On The Stump Bush Slows the Pace To His Liking (Detect Lack of Urgency)

[Justice]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2004/10/22/on_the_stump_bush_slows_pace_to_his_liking/

"Always fond of returning to his own bed at the end of the day, Bush has spent six out of the last seven nights at the White House, stepping off the campaign trail some days in time to catch the baseball playoffs. This weekend -- less than two weeks before the election, typically a time for frenzied barnstorming -- Bush is planning to spend two consecutive nights far from any battleground, at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Until Election Day, he is making some curious stops for an incumbent locked in such a close race -- traveling to the largely Democratic state of Pennsylvania three times in two weeks, for example, while avoiding the close battleground of Ohio, except for making a stop today, his first since Oct. 2.

According to some Republicans, the odd schedule, which does not quite match the states where Bush's prospects are best, is reminiscent of his campaign travel four years ago, when Bush stopped in California and New Jersey in the final days of what turned out to be a closely contested race.

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts holds roughly the same number of campaign events each day as does Bush (between two and four), but Kerry has spent most nights on the road and is planning to campaign both weekends before Nov. 2. Given the intensity of the campaign so far and the neck-and-neck nature of opinion polls, the lack of urgency in the Bush campaign is remarkable."

_________________________

Really interesting analysis. Again, suggesting Bush is pulling back in Ohio, and was not in PA from October 3 until yesterday. Lots of different people questioning his decisions.

[Florida_Geek]

1. With Touchscreens in place

* know where he has to campaign for real.

[Bucky]

62. I really wish you were wrong

That is a distinct possibility. Other explanations for him staying out of Ohio is that whenever he goes into Ohio, his numbers drop there. Avoiding Ohio is his best chance of winning it. His chances are better in Ohio than in Pennsylvania.

The Crawford stop has got to be for a strategy session. They have to pull out their Plan B options. Earl says "go to Iraq", but I'm not sure what that gets him. They need to spring something because the drift is definitely not going their way. I'm thinking an attack on Iran's nuke facility, but obviously it's better for him to be at the White House than the ranch when that goes down.

On the other hand, they could always plan something over the weekend, giving the boy a chance to head up to DC and his rose garden well before the time comes for him to announce how he's saving the world or preventing yet another new 9/11.

After one of the debates, Bush told Kerry onstage that he "needed to talk" to him later that night (a deaf person who can read lips saw this on the TV and reported it on a blog (Kos?) and then it got posted here at DU. If there's some crisis or "crisis" been brewing for a few weeks now, Bush would be smart to heads up Kerry about it just to keep the Democrats in line.

I'll give it an 80% chance that something big will happen next week.

[sisenor]

2. Maybe it shows Bush's secret wish to loose?

After all, don't you think four years of being in over his head on all fronts is quite enough, even for him? Wouldn't he rather be on a permanent vacation?

[City Lights]

7. Or maybe it shows the fix is in and bush knows it. eom

[shanti]

22. that's what i'm thinking

and he doesn't care what people think.

[Say_What]

26. Exactly my thoughts. That little speech he gave at the end of

the last debate really said "I wanna go home" very loudly and Laura looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but there. Then there was the *Teresa didn't need to apologize* remark yesterday.

This guy has been a royale f*ck up since day one. He never gave a f*ck about anything or anybody except himself--his entire life reveals that--school, the military, his failed businesses, and the worst was as pResident. He knows he's f*ck'd up BIGTIME. Even with the lies he knows. I think it's really wearing on both of them. They're probably bored with being the First Puppet Couple anyway. He just wants to go back to Crawford and work at his favorite hobby--chain sawing!! That's where he's been most of the time anyway. LOFL

That's what happens to puppets selected by the SC--they destroy a few countries, kill thousands of innocent people, put US citizens and soldiers in harms way to get killed, bankrupt the country, and then shrug their shoulders and say--well, time to go cut some wood.

A POS the likes we have never seen. :mad:

[ElementaryPenguin]

49. Fantastic post, Say_What ! You've really said it all!

:dem:

[ElementaryPenguin]

50. Fantastic post, Say_What ! You've really said it all!

:dem:

[sunnybrook]

53. I disagree

I think it is possible that you are underestimating his enormous ego and arrogance. I get no feeling at all that he wants to lose. I would be more inclined to think that he can rest on his laurels because perhaps he knows something that we don't. Or it could be part of his general laziness/non-work ethic. He always knocks off early and during the last campaign took time off that they wanted him to be campaigning. My god look at his vacation record! See, he likes to TALK about hard work. That is tiring enough....

[despairing optimist]

58. His favorite hobby is chainsawing? I thought it was pretzel eating

It's more challenging for him, anyway.

[kokomo]

61. I thought it was giving some "wood" and loving on Iraqi widows.

:hug:

[Just Me]

35. The greatest favor he could do for all people,...is LOSE!!! n/t

[Laelth]

3. I honestly think ...

they know they're gonna lose the popular vote big. Thus, the objective for Bush is to help Senators in close races. If they're gonna win the Presidency, they seem to suggest, it'll be by theft ... not by hawd, hawd work.

:mad:

-Laelth

[Democracy Died 2004]

4. At the whitehouse?

Me thinks that the paper shredders and recording <erase mode of course> have been working late hours.

[Demit]

5. he's exhausted & on the brink of falling apart. They're trying to preserve

him so that he doesn't blow a gasket...

[obiwan]

63. Too late for a gasket....

... Chimpy threw a rod in March 2003. Pour some sand in the crankcase and push that fucker over the cliff.

[Chef]

6. Safe Place to sleep

Honestly, he can't stay any place overnight except military bases. Otherwise you have what happened in Oregon last week. "His" people takke to the streets and make a nasty scene.

[Ruby Romaine]

8. what happened last week- guess i blinked?

[righteous1]

9. Zogby

Anyone seen the Zog/Reuters poll this morn?

[snippy]

15. Yes, but according to several people in the Bush campaign Bush needs

a lead of 4-5 points in order to win. At least that is what the campaign is telling the Wall Street Journal political editor. Bush probably is taking it easy because his arrogance is surpassed only by his ignorance. However, resting on doctors' orders is a distinct possibility.

[obiwan]

64. * by 2. Within MOE. Swing States still lookin' good.

[mom cat]

10. If the lump of his back is a device to prevent sudden cardiac arrest

then it may be a medically driven decision, Also, his handlers may be affrais of any more gaffes.

[Catfight]

11. Why should he take the Presidency seriously? He hasn't had to

the entire time. Let's see, I remember him saying, "I'm the President, I don't have to answer questions and explain my decisions." Let's see, "I'm working hard, it's hard work, we work overtime." Remember when he had time to go to a rodeo but not spend time in front of the 9/11 Commission? Remember he has time to campaign and fund raise for his re-election and joke around about missing WMD's but he can't attend any funerals?

Yup, compassion, the Bush definition is: When the going gets tough, the tough go to Crawford and put their head in the dirt.

[molly]

16. He has always been enabled and rescued

he has never ever had to pay CONSEQUENCES for anything he has done. Someone is always there to bail him out and enable him on.

[Catfight]

20. Indeed, but who bails America out since he fucked up the whole country?

[shanti]

23. "help is on the way"!

why, john kerry, of course!~

[jaznme]

48. Typical, common MO of alcoholics ...

... they surround themselves with "enablers."

[AP]

12. Appearing lazy is campaiging for Bush. His strategy is to make white....

...working class men feel they're entitled to win without working hard. He makes people think that they deserve to win and if they don't it was because the government gave a black person, woman or immigrant something they didn't deserve.

[midnight armadillo]

13. It's JUST LIKE 2000!

Recall the 'air of inevitability' they tried to conjure up in 2000, which predictions of a massive Bush landslide.

I think this is the same. Why should he frantically campaign when he's going to get a 20% margin? It's the same old Rove, once again. The guy's a two or three trick pony at best.

[kostya]

42. I really think it's just Bush not being able to take the daily grind

He has NEVER had to work for anything in his life. I agree he is looking tired and desperate. If they had allowed any open rallies and he'd had to take some razzing he'd be falling apart by now. It all fits into the pattern of a pampered man. I agree he is the front guy and they've done a lot to prop him up but it shows that his heart just isn't in it even when he's preaching to the deluded and faithful. - K

[Kierkegaard]

14. Why should he worry?

He has plenty of voter disenfranchisement and fraud schemes in place to balance out the lack of work on his part. He's always had someone to do his work for him.

Unfortunately for him, this time, it isn't going to get it done. Too many pissed off people who actually care about their future and the future of our democracy aren't' about to let it happen again.

[sherilocks]

17. He can't make it through the day

without the daily cocktail hour(s)

[demokatgurrl]

18. FAKE lack of urgency to cover up desperation. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

19. he meets with his keepers at his ranch at home where everything is secret

and there's no accountability. he's going nuts, there's no doubt about it, but the only way he can meet with his mafia handlers is to go to crawford.

[DS1]

21. The wear on AF1 must be incredible

*drums fingers on his desk*

[roseBudd]

28. AF1 costs taxpayers $56,000 an hour

and Bush has used AF1 for campiagning MORE than any other president EVER.

[EarlG]

24. Interesting timing...

Two nights at the ranch when this is "typically a time for frenzied barnstorming?" The reporter refers to this as an "odd schedule" and says "the lack of urgency in the Bush campaign is remarkable."

I wonder...

***

October Surprise: Would Bush Make Another Visit to Baghdad?

I was over on Atrios, and I saw this thread about possible "October Surprises" from the Bush Campaign. He proposed three possibilities, but obviously the most interesting (and most plausible) is his option #2: Flightsuit boy makes another "surprise" trip to the troops in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.

Kudos to Atrios. This is brilliant. I think he might be right.

Bush and Rove know from their internal polling that they could very well lose the election. They need to make a splash during the final days of the campaign in order to put the campaign over the top. But they've got a few problems...

We haven't found OBL, so they can't bust him out for the cameras. The code red terror alert system has been used so often that the media and even the public has grown bored with it. And there's nothing but bad news, at home and abroad.

So, their only option is to MAKE SOME NEWS, and to do something that ONLY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES COULD DO. Something that showcases Bush's strengths, and takes full advantage of the power of the presidency.

This is a stunt that John Kerry simply cannot copy. Bush and Rove load the media onto Air Force One. They tell them after they're already over the Atlantic Ocean that they're on the way to a mystery destination. They land in Baghdad or Kabul (preferably Baghdad if the Secret Service will allow it).

Presto: Amazing photo-op with enthusiastic troops (hand-picked for their loyalty to the prez) who tell Bush how proud they are to be fighting the good fight in Iraq, tell the media how lucky we are to have a president like Bush, and tell the American people that everything in Baghdad is just great.

You see... Everything Kerry says about Iraq is wrong. See all the happy pictures? See all the smiling troops?

It would dominate the news for two days, maybe three. The press wouldn't be able to stop talking about it. Kerry would be stuck in a virtual media blackout during the final days of the campaign.

Rove would do this If he thought he could get away with it. I have no doubt.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1105252

[Bruce McAuley]

30. I agree. but...

One or two guys with a portable mortar could spoil the photo-op by lobbing a few rounds in during the love fest at the airport. He would not likely stray far from the airport, I think.
Also, it would look like a re-run of the Plastic Turkey photo-op from 2 years ago. I wonder if it wouldn't backfire...?
It might work, though, and they're desperate.

Bruce

[spotbird]

37. My money's on Bagram.

It is easier to keep him safe and he can claim the success of an election there. The staging can be done as well as the plastic turkey photo op.

[Miss Authoritiva]

57. Let's see: Who from the administration and campaign will be in

Crawford with Bush and who will be in Washington (this is in terms of presidential succession)? Who will be in Europe? Who will be in the Middle East? Who will be in Asia? Let's keep track of the Cabinet members, key Pentagon brass. Where will Bush's military and personal physicians be?

When was this return to Crawford first announced?

My guess is that this is not going to be the October surprise. I think this may be like Grover Cleveland's secret jaw cancer surgery.

Bush's mouth and cheek have looked pretty strange lately -- and there was noticeable drooling at times during the debates.

As a former heavy smoker, a former user of chewing tobacco, and a former/current heavy drinker, Bush is at high risk for oral cancer. Maybe they put off doing a biopsy as long as they could.

Just a theory.

[DemocracyInaction]

25. I think someone above hit it right on head---seriously

He cannot take the risk of drinking anywhere but in the closely guarded secret of the WH or Camp David of the Ranch. He needs a nightly drink or two or threee and the needs weekends to down more than that. They cannot take the risk of someone discovering this; so every night, we the taxpayers, pay for that big plane to wing it's way back to D.C. so he can drink. It very much fits into the pattern of the "nightly cocktail" must have.

[vogonity]

27. I agree

I also think that the August "working vacations" are probably related in some way. They are either binge sessions or "dry out" sessions.

[JPace]

32. Interesting take.....

alcoholics will go to great lengths to get their fix.
His inability to think straight reminds me of someone
who is hungover and doing everything he can to compensate
for it. He's gotten more cranky and short tempered lately.

[susu369]

52. Classic closet drinker

pretends to go to bed early....

[Cocoa]

29. what Bush does matters little

who cares where he gives that dumb, repetitive speech?

What matters in Bush's campaign is what happens on TV, with the ads and the whores, and also Rove's behind the scenes shenanigans. The puppet Bush himself is just an afterthought.

[MisterP]

31. "making some curious stops for an incumbent locked in such a close race"

oh God, he's having a fugue

[northernsoul]

33. this lends weight to the mental breakdown/booze/oxycontin theories

:kick:

[GarySeven]

34. Either God has told him he will win, or ...

... he has already arranged a surprise for Mr. Kerry.

Don't you think Mr. Wellstone was surprised just before impact?

[Sideways]

36. Whoa Gary That Is A Bit Over The Top

And extremely crass. BTW that is Senator Wellstone not Mr. Your post is really quite disturbing.

[Auntie Bush]

38. Lighten up....relax!

[GarySeven]

40. Yes, I should relax ...

After all, Bush still has a few days before he can order the cancellation of elections and the imposition of martial law. I'll just sit back until then ...

[GarySeven]

39. Sorry ...

.. I should have added that SEN. Tower was probably surprised before impact, too.

Nothing is over the top for the thugs in the White House and the Time Has Come for All Good Men to Come To The Aid of Their Party.

[Renew Deal]

41. Bush got smoked in CA and NJ 4 years ago.

There isn't logic to this unless they're up to something.

[VegasWolf]

43. Why worry? bush is just going to pop out Osama next week!

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[Corkey Mineola]

54. he's pregnant?

maybe that's why he's so tired...

[MisterP]

60. thanks for really lightening up my day

[Corkey Mineola]

65. my pleasure... couldn't resist

[PATRICK]

44. Positioning for a possible "crisis"?

try that angle and see where it is best to be in the event something happens. Bush doesn't spin a crisis well on the trail. That is Oval Office time. And where would he want to be if danger struck? What places are strangely avoided?

With all the really silly paranoia out there let's not forget the providential 9/11.

[LiberalCat]

45. Out of touch with reality.

As usual.

[skip fox]

46. NONE. He'll be visiting the troops somewhere in the Middle East!

Two days at Crawford at this time???? I don't believe it.

[goclark]

47. Yep..wonder if he'll tour the prisons?

[quaoar]

51. Bush's internal polls

Must show that Ohio is out of reach, but Pennsylvania isn't.

[Corkey Mineola]

55. The smell of looming defeat...

is such a potent narcotic....

[Carolab]

56. Didn't anyone stop to think that

he's back at the ranch to "plan" the next attack? Remember where he was before 9/11?

[Katherine2]

59. When he came to CA last time

he was supposed to have a 2,000 or so per plate appearance at a hotel here in Orange County, CA, which is heavily Republican. They couldn't get enough people to come and they had to reduce the ticket price.

[Thor_MN]

66. Maybe they are going to bust a nuke on Osama's supposed position

Chimpy wouldn't want to be in DC in case someone decides to cut loose.

[Logansquare]

67. This means the GOP has given up on the ground war, and will concentrate

on voter challenges, recounts, and outright fraud. Kerry has been pulling in crowds from 10-30 thousand per major campaign stop--I notice that the georgewbush.com website neglects to show any long shots of recent campaign events. They are getting piss-poor crowds, that's why.