Scandal saps strength from Bush re-election push
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By Noelle Straub/ Analysis
Saturday, May 8, 2004
WASHINGTON - Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld may have been on the hot seat before Congress yesterday, but out on the campaign trail, his boss is clearly starting to feel the heat.
President Bush [related, bio] took the rare move of adding a new mea culpa to his stump speech, trying to reassure Middle America and distance his presidency from the growing controversy.
``I'm just as disgusted of those pictures you've seen on TV as you are,'' Bush told a swing-state crowd in Wisconsin.
``This isn't the America we know. Let me tell you something - those few people have stained the honor of this country.''
But, trying to capitalize on his opponent's slip-ups, Sen. John F. Kerry [related, bio] dismissed Rumsfeld's public apology and instead tried to link the scandal to the president.
``The chain of command goes all the way to the Oval Office,'' Kerry told a meeting of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council in Phoenix.
``Harry Truman did not say `the buck stops at the Pentagon.' ''
Bush's moves came as an acknowledgment that the problem has grown too large for him to ignore, even out on the stump.
Sounding a note of damage control, Bush assured the crowd that those responsible would be punished.
'`People will testify; there will be fair trials, if there are trials; the truth will be known,'' he said.
Although Bush apologized for the abuse Thursday, Kerry charged that he did so only after coming under intense political pressure.
``We need a president who understands the difference between strength and stubbornness,'' Kerry said.
The latest polls show the presidential race remains neck-and-neck between Bush and Kerry. But support for Bush's handling of foreign policy and terrorism, usually his strongest area, has faltered.
Approval of the president's leadership in those areas was at 50 percent, down from 55 percent a month ago, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for The Associated Press.
The poll, taken May 3-5, also showed that more respondents disapproved of Bush's handling of Iraq, 51 percent, than approve, 46 percent.
But thus far, Kerry has not been able to take advantage of the president's falling numbers, polls show. Instead, Kerry's approval numbers have remained relatively flat.
Still, with graphic videotape of more abuses lurking around the corner, the scandal is expected to continue growing over the coming weeks.
At the least, that will serve to pull media attention from other recent controversies - such as those over Kerry's Vietnam War medals and his anti-war rhetoric.
Conscious of the explosive nature of the Iraqi abuse scandal, Democrats so far are treading carefully.
Many of Kerry's backers have stopped short of calling for Rumsfeld's resignation.
But U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy [related, bio], who has often stumped for Kerry, was one of the first to do so.
Kennedy said Bush should fill the secretary of defense slot with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
``Our Iraqi policy is a disaster, the war on terror has been made much more complicated and difficult because of this torture scandal,'' Kennedy said. ``I think the best way to get a new start is with a new secretary of defense.''
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