Bush Fortifies Conservative Base -WP

[Rose Siding]

WAUKESHA, Wis., July 14 -- As President Bush addressed a rally here Wednesday, he performed the political equivalent of preaching to the choir.

Bush won a whopping 65 percent of the vote in this suburban Milwaukee county in 2000, and the Republican Party, which dispensed tickets for the open-air speech, made sure the fairgrounds were packed with Bush loyalists.

Rosemary Metzdorff, after cheering her way through a speech full of references to abortion restrictions, tax cuts, caps on jury awards and other conservative favorites, could not decide which part she liked best. "Every part -- I'm such a Bush fan," she replied, adding that the president probably did not change many minds here. "They were all for him, anyway."

Therein lies an important key to understanding Bush's reelection strategy. Although age-old campaign rules dictate that the general-election candidate must emphasize moderate "swing" voters and political independents, Bush strategists are predicting that this election, more than previous ones, will be determined by the turnout of each side's partisans. Although not discounting swing voters, Bush is placing unusual emphasis so far on rallying the faithful.

"In close elections in today's environment, the old political strategy of focusing just on independents won't work," said Matthew Dowd, the Bush campaign's chief strategist. "Campaigns have to motivate supporters at the same time of appealing to swing voters."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50296-2004Jul14.html

[DBoon]

1. "fortifies" the base?

Today is Bastille Day, a good time to recall how fortresses can be toppled.

[Odeum]

7. Did you guys read the Drudge

"The latest theory about Vice President Dick Cheney's future on the Republican ticket, advanced privately by prominent Democrats, including members of Congress, holds that Cheney recently dropped his personal doctor because of drug addiction so that he could hire a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems have made him unfit to run with Bush!

So reports the NEW YORK TIMES, in a planned Front Page story on Thursday.

Reporter Elisabeth Bumiller is set to kick the gossip into high gear with a 1,600-word speculative, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE."

[xxqqqzme]

2. squatter 'n asscrack

will B doing baptisms in the Potomac B4 it is all over.

[Rose Siding]

3. ROFL

I can see a crowd ringed by riot police on bended knee.

[jean]

4. He fortifies his conservative base + Osama's base (al Queda)

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. focusing just on independents won't work

He must know he has lost the election. The only way he came close to winning last time was to make a broad and basically untruthful appeal to the middle. This is a losing strategy and they know it.

[Betty The Younger]

6. This will be a higher than usual 'absentee ballot' election cycle.

All them old republicans who can't get out to vote will be voting absentee ballot. All they see on tv is bush getting bashed and him standing up for his (corrupt) convictions. Democrats better be ready. Gore didn't fight for his presidency, I hope Kerry does.

[2Design]

8. Bush is spending no time where he will have protesters or negatives

this is why he will skip anyone or anywhere the people will most likely vote against him......

[Rose Siding]

9. In the same DANG paper tomorrow-

Bush Refines His Position on a Measure Banning Gay Marriage
snip>
But after endorsing the measure in February, he would often go weeks without mentioning it in public, suggesting either a personal or political reluctance, or both, about pushing it too hard. And when he did raise the topic, he was careful to modulate his message to avoid alienating moderate voters, warning in particular against allowing the issue to become an excuse for gay bashing.

"What they do in the privacy of their house, consenting adults should be able to do," Mr. Bush said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Friday, seeking to distinguish between private behavior and giving legal sanction to same-sex marriages. "This is America. It's a free society. But it doesn't mean we have to redefine traditional marriage."

By hedging his position, if only a bit, Mr. Bush may have insulated himself somewhat from the sting of the defeat the proposed amendment suffered in the Senate on Wednesday.

http://nytimes.com/2004/07/15/politics/campaign/15assess.html?hp

You like that- he "refines" his position. A dem would have been said to nuance or waffle or vary. And it is at odds with other analysis in the same paper on the same day.

[GaryL]

11. Can you say.....

FLIP FLOP!

[PATRICK]

10. However they spin it

this is entertaining. That Bush has to rally his fanatical, misinformed base at this stage is pathetic. The real situation, a losing situation, is that- despite the "loud cheering" they love to play up on Clear Channel and PBS this bloc vote will be less energized(I hope this is an understatement) and shaky. This base too has been shaken on several fronts and coercion to get into pastor's congregations' lists is more a sign of desperation than anything else.

Bush, no matter what color glasses they are wearing HAS depressed and disappointed his base, sometimes on issues that seem trivial to ordinary folk. NO how does he expect to lose the election closely this time? What new voters since he has lost votes across the spectrum with one mentally shaky, incoherent base trying to figure out some other explanation for reality other than truth?

In a similar position, Carter relied on rallying the whole Dem base and some moderate coalition(DLC dreamland precursor) against the radical fluff of Reagan. Any delusions he had were minuscule before the enormous balloon of spin lies that alone keeps Bush in contention.

That brings us to the twist. Reagan feared the "October Surprise" of a timely Iranian hostage release and the Bush spooks worked behind the scenes to pre-empt such a possibility. In fact Carter had no such devious plan and in turn never said much about the possible counter scheme of keeping the hostages past the election.

The huge irony is that in a more open, honest fashion, our side is trying to pre-empt a plethora of more diabolical October Surprises because all rational signs otherwise point to a Democratic victory.

These reporters would never cut it as sportscasters. This is like saying the Boston Red Sox have given vitamins to their top pitchers in order to win the pennant.

[kskiska]

12. It's about time someone called him on his canned audiences

(snip)

Selecting friendly audiences is standard operating procedure for any campaign. But Kerry's campaign on Tuesday issued a statement complaining about Bush restricting access to campaign events, citing news accounts about people being turned away from Bush events because they were not supporters. A Kerry spokesman, Phil Singer, said those who attend Kerry rallies are not asked about their loyalties.