http://nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/114953p-103715c.htmlNew York Daily News -
http://www.nydailynews.comW to skip WTC rites
By THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Thursday, September 4th, 2003
WASHINGTON - Wait till next year.
President Bush will lead the national remembrance on the second
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks - far away from Ground Zero.
Bush will spend the day in Washington and send his No. 2, Vice President
Cheney, to Thursday's memorial service on the hallowed World Trade
Center site.
The downgrade went down poorly with some victims' families.
snip
"This is in no way an affront to the people of New York," a top official
told the Daily News. "Not a day goes by that the image of those people
in those buildings doesn't cross the President's mind. It's something he
carries with him every day."
snip
"Last year, people needed speeches," the official said. "This year, a
quiet remembrance is more appropriate."
Several Bush aides denied that his absence had anything to do with his
slumping approval ratings in New York.
snip
"Quite honestly, he probably would have gotten booed," Bill Doyle, who
lost his son Joey in the attack, said of a Bush visit.