Bush and Cheney must take the offensive, and take it soon. They must start COMMUNICATING.
If they cannot, or will not, do so, they had better get someone who will.
As for the Christian Right, I refuse to believe they don't see the bigger picture. This election transcends any one group. For heaven's sake, it's about our survival.
Bush's speeches are almost always eloquent, beautiful and forceful. And I don't minimize this. They reflect a president with a certain seriousness, taste and intelligence. (clinton's speeches, by contrast, were real snoozers, cloyingly self-reflective, rambling and banal.)
OTOH, because the informal, extemporaneous venue is not Bush's strong suit, Bush loses at least half of his bully pulpit before he even starts.
But my comments about the Bush failure to communicate goes beyond Bush, himself.
As far as I can tell, Bush has no 'rapid response team.' Rather than instantly refuting the Left's demagoguery, the Bush camp allows The Big Lie to take root, (a speedy process in this shallow sound-bite culture), to acquire a certain measure of credibility.
I sense that the Bushies naively believe because the truth is on their side, a robust, rapid response is unnecessary. One would have expected their current PR and electoral problems to have disabused them of this silly notion by now.