NYT: Bold Strokes, Few Details

[kskiska]

For a nation divided over his stewardship, distressed about the economy and dubious about the war with Iraq, President Bush had one overriding message last night: He's still the one.

Still the caring "compassionate conservative" voters met and liked four years ago, still the strong steward who has led them through tumultuous times of terrorism and war, still the man they can trust to face the problems of a second term - abroad, and at home.

But he offered few critical details sense of the second-term domestic agenda he outlined. His big policy ideas - restraining government spending, simplifying the tax code, offering tax credits for health savings accounts, allowing personal savings accounts for Social Security - were vague. And the specific proposals he cited - increasing funds for community colleges, opening rural health centers - were mostly small-bore.

And while Mr. Bush conceded in unusually personal terms that "some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called 'walking,' and that "now and then I come across as a little too blunt," he suggested those traits were bred in the bone and unlikely to change at 58. "For that," he said, referring to his mother, "we can all thank the white-haired lady sitting right up there."

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/03/politics/campaign/03assess.html?hp

[Frances]

1. He's 58 and he's still blaming his mother for his faults?

nt

[Sagan]

2. "voters met and liked four years ago"???

WTF is that supposed to mean? Ok, so if "voters met and liked" Chimpy in 2000, that means that half a million more voters liked Gore BETTER.

[johnfunk]

3. What the Cheney is that supposed to mean?

It's supposed to mean the electorate liked him so much, Albert S. Gore Jr. got more popular votes!

[krkaufman]

4. A *majority* of voters, in fact, did NOT like Bush

Combining the Gore and Nader votes puts the "Bush is a frickin' idiot" vote up over 50%.