Posted on 09/09/2002 11:51:52 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON -- President Bush steps out onto the national stage this week with a goal of recapturing the unity and patriotism that served him so well in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But as he speaks in front of the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday evening and in remarks the next day to the United Nations, the president must persuade skeptical leaders abroad and a wary public at home to support his effort to expand the war on terrorism into Baghdad and maybe beyond.
A year after Bush successfully redefined his presidency and bolstered his image by responding forcefully to the terrorist attackers, some of his early support has faded as Washington has returned to a more contentious and partisan mood.
When the Sept. 11 commemorations are over, Bush faces fights with Congress over a host of domestic issues including spending, taxes and energy policy.
Lawmakers who wholeheartedly backed his military campaign last fall to oust the Taliban from Afghanistan are demanding more consultation on any plans to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
And the international coalition that Bush and his advisers stitched together to fight the war on terrorism is in danger of falling apart, as most of the United States' partners oppose invading Iraq.
Bush faces a major test in selling his world view to allies when he presents his case for targeting Saddam in an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
Edwin Dorn, the dean of the LBJ School of Public Policy at the University of Texas, commended Bush for "doing as well as anybody could do" in confronting a terrorist threat that involved more guerrilla-like tactics than conventional armies.
But Dorn, who served as undersecretary of defense under President Clinton, said the White House was able to conduct the war initially without having to make some hard choices. The American public was willing to pay whatever it took to root out the al-Qaida network.
But in the future, he said, the administration may have a tougher time justifying expensive military operations and peacekeeping missions as the economy falters and voters worry more about pocketbook issues.
"The public is going to start asking questions about billions of dollars in (military) spending when John Q. Public is not seeing a lot happening in his community," said Dorn. Bush, he said, will have to do a better job of educating the public about his decision making, particularly on Iraq.
The political climate has rapidly changed for Bush, who faces increasing criticism from Democrats for his handling of a sluggish economy and visible public protests around the country against his Iraq policy.
The president, who earlier this year roared against "evil-doers" abroad, has spent much of the summer distancing himself from corporate scandals at home and defending his own business practices at Texas-based Harken Energy Corp. a dozen years ago.
Andrew Card, the president's chief of staff, dismisses arguments that the honeymoon enjoyed by Bush after the attacks is now over and that the nation's capital has returned to business as usual.
"This president is still more popular than most presidents are when they are popular. It is a fact," Card said.
Card was the official who first whispered the news into the president's ear -- during an appearance at a Florida elementary school -- that two planes had slammed into the World Trade Center.
For months after that morning the president boldly wielded executive powers to wage a war abroad, round up suspected terrorists at home and provide billions of dollars to help victims of the strikes.
Soon after the terrorist hits, Bush, who assumed office after a contested election in which he lost the popular vote, saw his approval ratings soar, with nine out of 10 Americans endorsing his job performance.
Pollster John Zogby said that Bush's handling of the terrorist attacks improved his reputation with the American people.
"The president was wallowing in mediocrity up until Sept. 10," said Zogby, whose own poll released the day before the attack had the president at a 50 percent approval rating.
Zogby said that after the terrorist attacks Americans "bonded with the president. He rose to the occasion in his own way and style."
But in the past few months, Zogby said, the president has lost support, particularly among Democrats and independents, who were never big fans of the administration's domestic policies.
According to a Gallup Poll, conducted Aug. 19-21 , Bush's approval rating had dropped to 65 percent, his lowest since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Nevertheless, Bush still stacks up well compared with many of his predecessors. At this point in their terms, Clinton's approval rating was 39 percent, Bush's father stood at 76 percent, Reagan's was 42 percent, and Carter had a 43 percent approval rating, according to Gallup polls taken at the time.
As do most Bush loyalists, Card insisted that the terrorist strikes did not so much change the president as much as put his strengths on public display.
"I am one of those people who feel strongly what America saw after Sept. 11 is a lot of what I saw well before December 1999," Card said, "He is a very disciplined, character-oriented person."
Card said that he noticed a number of small changes right after the strikes. The president, who normally showed up for work at 7 a.m., was at his desk 15 minutes earlier. And, despite his reputation for delegating responsibilities, he appeared to be more in charge of the day's activities.
Card recalled his encounter with the president at 6:40 a.m. on Sept. 14, a pivotal day when the president delivered a moving address at Washington's National Cathedral and later flew to Ground Zero in New York to meet with rescue workers.
"Normally I say this is what your day will be like and I go through the day. He hands me his briefing books and I collect the homework he has done the night before and go over it with him," said Card. "But at this point he kind of interrupted me and told me what his day was going to be like. I didn't tell him. He told me. The good news: It fit with most of what was scheduled. It wasn't that it was off the wall."
The attack forced Bush and his advisers to focus heavily on foreign policy, an area that they had largely ignored during the campaign and first year in office.
The aftermath of the attacks also prodded the president, who had campaigned for fiscal restraint, to embrace a bigger and more active federal government that, along with Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut, has led to the return of budget deficits.
Bush is now pushing Congress to approve the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, stitching together a mammoth bureaucracy from offices scattered in various federal agencies.
And in moves questioned by civil libertarians and overturned by some courts, Bush's attorney general, John Ashcroft, has aggressively pursued terrorist suspects, detaining some without allowing them to see lawyers and refusing to hold public hearings in other cases.
The president has not been able to translate his popularity into successes for much of his domestic agenda, such as the creation of private Social Security accounts, an energy policy that includes oil drilling in Alaska and government help for religious groups.
In a clear sign that the White House has returned to a more predictable political rhythm, the president expects to be on the road in the months leading up to November elections raising money and campaigning for Republican candidates.
Card attributed much of the fighting over domestic policy to this being an election year.
"If we were not entering a period of political debate our democracy would not be working," he said.
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