so it looks like Woodward's strategy was this:

[grasswire]

1. Establish Bush as in control of the decisions, strong, tough.

2. Seed the book with enough deniable criticisms to appear balanced.

Notice that almost every criticism of the book comes down to a he said-she said.

I now consider the book a gift to Bush. Carefully managed by Rove.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Woodward is a Bush enabler. He is scum and a threat to....

America!

[Judi Lynn]

2. How wildly disappointing. I just got his book, too.

I was hoping I'd learn he had crafted a real indictment of the guilty parties.

What a direction to take for someone who did the nation a favor by uncovering Watergate. He has destroyed every reason to respect him.

[grasswire]

3. the book is key....

....in the real strategy for the campaign.

The key strategy is for Bush to appear strong and decisive. That's their highest goal. And the polls last week appear to ratify that strategy. They went up for Bush when things got worse for him in Iraq.

And every time you see Bush holler about the Patriot Act, that's because it's part of the plan to make him seem tough.

The details don't even matter.

[KoKo]

5. And, the plan was to get "all the dirt out now" in time for Bushies to

counter it so that any other revelations later will seem like old news.

The pudits can say: "But wasn't this all vetted in the Woodward book? what's new about yadda, yadda, yadda."

Effective way of diffusing anything new. I don't think the American people will buy it, though. It may just be enough to get a dialog going in the country.

It's my hope...anyway. That it will work against them by exposing more than they ever wanted.

If the American People stay asleep after all of these damning books then I guess there's no hope for any of us. :-( I believe we are better than that.

[Tellurian]

11. Maybe so- But Bush is about to create another diversion w/Najaf & Fallujah

Like the old saying:

"When you deal with the Devil you never look into his eyes." meaning, Kerry has got to come up with his own program and denounce the aggression of the Bush Administration with every breath in his speeches.

[KissMyAsscroft]

4. I have always agreed that Woodward is on their team..

or else he wouldn't even be able to set foot on White House property.

[glarius]

6. Also why in all of his discussions on TV or in his book did he never

mention the voices of dissent, like O'Neill and Clarke who said Bush was fixated on going to war with Iraq from day 1?....He talks about every other character in the White House but I have not heard a peep out of him about these people!

[Tellurian]

7. I think he playing both ends against the middle...

his revelations may be opined by some to be on Bush's team. To others his words characterize a man who conveys himself as one thing for public consumption and quite another behind closed doors.

A Jekyll and Hyde persona is not something Americans want as the president of their country. If the contrasts Woodward has mentioned in his book can be drawn clear enough, they could be invaluable to Kerry.

[johnfunk]

8. I wouldn't go that far. I've read the book...

... and it's damning.

Bush's handlers have no choice but to put a positive spin on the book.

Problem is, as the ol' saying goes, "You can't polish a turd."

[Tellurian]

9. good, John..

I haven't read the book as of yet.

I'm going on what I've seen of Woodward's personal interviews with a myriad of news people.

And so far, I find his testimony very damning-

[bluedog]

10. my opinion

his book was used by the bush campaign to show bush a sting leader.all this other side stuff.Bandar.$700 million ...just to make it look like bush was doing something wrong..which we all know WILL NEVER be investigated and the WH knows that as well.........The book was vetted by the WH and they knew there was really nothing damning to bush.they knew the American sheep would over look certain parts of him....They also know some of the sheep will believe anything bush almighty king says.

Also.this book gets Clarkes book off the talk shows and out of the headlines.I said when I first seen Woody.that something was stinking.and I believe its the two faced woody book.

[Tellurian]

13. It all works as long as Powell doesn't talk!

Powell is the key witness to these events.

If he turns...they're all dead meat.

[Stephanie]

12. I still think the Tenet "slam dunk" thing will trip them up

I think it's like the 16 words. I think that quote comes from Bush himself, and he's lying. They are trying to blame the WMD lies on Tenet. But Clarke paints a different portrait of Tenet. So I think Bush is going to be caught in this lie of pretending that he quizzed Tenet on the evidence and that Tenet assured him it was good. This will turn out to be another BIG LIE. IMO.

[w4rma]

14. I disagree. Just because the Bushes are good at spinning doesn't mean

that the person whose book they are spinning is in bed with the Bushes.

Woodward's book is a major smackdown on ShrubCo, imho. There are all sorts of reasons why Bush handlers don't like this book. Just the fact of Woodward out there criticizing Bush reminds people of back when Woodward criticized Nixon. And everyone knows what happened to Nixon.

I swear. Too many folks think that everything is some sort of conspiricy and skipping right over the simplest explanations. Woodward wrote the book to help expose ShrubCo whichh hopefully helps take ShrubCo down (again) and to make some money off of book sales. Simple.