Bush shrugs off Democratic race and attacks on him
Draws his news from his aides instead
By Scott Lindlaw
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:19 p.m. September 22, 2003
WASHINGTON – President Bush says he is paying virtually no attention to the Democratic race for his job, even as the candidates sharpen their criticism of his performance.
"Well, occasionally it blips on my radar screen, but not nearly as much as you would think. I've got a job to do. I'm occupied," Bush said in a taped interview telecast Monday night on the Fox Broadcast Network.
"Their slogan is, 'Vote for me, I don't like George Bush,'" Bush said. "The American people are going to make that ultimate judgment as to whether or not I ought to be re-elected."
The president's 2004 campaign has been humming for months. He has raised more than $65 million at 21 fund-raising events since June for a Republican nomination for which he faces no opponent. His campaign offices employ dozens of people.
Nevertheless, Bush insisted he was "not paying attention" to the Democratic race. He said he knew who the candidates are, but had not watched a Democratic debate.
Likewise, Bush's response to the Democrats' specific criticisms about his handling of the war in Iraq and the economy. "I repeat, I'm not really paying attention to it," he said.
Bush said he insulates himself from the "opinions" that seep into news coverage by getting his news from his own aides. He said he scans headlines, but rarely reads news stories.
"I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news," the president said. "And the best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world."
The interview was conducted Sunday and aired on the eve of Bush's address to the United Nations, where he will seek to broaden the international body's role in Iraq and persuade other nations to contribute troops and money.
Bush expressed confidence about the passage of a new resolution, and called French President Jacques Chirac "a strong-willed soul."
"He and I have had some pretty frank discussions before about issues," Bush said. "I will continue to remind him, though – and he needs to hear this clearly from me, which he will – that America is a good nation, genuinely good."
The president dismissed critics who accuse the administration of poor postwar planning for Iraq.
"Obviously, I think they're going badly for the soldiers who lost their lives, and I weep for that person and their family. But no, I think we're making good progress."
On or since May 1, when Bush declared, aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 164 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq. Bush said he was referring to "major military actions" – "tight movement armored divisions and massive airstrikes."
He said he had warned Americans on May 1 that Iraq remained a "dangerous" place, yet he maintained that his administration had not underestimated the postwar violence.
"Like any other situation, we weren't exactly sure as to the nature of the terror that was being inflicted upon the people," he said. "We know there would be Baathists that would be angry at the fact that they weren't in power. We knew there was a lot of kind of loose operatives around the country."
Answering critics who say that a main reason for going to war has not been borne out, Bush said he thinks ousted leader Saddam Hussein hid his weapons of mass destruction.
"But I firmly believe he had weapons of mass destruction," Bush said. "I know he used them at one time, and I'm confident he had programs that would enable him to have a weapon of mass destruction at his disposal."
Turning to other topics, Bush stood strongly behind Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell on new media ownership rules that ease decades-old ownership restrictions. The changes included allowing a single company to own TV stations reaching nearly half the nation's viewers as well as broadcast stations and a newspaper in the same area.
The new rules touched off a firestorm of criticism from lawmakers of both parties, and Congress is now weighing repealing them.
"I support what Michael Powell did. He took a long, deliberative process," Bush said. But he was noncommittal on whether he would veto such repeal legislation.
Bush recovered from a calf strain earlier this summer that had slowed his running regimen. He revealed in the interview that he believed he had a meniscus tear – a common injury to the cartilage that lines the inside surfaces of the knee – that has again halted his running routine.
"I am hoping to find a lot of sympathy around here, but I haven't found any yet," he joked. "Maybe I ought to go up to Capitol Hill."
The president also said he talks to his father, former President Bush about every two weeks, and his brother Jeb, the Florida governor, "maybe once a month."
"I love to be with my family, but we are not pick-up-the-phone, chitchat people that much," Bush said.
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