Peggy Noonan: The Paragraph- Help the White House make the case for re-election

Opinion Journal ^ | 02/12/04 | Peggy Noonan

[Pokey78]

When you are a conservative and tend to support conservatives, it will come as a surprise, and an unwelcome one, when you ding one, as I dinged President Bush the other day about his "Meet the Press" performance. Of those who responded, about 60% disagreed with me, and the rest were more or less in agreement. Many of those who disagreed with me said they thought the president had done well with Tim Russert, that the interview made clear his decency and sincerity. Others said I was kicking the president when he's down and that's the problem with conservative pundits, they can't be trusted. My answer is the obvious one: It is the job of a writer to write the truth as he sees it, and if it's an uncomfortable truth, then so be it.

[Pokey78]

Peggy Ping!

[Steven W.]

Two Words:

Salman Pak!

[Old Sarge]

Noonan just wants to hear only one thing from the White House: "You're hired, when can you start?"

[prognostigaator]

Now for our challenge. What should the Bush paragraph consist of? How to make it new? How to make it memorable, and true? Readers, you are invited to wrap up in one paragraph what the Bush campaign should say as it unveils itself anew. The White House reads this site. They'll see it. Take the floor and tell them how to do it.

"Four score and seven years ago.........

[Porterville]

I honestly do not know why Peggy gets paid any money at all. The only reason the base is restless is because of the 2 months of dem advertisement for their candidate and the lib press humping its own leg. The fact is this, Bush keeps his powder dry until the dem nominee gets his footing and starts his own momentum. Then Bush the baseball player, the fighter pilot, the Texas hunter, nails his target right in the heart. Lay low in the bush and let the prey come to you, don't shoot wildly.

I honestly do not now how Kerry made it out of 'Nam considering his tact. It is a good thing he left when he did, I could just see him trying to pull a Rambo like he is now.

Bush is a cool cat, something the elitist press core, including Peggy, have absolutely no concept of; if she was 20 years younger I'd be happy to show her the way, but alas she is too old for me, and too old for the new political game. A game based on a clean, economic, business acumen, where everything is streamlined and the sluts are kicked to the curb.

[bornintexas]

Maybe Peggy should go be "skerred" with the liberals.

[Vision Thing]

They (the Bush team) don't know how to be scared. They probably can't wrap their brains around the idea they should be. Or rather in the abstract they know they should be--they read the papers--but in the particular, in their minds and souls, I doubt they have fully wrapped their brains around it. Which is too bad, because fear makes you sharp.

After a GWB press meeting early in the 2000 primaries, Chris Matthews made the following comment: "Those Harvard guys never sweat."

[EternalVigilance]

"Early to bed, early to rise..."...nah...

[EternalVigilance]

"Tested and rested..."

Nope...

[dalebert]

I think the Dems are making the case for Bush's re-election.

[July 4th]

Bump for later.

[EternalVigilance]

"George W. Bush has been misunderestimated..."

uhuh...

[EternalVigilance]

Good point.

All of this negativism is going to catch up to them and bite them in the butt.

[gipper81]

Well said. Peggy had to write something. Peggy wanted some more attention. Peggy is impatient for the "paragraph." Peggy is hanging with Chrissy to often. Peggy is the voice for the nervous conservatives (how sweet). Peggy is helping us understand. Peggy. Peggy. Peggy.

[SAR1]

Why do you think people are condidering not voting for Bush ? Because the stock market went down and took alot of good peoples money with it. Scared most people out of the market who are now so afraid to get back in. They watch in awe and desperation as the market climbs back up without them. Many can blame Bush for this.

Also, we now have a beachhead for the first time in our history right in the middle east. But why does the price of oil keep going up? A high price for oil acts like a tax on the US economy as well as the global economy. Why cant Iraq produce more oil and get the price down. Also we should exert major pressure on the Saudis to produce more oil and get the price down. The fact that this is not happening is astounding and tragic. And the Bush people say vote for me because we must fight terrorism. Well fine but do the other things too.

[EternalVigilance]

The last sort of rocking White House was that of the abstemious Baptist Mr. Carter..

Seem to remember stories of Clinton people smoking pot on the White House roof. It would be hard for me to picture that bunch of juveniles as doing anything but contradicting this claim.

[Vision Thing]

Peggy is worthy of the money she earns as a writer because she is immensely gifted and has a heart of gold. She gets paid because people---not just the Wall Street Journal publishers---buy her work.

However, I agree that we should criticize her call for fear. I don't recall Reagan ever showing fear. And we'd probably think a little less of him if he ever did.

[alnick]

Here's my submission:

"Given half a chance, the democrats will get us all killed."

[goodnesswins]

"Why do you think people are condidering not voting for Bush ? Because the stock market went down and took alot of good peoples money with it. Scared most people out of the market who are now so afraid to get back in.

They should never have been in the market in the FIRST place if they were not willing to stick with it. It's the GREEDY who expect to never get hit in the market. Looks to me like Pres. Bush is doing a FINE job of keeping our economy going in one direction....UP. Jobs follow. And, without addressing terror, we will have neither of the aforementioned.....and we'll have no need for much gasoline, either. And, furthermore, the President has to work with an economy drug down by HEAVY regulation. We've lived with liberal incrementalism for years....now the tide is turning to conservative incrementalism....and it won't happen overnight, or in 3 years, either. /rant