....He still fills smaller rooms, especially the kind where people are willing to write five-figure checks for the privilege of lunch with a Republican resident. And he's welcomed warmly in places where having local reporters point out Bush's difficulties provides a diversion from the candidate's own.
But when Air Force One touches down in tightly contested congressional districts these days, it often turns out that the GOP candidate there has discovered a previous commitment, the political version of an appointment to have your tires rotated....
....(H)e held a news conference a few days ago to hug his war policy even tighter. It is there that he argued staying the course means "constantly changing tactics to meet the situation on the ground," and that benchmarks (good) aren't the same as timetables (bad).
But it was as if no one was listening. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared that he wouldn't abide by either one if it was imposed by Washington, and Bush's top general in Iraq, George W. Casey, broke ranks to suggest he was thinking about asking for more troops.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/29/coverstory.tm/index.html