In Final Year, Bush to Focus on Foreign Policy

[babylonsister]

In Final Year, Bush to Focus on Foreign Policy

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 21, 2008; 2:07 PM

MONROVIA, Liberia, Feb. 21 -- They proclaimed George W. Bush Day in Benin, thronged streets by the tens of thousands in Tanzania and christened the George Bush Motorway in Ghana. As he wrapped up his Africa trip in Liberia on Thursday, they sang about him on the radio, crooning his name and warbling, "Thank you for the peace process."

For a president in his final year in office and saddled with low poll numbers, heading overseas offers affirmation not always available at home. It has been years since President Bush drew crowds in the United States comparable to those he saw in Dar es Salaam, and it's hard to find U.S. highways named after him outside Crawford, Tex. Dancing women at home rarely wear his face on their skirts or blouses.

The president plans to pack his bags often in 2008, not just for the souvenirs but because, much as with any two-term presidency heading into its twilight, he may have more opportunity to assert leadership and solidify achievements than by staying in Washington. With Congress in opposition hands and the campaign to replace him captivating the nation, Bush's attention has turned to finding peace in the Middle East and accelerating the fight against disease and poverty in Africa.

"He realizes, like many presidents come to do, that he can have a real impact on people's lives in the foreign policy arena because prescriptive legislation is not needed," said former White House counselor Dan Bartlett. The more Bush traveled and met people, Bartlett said, the more it animated him. "Personal experiences often help bring passion to public policy."

That represents a dramatic change for a president who arrived in Washington with a largely empty passport, a disdain for nation building and an aversion to his father's focus on foreign policy. "Here's a guy who came to office believing that California is foreign policy and now understands that Kenya is domestic policy," said Bob Geldof, the rock star and activist who accompanied Bush on his trip. "It's a huge intellectual curve."

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022101585.html

[niyad]

1. did somebody finally give him an atlas?

[Eurobabe]

2. Oh, good god NO! Keep that lunatic

away from anything that has to do with FP. He's done enough damage already. :mad:

[Turbineguy]

3. Did you forget

the sarcasm smiley?

[RedStateShame]

4. Doesn't "foreign policy" to Pres. Bush...

...mean bombing somebody?

[theoldman]

5. It's too damn late and not enough time to accomplish anything.

Bush thinks that timing is everything. His timing leaves the problems to the next President.

[babylonsister]

6. Yep. He just doesn't want to hang around here and be the object

of the entire country's disdain.

[bdamomma]

7. he thinks he's on a big field trip stupid man.

cause he never went out of US till he was pResident. That is why he doesn't know squat about other cultures, what an embarrassment he is to all of us.

[ThomWV]

8. God help Foreign Policy.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I wonder who finally explained to him what "Foreign Policy" actually means...

[EOTE]

10. Does he really need to dedicate a WHOLE YEAR?

I mean, wouldn't a month or two suffice? It's obvious he didn't have any time for Foreign Policy his first term, I would have thought that December '08 would have been fine. Like a college student cramming for exams, only his exams are his legacy of 8 years, and he's already gotten a big fat F-.

[tanyev]

11. Couldn't he just focus on getting all of that brush cleared at the pig farm?

[gratuitous]

12. Wait, wasn't he going to focus on the economy?

And before that, he was going to use his foreign policy triumphs as a springboard for another round of smashing success on the domestic policy front? And what's with this foreign policy stuff? I thought the Bush administration said it would be enough to solve the Middle East problem between Israel and its neighboring countries to secure his legacy.

Sounds like Bush, a notoriously lazy man, has attention deficit disorder as well. Problem can't be solved in a news cycle? Move on to the next one! And the media obligingly forget all about the deathless pronouncements of a week before.