Monday, August 30, 2004

Bush's risky 9/11 legacy GOP walks fine line in touting its terror record vs. politicizing it. By Liz Marlantes | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor NEW YORK – If political conventions are designed to showcase a candidate's biggest asset, then George W. Bush's will revolve around one thing: 9/11. Ever since Republicans chose New York - an overwhelmingly Democratic city in a state certain to back John Kerry - as their convention site, it has been clear that the memory of the 9/11 attacks would be central to the president's reelection effort. Throughout the week, Republicans hope to resurrect what many Americans still see as Mr. Bush's finest hours - his leadership in the wake of the attacks, when many voters bonded with their president and gave him overwhelmingly high approval ratings. 1:37:07 PM    comment []

The Bush retreat? "We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world." -- George W. Bush July 30th 2004. "I don’t think you can win [the war on terror]. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.” -- George W. Bush Aug. 29th, 2004. 12:52:34 PM    comment []

An opposite view Open progressive conservative thread Go read David Brooks' cover story for the New York Times Magazine on the future of both conservatism and the Republican Party (not necessarily the same thing). Brooks opens with a point I've made in recent months: There used to be a spirit of solidarity binding all the embattled members of the conservative movement. But with conservatism ascendant, that spirit has eroded. Should Bush lose, it will be like a pack of wolves that suddenly turns on itself. The civil war over the future of the party will be ruthless and bloody. The foreign-policy realists will battle the democracy-promoting Reaganites. The immigrant-bashing nativists will battle the free marketeers. The tax-cutting growth wing will battle the fiscally prudent deficit hawks. The social conservatives will war with the social moderates, the biotech skeptics with the biotech enthusiasts, the K Street corporatists with the tariff-loving populists, the civil libertarians with the security-minded Ashcroftians. In short, the Republican Party is unstable. 10:09:57 AM    comment []

Prez on war against terror: 'I don't think you can win it' When asked “Can we win?” the war on terror, Bush said, “I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.”  article 10:00:53 AM    comment []

Columnist Has Ties to Anti-Kerry Book In his syndicated columns and on the CNN program "Crossfire," Mr. Novak has lauded the book and referred to veterans who criticize Mr. Kerry - most notably John E. O'Neill, the book's co-author - as "real patriots." Unmentioned in Mr. Novak's columns and television appearances, however, is a personal connection he has to the book: his son, Alex Novak, is the director of marketing for its publisher, the conservative publishing house Regnery.   9:10:05 AM    comment []