Beginning with a speech in Washington. and with more planned to come, the president wants to convince Americans not only that there is reason for optimism about Iraq's future but that the situation now is better than the daily reports of strife make it appear.
With national polls showing he has a tough hill to climb - and the upcoming midterm congressional elections making Republicans nervous - Bush laces his remarks with nods to both Americans' worries and the grim realities on the ground in Iraq. The insurgency remains strong, sectarian violence is spiraling and talks to form a unity government seem stalemated.
The president said at least a half-dozen times here that he understands the concern about Iraq.
"There was some awful violence. Some reprisals taking place. And I can understand people saying, `Man, it's all going to - you know, it's not working out,'" he said.
But, Bush added, standing in front of three large blue-and-yellow "Plan for Victory" posters: "The way I like to put it is, they looked into the abyss as to whether or not they want a civil war or not and chose not to. That's not to say we don't have more work to do, and we do."
The crowd in Wheeling needed little convincing. Another standing ovation was prompted by a woman who asked Bush what could be done to keep the press from ignoring progress in Iraq.
"Our major media don't want to portray the good," she said. "If the American people could see it, there would never be another negative word about this conflict."
Bush declined the opportunity to tell the media what to publish.
"You're asking me to say something in front of all the cameras here. Help over there, will you?" he joshed. "Just got to keep talking. Word of mouth."
In Cleveland on Monday, Bush did his talking at the City Club. The questions got tough at the forum known for taking on world leaders, ranging from Iraq to his warrantless wiretapping program to a new nuclear deal with India. But the exchanges allowed Bush to make his case for the war, and earned him a few laughs and several rounds of enthusiastic applause along the way.
"Anybody work here in this town?" Bush joked at one point as the Cleveland questioning went on in an appearance that eventually went over 90 minutes.
On Tuesday, Bush called a news conference with the Washington media. But he rejected the formal East Room in favor of going toe-to-toe with reporters in the cramped, casual White House briefing room that better suits his style. The president bantered with an outspoken critic, journalist Helen Thomas, saying he "semi-regretted" calling on her, and he teasingly accused other reporters of falling asleep during his speeches.
The sessions follow a December blitz by Bush that succeeded in arresting an earlier fall in his approval ratings. This time, White House advisers hope the speaking events, even when they draw the kind of difficult questions that have occasionally come Bush's way this week, will showcase a president comfortable with his message, his strategy and his facts.
"It's one of the best chances he has to be effective, to change away from the Pollyanna-ish characterizations of it being all good news," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas political scientist who has long observed Bush.
However, Wayne Fields, a specialist in presidential rhetoric at Washington University in St. Louis, said, "The problem is that clearly he's doing this because of the polls and that adds a level of desperation."
| • | Bush Pulls Out the Stops to Save Ratings
Forbes.com, Thursday, March 23, 2006 Byline: Jennifer Loven, Associated Press writer |
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