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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: puborectalis who wrote (637186)	10/3/2004 4:47:24 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

He harped on the notion that Kerry was a flip-flopper, which may be true but which the press corps—primed for news—had heard before. And, ironically, Bush was hurt—and Kerry was helped—by the stifling rules the Bush campaign had insisted on. The president needed to directly confront Kerry, but couldn't. Although the president knew the networks wouldn't follow the rules—and would show "reaction shots" of each candidate as the other spoke—he couldn't find a way to look calm and collected when he wasn't speaking. After being blown about in the spin room, Republicans concluded that they had underestimated the press corps's eagerness to see a close race, and they worried that reporters had awarded points to Kerry because they approve of his now clear antagonism toward the war. Where does the battle go from here, this week and next? In the vice presidential debate in Cleveland, and in the second Bush-Kerry face-off in St. Louis, both sides expect the attention to turn to Kerry's 19-year-long voting record in the Senate. It's replete with evidence of classic Massachusetts liberalism, despite the senator's occasional forays into Clinton-style moderation. "It does concern me that someone who has been in the U.S. Senate for a number of years has to run with this record of his," says a member of Kerry's inner circle. Backers concede he will have to deal with the liberal label. How? "The same way I did," said Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, traveling with Kerry late last week. "He's gotta keep asking the questions: Is it too liberal to vote to save the environment? Is it too liberal for a balanced budget ... or stem-cell research?" The Bush-Cheney campaign is on to that case, with Ken Mehlman, the campaign chairman, saying Kerry has made a "career of raising taxes." Meanwhile, BC04 is amplifying attacks the president made, and launching ones he missed, including a new ad accusing Kerry of ceding sovereignty over military affairs to a "global test" of foreign nations including—heaven forbid—France. (Kerry forces are answering, running ads claiming Bush is distorting Kerry's comment.) The president himself picked up the same refrain, and can be expected to use the "town hall" format in St. Louis to raise the subject again. Kerry advisers also expect to see some tougher, and more personal, attacks from beyond the official precincts of the Bush campaign. They know what Bush allies did to John McCain in South Carolina in 2000. "They are going to come after John Kerry with some nasty stuff," predicted one Kerry aide. But none of that was on their minds in Miami in the wee hours of the night following the debate at UM. In the bar at the Sheraton Bal Harbour, where the entourage was staying, they drank their vodka neat and told war stories—about their come-from-behind win in the Iowa caucuses last winter. Rounds of applause broke out when Klain, the debate briefer, arrived. Campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, who has taken her share of heat, was grinning ear to ear. What was the secret of success, Klain was asked. "Practice, practice, practice," he said, laughing. Yes, discipline counted—and not losing focus. Over at the Bush campaign, where they vowed to make the boss prepare more thoroughly, they apparently had gotten the message. The Bush team was at the Four Seasons, but no one was in the bar. They had gone to bed.