Bush digging in his heels

Perhaps he's doing this because he has nowhere to go and simply can not admit any mistake, ever. Even insiders realize that this is a risky strategy though they believe that if they change it will only play into the hands of Kerry. Perhaps, but it appears to me that Kerry is doing an excellent job of painting Bush as a stubborn man that does not have the ability to face facts and change when necessary. The flip-flopping works both ways.

Mr. Bush's new speech signaled that he would stand firm between now and Election Day over his handling of Iraq and appeared to be an effort to take attention away from the 918-page report released in Washington on Wednesday detailing how Saddam Hussein's stockpiles of unconventional weapons had been
dismantled years before the invasion last year, and how the Iraqi dictator's ability to pose a serious military threat - a justification for war Mr. Bush still makes regularly - had eroded after 1991.

There was a time for Mr. Bush to make such concessions, the official said, but "that moment passed months ago." To do so now, the official argued, would both undercut the campaign and the 138,000 American troops in Iraq.

But one of Mr. Bush's closest aides said that "it's more important that he shows he is going to stick with it, not look back, and make this work."

In fact, Mr. Bush's new speech did not contain a line he has often used acknowledging that no caches of chemical and biological weapons had been uncovered in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the New Donkey is saying to look out for the new pivot in Bush strategy. We should expect even more aggressive attacks about Kerry's record as Bush tries to push Kerry out to the fringe (where Bush already resides.) Bush is in a corner and has nowhere to go. With Bush now attacking Kerry from an event in 1972, will we see Kerry make mention of Bushies "lost years?" Wow. Does Bush really want to go back over those times and open up a full review of his own life back then? Dangerous territory there for Bush and it just goes to show how desperate and afraid of losing they are.