Bush is on the campaign trail, whipping himself in to a cheerleading frenzy. The plan is for Bush to rile up his base. According to today's Washington Post, he's also energizing the Democratic base. One reason is that he can't stop talking about Iraq -- his biggest failure.
One GOP strategist, speaking candidly about the president on the condition of anonymity, offered this assessment: "I'd say he's at least 50 percent of the problem." In strongly Republican areas, he said, the president can still rally the party's base, but in more marginal districts, Bush is a drag on GOP candidates. "He's the problem," the strategist said. "He should stay away."The Republicans are having a hard time finding places to send the President where he won't be too much of a liability. The Post notes that Bush isn't showing up in television ads for GOP candidates. Bush is a fixture in Democratic ads:
That hardly means Bush has been absent from television screens this fall. Democrats by the dozens have featured him in their ads, trying to tie their opponents to the president and his policies. Bill Burton, a DCCC spokesman, said that, as of the beginning of this week, Democratic candidates and the DCCC have run more than 90 ads in 34 districts featuring the president and the Democrats' opponent.This is where we are 6 days out. Bush is a disaster for his own party. Iraq is a policy disaster and it is the dominant issue.
Which makes me wonder why the punditry still thinks Karl Rove is a political wizard. They seem to quiver every time he predicts a GOP victory. It's his job to say that. Rove plays mind games with the media. They've fallen for his psyche games for years now. Josh Marshall wrote a great post about this on Monday. Let's keep this in perspective. Rove is the political mastermind behind Bush's abysmal standing. Even Republicans want their President to stay away. So what exactly is it about Rove that we are supposed to fear this year? The 37% approval rating speaks for itself.
