We are the innocent victims of Bush's propaganda, the strong Iraq war supporters from Fox news and other conservatives now say. It was all Bush's fault, OK?!
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Some Conservatives Chafe Against Bush Policies
Tue February 10, 2004 03:39 PM ET
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By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of George W. Bush's conservative political supporters are increasingly restive and anxious about the president's economic policies as well as his attempts to justify the war against Iraq.
Fox television news anchor Bill O'Reilly, usually an outspoken Bush supporter, said on Tuesday he was now skeptical about the Bush administration and apologized to viewers for supporting prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"I was wrong. I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this," O'Reilly said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America.
Pollster John Zogby said Bush was on the defensive with some polls showing him slightly behind Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, his probable Democratic opponent in the Nov. 2 presidential election.
A CNN/USA Today Gallup poll conducted last weekend had Bush and Kerry tied on 48 per cent. Bush won trial matchups against other Democratic presidential candidates but each of them scored at least 42 percent -- a sign that there is a solid base of opposition to the president.
"The president is on the ropes right now. The question is, how will he adjust? Right now, the issues are not in his favor. Many Americans still think the economy is poor and his rationale for the Iraq war seems a little thin," Zogby said.
Bush's White House interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday was designed to calm some of these doubts. But while some pundits gave Bush good marks for his performance, some prominent conservatives were not impressed.
'TIRED AND UNSURE'
Peggy Noonan, a speechwriter for former President Ronald Reagan and for Bush's father and an outspoken conservative commentator, said in a commentary on the Wall Street Journal's Internet service:
"The president seemed tired, unsure and often bumbling. His answers were repetitive, and when he tried to clarify them he tended to make them worse. He seemed in some way disconnected from the event."
Conservative columnists George Will and Robert Novak and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough, now a cable TV commentator, have also recently criticized Bush's fiscal programs and his attempts to explain them. Continued ... 1| 2
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