Bush said. "Now, in this new century, our freedom is once again being tested by determined enemies."
He said Islamic radicalism was "doomed to fail" as communism had.
LIST OF WOES
Bush's political woes include the risk of possible indictments of some of his top aides, including his longtime political strategist Karl Rove amid an investigation into the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Republicans also have been buffeted by the indictment of Rep. Tom DeLay on campaign finance charges, which forced him to temporarily step aside as House Republican leader, and by a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist over a stock sale.
The nomination of Miers, who has never been a judge, fueled accusations of cronyism from conservatives usually loyal to Bush. Many of them saw the pick as a lost opportunity for Bush to fulfill a campaign pledge to appoint conservatives in the mold of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Meanwhile, the need for tens of billions of dollars for spending on the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding has reinforced worries among Republicans about spiraling spending.
Some increases have been driven by the costs of the Iraq war and security at home but fiscal conservatives say Bush has not done enough to curb pork-barrel spending like that in a recent highway bill.
Former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan, in a column in The Wall Street Journal Online on Thursday, described the conservative movement as a "family in crisis" and said Bush must take drastic action.
"He can let it break up or let it wither under his watch," Noonan wrote. "Or he can change." |
