With the president's job approval ratings so low and the public well
aware of what it thinks about the war, Bush is taking a big gamble.

"This is a very tricky thing in our politics. We want to think that we
want our leaders to stand up to public opinion. But we also like to
think of ourselves as being in a democracy where we are listened to,"
Fields said.

"He risks either the notion of being thought out of touch ... or to be
thought simply duplicitous."


From The Associated Press, 5/28/07:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Bushs_Reality.html

Analysis: The Bush take on U.S. opinion

By JENNIFER LOVEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


WASHINGTON -

Confronted with strong opposition to his Iraq policies, President Bush
decides to interpret public opinion his own way.

Actually, he says, people agree with him.

Democrats view the November elections that gave them control of
Congress as a mandate to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

They're backed by evidence; election exit poll surveys by The
Associated Press and television networks found 55 percent saying the
U.S. should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.

The president says Democrats have it all wrong: the public doesn't
want the troops pulled out - they want to give the military more
support in its mission.

"Last November, the American people said they were frustrated and
wanted a change in our strategy in Iraq," he said April 24, ahead of a
veto showdown with congressional Democrats over their desire to
legislation a troop withdrawal timeline.

"I listened. Today, General David Petraeus is carrying out a strategy
that is dramatically different from our previous course."

Increasingly isolated on a war that is going badly, Bush has presented
his alternative reality in other ways, too.

He expresses understanding for the public's dismay over the
unrelenting sectarian violence and American losses that have passed
3,400, but then asserts that the public's solution matches his.

"A lot of Americans want to know, you know, when?" he said at a Rose
Garden news conference Thursday.

"When are you going to win?"

Also in that session, Bush said:

"I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, `Get
out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly
disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well."

In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree, and that leaving - not
winning - is their main goal.

In one released Friday by CBS and the New York Times, 63 percent
supported a troop withdrawal timetable of sometime next year.

Another earlier this month from USA Today and Gallup found 59 percent
backing a withdrawal deadline that the U.S. should stick to no matter
what's happening in Iraq.

Bush aides say poll questions are asked so many ways, and often so
imprecisely, that it is impossible to conclude that most Americans
really want to get out.

Failure, Bush says, is not what the public wants - they just don't
fully understand that that is just what they will get if troops are
pulled out before the Iraqi government is capable of keeping the
country stable on its own.

Seeking to turn up the heat on this argument, Bush has relied lately
on an al-Qaida mantra.

Terrorists remain dangerous, and fighting them in Iraq is key to
neutralizing the threat, he says.

"It's hard for some Americans to see that, I fully understand it,"
Bush said.

"I see it clearly."
______________________________________________

It's scary. This kid's really very sick and needs help.

Harry