President Appeals to Constituents For Support to Deal With Crisis

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Thursday, September 13, 2001 | JEANNE CUMMINGS, JIM VANDEHEI AND GREG HITT

[TroutStalker]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush moved swiftly to rally the three constituencies whose support he'll need to meet a crisis of historic breadth and peril.

To mobilize a divided federal government, he called for bipartisan unity and asked Congress for open-ended new spending authority in response to "acts of war." To rally a wary international community, his administration worked with leading industrial democracies to coordinate responses to the twin threats of additional terrorism and global economic recession. And to reassure a frightened American public, Mr. Bush vowed from the Oval Office that "we will win" despite Tuesday's deadly attacks against centers of U.S. financial and military power.

[Cable225]

The request was delivered, a U.S. official added, in blunt terms: " 'Either you're with us or you're against us.' "

Nice to see adults back in charge.

[downwithsocialism]

All of this support would be nice to have, but leaders don't need support. They need to know that what they are doing is right. That's all.