New York Post - By Deborak Orin
February 5, 2004 -- COLUMBIA, S.C. - Republicans at the grass-roots level are starting to get the jitters - not because they think Democratic front-runner John Kerry is such a great candidate (they don't) but because they fear an out-of-touch President Bush is blowing it.
"[Team Bush] made it too obvious that they wanted to run against Howard Dean because he was liberal - and that made it possible for Kerry to come in as the knight in shining armor when on paper he's even more liberal than Dean," groused a GOP strategist.
"The economy is coming back, but we're letting Democrats do a gloom-and-doom thing about jobs instead of tax cuts, and we're letting the Democrats and the national media redefine why we went to war in Iraq. We have a heck of a story to tell and we're not telling it."
Another complaint: Bush has sounded "mealy-mouthed" about the revelation that Saddam Hussein may not have had WMDs instead of ordering heads to roll for bad intelligence.
Perhaps Team Bush is starting to realize the problem. Yesterday the president began trying to redefine the Iraq war as a triumphant liberation.
Bush spoke at a Library of Congress exhibit honoring Winston Churchill, and cast himself and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as Churchill's heirs.
Bush is coming to South Carolina today after a week of Democratic Bush-bashing during their primary, but it's as if he's following their agenda.
"He's letting the tail wag the dog. He follows the Democratic candidates around when he's the president and he should be setting the agenda," fumed an unhappy Republican.
Some also fear Bush political guru Karl Rove is so fixed on masterminding a national election that will lock Republicans into power for a decade that he's forgotten that you have to be sure you'll win before plotting to win big.
February 5, 2004 -- COLUMBIA, S.C. - Republicans at the grass-roots level are starting to get the jitters - not because they think Democratic front-runner John Kerry is such a great candidate (they don't) but because they fear an out-of-touch President Bush is blowing it.
"[Team Bush] made it too obvious that they wanted to run against Howard Dean because he was liberal - and that made it possible for Kerry to come in as the knight in shining armor when on paper he's even more liberal than Dean," groused a GOP strategist.
"The economy is coming back, but we're letting Democrats do a gloom-and-doom thing about jobs instead of tax cuts, and we're letting the Democrats and the national media redefine why we went to war in Iraq. We have a heck of a story to tell and we're not telling it."
Another complaint: Bush has sounded "mealy-mouthed" about the revelation that Saddam Hussein may not have had WMDs instead of ordering heads to roll for bad intelligence.
Perhaps Team Bush is starting to realize the problem. Yesterday the president began trying to redefine the Iraq war as a triumphant liberation.
Bush spoke at a Library of Congress exhibit honoring Winston Churchill, and cast himself and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as Churchill's heirs.
Bush is coming to South Carolina today after a week of Democratic Bush-bashing during their primary, but it's as if he's following their agenda.
"He's letting the tail wag the dog. He follows the Democratic candidates around when he's the president and he should be setting the agenda," fumed an unhappy Republican.
Some also fear Bush political guru Karl Rove is so fixed on masterminding a national election that will lock Republicans into power for a decade that he's forgotten that you have to be sure you'll win before plotting to win big.
