Convention largely about giving Bush heroic image
By BETH GORHAM
NEW YORK (CP) - He's already been credited with the remarkable insight of Winston Churchill and the steadfast resolve of Ronald Reagan.
Oh, and the hopeful vision of Abraham Lincoln, America's first Republican president. There will be a lot more of that kind of talk at the party's national convention as supporters do their part to reshape the image of President George W. Bush.
And there's no doubt Bush needs some help.
He's fallen far from the dizzy heights of popularity he enjoyed after he grabbed a bullhorn at Ground Zero of the Sept. 11 attack on New York City's World Trade Center nearly three years ago and promised a ruthless pursuit of terrorists.
"He just doesn't represent the majority of people in America anymore," declared John Pirozze, who joined a huge protest march to demand Bush's ouster on the eve of the convention.
The plan over the next three days is to emphasize Bush's war-time leadership, while portraying him as a larger-than-life national father figure who can keep Americans safer than Democratic challenger John Kerry.
There will be a lot of talk about moral clarity, firm resolve and playing offence, all attempts to counter the hits Bush's credibility has suffered over Iraq and the faulty intelligence he used to determine deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat.
But it won't stop there. Although many voters already see Bush as likable, good 'ol boy you could have a beer with - at least the ones who think he's smiling, not smirking, during TV appearance - twin daughters Barbara and Jenna will attend several convention events to talk about Dad as a regular guy.
It's clear, too, Republicans will be attempting to present Bush anew as a compassionate conservative who cares about everyone having a piece of the American dream.
That was a big theme of his 2000 election campaign that was lost during his first term when he invaded Iraq and went to war against terrorists.
Bush backers, confident his conservative social policies on gays and abortion have helped lock up his right-wing Christian base, want to try to persuade independent swing voters the president is one of them and eager to improve their retirement benefits and health care.
The president's wife Laura will make that case Tuesday. She's among a long list of moderates, even a couple of Democrats, lined up to portray the gentler side of Bush.
California Gov. Arnold Scwartzenegger will also lend his star power to the cause.
Maverick Republican Senator John McCain, who has frequently been critical of Bush, is frank about his own high-profile part.
"It's obvious that it means that I have some effect on the independent voters that will play a key role in this election," he said.
"It is no more complicated than that."
Given Bush's uphill battle against Kerry, the party also appears cognizant of dispelling any aura of hubris clinging to Bush.
Notoriously adverse to admitting mistakes, Bush said for the first time late last week in an interview with the New York Times newspaper he made a "miscalculation of what the conditions would be" in post-war Iraq.
Still, there's probably not going to be too much more of that self-deprecating talk as Bush fights for his political life.
Bush and Kerry are tied in opinion polls and the president's job-approval rating has fallen below the dicey 50-per-cent mark.
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