… YahooNews is carrying a report by Associated Press writer Tom Raum, “Bush Promises to Tackle Economy, Iraq”. Excerpts: “CHICAGO - President Bush pledged to finish what his administration had begun, both abroad and at home, as he raised $6 million more for his re-election campaign with visits to two electorally pivotal Midwestern industrial states. Brushing aside rising Democratic criticism about his handling of the economy and Iraq, the president told supporters on Tuesday, "We're laying the foundations for greater prosperity and economic vitality and more jobs across America." The president spoke following disappointing reports on consumer confidence and Midwest business activity. Bush was traveling later to Cincinnati for another fund-raiser, and was expected to have raised his campaign bank account to over $82 million by day's end. Together, Illinois and Ohio, two Rust Belt industrial states, have lost 280,000 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office. "So long as anybody in America who wants to work is looking for a job, I will work hard to make conditions for economic growth positive," Bush told about 1,700 supporters at a hotel luncheon. He also addressed business leaders at the University of Chicago School of Business. Bush pressed ahead with his re-election fund-raising tour in the face of slumping job approval ratings and new questions about his administration's conduct in making its case for war in Iraq. Before leaving Washington, Bush instructed his staff to cooperate with a Justice Department investigation into whether the administration improperly disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer whose husband had criticized Bush's war rationale. "If there's a leak in my administration, I want to know who it is," (10/01/2003)

… Washington Times Inside Politics by Greg Pierce -- excerpts: "The media's new word for President Bush is 'vulnerable,' " Fred Barnes writes in the Wall Street Journal. "A Gallup Poll last week found he trails Democrats Wesley Clark (49 percent to 46 percent) and John Kerry (48 percent to 47 percent) in presidential race matchups. His job approval rating dipped to 49 percent in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey," Mr. Barnes said. "A more accurate word for President Bush's political condition is 'normal.' Mr. Bush has slumped in his third year in office just as most recent presidents have. A slump is the rule, not the exception. "Still, there's far more reason than not to expect him to recover and win re-election, perhaps easily. His slump, assuming it's hit bottom, has been milder than the slumps other presidents faced and his prospects are brighter. President Bush is lucky on the economy. His recession came early, giving the economy time to revive before his re-election campaign in 2004. And his foreign policy crisis is hardly as threatening as Vietnam was for Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The economy is almost certain to look better in 2004 than today and chances are Iraq will, too." (10/02/2003)

… Washington Post’s OnPolitics article by Mike Allen, “Bush Bests His Own Fundraising Record”. Excerpts: “CHICAGO, Sept. 30 -- President Bush broke his own one-day record for fundraising with a two-stop, 12-hour visit to the Midwest, but he could not leave the leak investigation behind. Bush, speaking to 1,700 supporters who had paid $2,000 each for a sandwich and a 28-minute speech, condemned "needless, partisan bickering that dominates the Washington, D.C., landscape and the zero-sum politics of Washington." … "Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations," Bush said. "We'll get to the bottom of this and move on." … The fundraisers were held at a hotel here and at a castle-like Lindner family mansion in Cincinnati. The receptions raised a total of $5.3 million on the final day for candidates' third-quarter financial disclosure reports. That edged the $5.2 million Bush raised on one day in California in June, and brought his campaign total to nearly $84 million, according to Bush-Cheney 2004 officials.   (10/02/2003)

… Unemployment increase in September concerns White House -- Duo fund-raising: Bush heading to Wisconsin, Cheney going to Iowa & Pennsylvania. “Both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney planned to hit the money trail Friday to raise more campaign cash. Bush was headed to Wisconsin, while Cheney had stops scheduled in Iowa and Pennsylvania. The unemployment rate, now at 6.1 percent, was expected to nudge up to 6.2 percent for September when new figures are made public. The economy also was expected to have lost around 25,000 jobs last month, which would mark the eighth consecutive month of job losses. [Bush] was renewing his call for six steps he says would build confidence among employers and strengthen the economy, ranging from health care measures, streamlined regulations and restrictions on medical lawsuits to a comprehensive energy plan, expanded trade and tax breaks. He has challenged Congress to make recently enacted tax cuts permanent rather let them expire on schedule. Cheney’s visit to Iowa is also an attempt to shore up Iowa for a strategic win for Bush’s reelection. Iowa fell in the Al Gore column by only thousands of votes. There was discussion regarding a recount in Iowa and Wisconsin to offset possible loss in Florida. Now, both parties see Iowa and Wisconsin as critical to the 2004 Presidential Campaign. In a Des Moines Register story, Thomas Beaumont explores the difficulty of Bush winning Iowa. "It's not a foregone conclusion Iowa will go Republican for the presidency," said Republican National Committee member Steve Roberts of Des Moines. Leach said. Compounding the issues weighing on Bush in Iowa is the drumbeat of criticism leveled at him weekly by Democratic presidential candidates campaigning for the lead-off nominating caucuses. "Then the advantage the party out of power has, particularly in Iowa, is that all the fun in the caucuses goes to the non-incumbent's party. And so this is a fun year for Democrats," Leach said. "This gives a certain momentum to the Democratic Party." Marshalltown Republican Mary Schendel said Bush has to start fighting back against the barrage of attacks Democrats are delivering every week in Iowa as they campaign for the caucuses. (10/03/2003)

… Good news - sort of --  Miami Herald reports Bush campaign signed chairman of  Hispanics for Bush. “TAMPA - A leading Cuban-American legislator on Wednesday joined President Bush's reelection campaign committee -- but only after an emotional closed-door debate over whether the Bush administration was committed to sharpening its Cuba policy. Following intense negotiations with Bush campaign officials and his own peers in the state Legislature, Rep. Gaston Cantens agreed late Tuesday to attend Wednesday's news conference with Gov. Jeb Bush, Bush-Cheney 2004 manager Ken Mehlman and other GOP luminaries. Cantens, a Miami Republican, stood on stage to express his support as a chairman of ``Hispanics for Bush.'' (10/03/2003)

… On the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Cheney said the war on terror will be the centerpiece issue. According to a Thomas Beaumont article in the Des Moines Register, Cheney also issued a challenge to the Dem candidates to come forward with a better plan. "It's important to remind people, if they are tempted to listen to the other side, to ask the questions: What's their strategy? How did they deal with this when they were in charge?" Cheney said of Democrats running to challenge the Republican incumbent next year. He also cited as justification for the war an interim report by U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, who testified to members of Congress on Thursday that Saddam Hussein was working to develop weapons of mass destruction. "One of the debates you've seen in recent days is maybe Saddam didn't really have any" weapons of mass destruction, Cheney said. "I think the record is overwhelming that he had in fact had the major investments in weapons of mass destruction." Though Cheney's 20-minute speech focused on fighting terrorism, he also offered hope that the sluggish economy was improving. Cheney cited the addition of 57,000 new jobs in September as proof of an economic recovery, although the jobless rate was unchanged for the month at 6.1 percent.  (10/04/2003)

… Campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Bush expressed his optimism on the economy. Figures released earlier by the Department of Labor showed the unemployment rate for September had held steady. WashingtonPost On Politics article by AP writer Jennifer Loven. Excerpts: “Bush spoke just a few hours after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate held steady in September at 6.1 percent of the labor force and that businesses added some 57,000 jobs. As evidence of progress toward a recovery, the president cited the new report. Economists had expected the overall civilian unemployment rate to rise to 6.2 percent, with a loss of 25,000 more jobs. "Things are getting better," Bush said, "But there's still work to do," he said. That work includes lawsuit reforms to lower health care costs, streamlined regulations, a comprehensive energy plan, expanded trade and more tax breaks, said Bush. He challenged Congress to make recently enacted tax cuts permanent rather let them expire on schedule. The president's trip to Wisconsin was his eighth to the state, which he lost narrowly in 2000.” (10/04/2003)

… Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu calls for an independent investigation of the White House/CIA leak allegation. Excerpts from the editorial: “… The latest evidence suggests the Bush administration was so hell-bent on starting a war with Iraq that it was willing to go to any length - deception, fabrication, persecution of doubters and their families. To drum up support for the war, the White House spread bogus information about its weapons program and suggested nonexistent links to Sept. 11. Then, when a scientist hired by the CIA to investigate claims about Iraq's weapons program discredited them, some White House officials may have launched a campaign to punish him. They did it, the theory goes, by "outing" his wife as a CIA operative. … the question is whether someone in the White House leaked Valerie Plame's identity as an undercover CIA employee to get back at her husband, Joseph Wilson, when his findings didn't support Bush's weapons claim. Plame's job in intelligence involved weapons of mass destruction. Her husband, a former diplomat in Iraq, was hired by the CIA to travel to Niger last year to investigate claims that Iraq was trying to buy enriched uranium for its weapons program. He found that never happened, and he said so in the New York Times. Soon after, columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson's wife, Plame, was a CIA operative. Novak has acknowledged administration officials fed him that information, but won't say who.

[EDTOR’S NOTE: as reported in our Oct. 1st Report… “Yesterday on CNN's "Crossfire," of which he is a co-host, Novak had this to say: “Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. In July, I was interviewing a senior administration official on Ambassador Wilson's report when he told me the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction. Another senior official told me the same thing. As a professional journalist with 46 years experience in Washington, I do not reveal confidential sources. When I called the CIA in July, they confirmed Mrs. Wilson's involvement in a mission for her husband on a secondary basis, who is--he is a former Clinton administration official. They asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else. According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative, and not in charge of undercover operatives.” That last sentence is the key: If Novak's source is telling the truth, then there's no crime, and the "scandal" is utterly phony.”]  (10/05/2003)

… The Bush fundraising roars on, raising an interesting comparison by Scott Reed – Republican Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign manager. According to an article in today’s Boston Globe, by Brian Mooney, Reed recalls the battle between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole by saying, “Clinton had about a 10-to-1 cash advantage. The media focused on it, and it drove the debate for about six weeks, creating this impression that it was impossible for Dole to win." With Howard Dean as the biggest Dem wannabe fundraiser at $15M (last quarter), and George Bush at around $50M for the same quarter… well, you get the picture. And folks are guesstimating Bush could receive as much as $200M by the first part of next year. The Boston Globe article further reports that according to Kevin Madden, Bush-Cheney reelection committee spokesman, the president's campaign is hiring field directors to build a grass-roots network and stockpiling money in anticipation of heavy spending of "soft money" by independent committees hostile to Bush. (10/05/2003)

… Los Angeles Times article says there’s doom and gloom in Republican hearts regarding Bush’s re-election prospects. Excerpts: “…In a sharp reversal, Republicans who just months ago daydreamed about a 2004 election landslide now worry that President Bush is losing control of events at home and abroad and faces a real chance of leading the party to defeat. At home, anxiety about the economy is escalating and respect for Bush is sinking. His domestic agenda has stalled in Congress. Abroad, troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan have eroded Bush's traditional Republican advantage on foreign policy. His calls for international help in Iraq have gone unanswered. And in both countries, Americans continue to die in guerrilla attacks.” The article goes on to say that there’s time for things to improve, but Bush2 needs to push hard to escape Bush1’s re-election flop. A Capitol Hill quote shows up from Republican Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, “They need to get a handle on these things…we have a saying around here – don’t let your monkeys turn into gorillas.” The article seems to dismiss the report on Friday that the nation’s businesses had added 57,000 new jobs in September (the first gain in jobs in eight months…) and casts it as falling into a ‘wait and see’ status regarding public opinion.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: check out Wall Street’s reaction to the job increase report. No ‘wait and see’ there!] (10/05/2003)

… NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday showcased ex-diplomat Joseph Wilson. As reported by WashingtonPost.com, writer Walter Pincus, Wilson stated, “I do believe, however, that the president would never have condoned or been party to anything like this.” (10/06/2003)

… Could a Schwarzenegger win in California be a bad deal for Bush? New York Times’ Adam Nagourney writes today: “President Bush's political advisers have long yearned to win back this most Democratic of states. Accordingly, while wary of the unpredictable forces unleashed by California's tumultuous recall, they were roused by the prospect that Arnold Schwarzenegger could topple Gov. Gray Davis, providing at least a psychic lift to Republicans and a demoralizing blow to Democrats going into 2004. But now, in the final days of what has turned out to be a very messy election, even some Republicans are wondering if a victory by Mr. Schwarzenegger would be such a good thing for Mr. Bush. … Some were quick to recall that Mr. Bush, in running for president in 2000, would frequently end speeches by raising his right hand in the air and pledging to "return honor and dignity to the White House" — a not-too-subtle reference to President Bill Clinton's sexual exploits (10/06/2003)

… President Bush toughened his stance on his support of the investigation of a White House leak allegedly done by a ‘senior administration official(s).’ An article in today’s New York Times reports Bush as saying it was a “very serious matter” and “a criminal action”.  According to the article, the White House announced yesterday that at least 500 of its 2,000 employees had responded to the Justice Dept demand for documents. Excerpts: “Mr. Bush, in his most extensive comments about the leak to date, urged the person who disclosed the information to come forward. “If anybody has got any information inside our government or outside our government who leaked, you ought to take it to the Justice Department so we can find the leaker,” he said. The White House has given its employees until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to comply with a Justice Department demand that they turn over ‘all documents that relate in any way’ to the disclosure of the officer’s identity.” (10/07/2003)

… President Bush is heading to Hew Hampshire tomorrow to speak to the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the N.H. Business and Industry Association. According to an article in today’s UnionLeader.com, President Bush’s focus will be on job creation, improving the U.S. economy and winning the nation’s war on terror. The article takes note of Bush’s lower job-approval ratings and New Hampshire’s importance in the 2004 presidential race -- a narrow win for Bush in the 2000 election.  Excerpt quote from Rep. Charles Bass: “I never believed President Bush would retain a 70 or 80 percent approval rating through the election. All these (Democratic) candidates have been tearing him [Bush] down, and the press has been unfair in its coverage of the situation in Iraq.” (10/08/2003)

… A Bush-Schwarzenegger meeting may be in the works for next week. President Bush will travel to California next week before he heads to Tokyo. It is expected that Bush will make a couple of $-raising stops while in California. AP writer Scott Lindlaw reports that two California Republicans ‘with ties to the White House’ say Bush and Schwarzenegger are ‘likely to make a joint public appearance in Riverside, California, next Wednesday.’ And reported that the Schwarzenegger campaign for governor of California spurred an increase of some 130,000 GOP-registered voters in that state. Article excerpts: President Bush called Schwarzenegger yesterday to offer his congratulations on winning the recall. White House spokesman Scott McClellan, “The president said he was proud of the race he ran, and he looked forward to working with him.” … Schwarzenegger said, “He promised me he would do everything possible to help California, and so I’m looking forward to working with him and asking him for a lot, a lot of favors.”  (10/09/2003)

… President Bush was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, yesterday – the six-month anniversary of the victory in Baghdad. An article in today’s WashingtonTimes.com by Bill Sammon reports on a confident President, firing back at the Democratic presidential candidates. Here are excerpts of what the President had to say:

• “The challenges we face today cannot be met with timid actions or bitter words."
• "I acted [regarding decision to wage war on Iraq] because I was not about to leave the security of the American people in the hands of a madman. I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein. So in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history, we removed the threat."
• “When you become the president, you can't predict all the challenges that will come. But you do know the principles you bring to office. And they should not change. They shouldn't change with time and they shouldn't change with polls."
• “I took this office to make a difference, not to mark time. I came to this office to confront problems directly and forcefully, not to pass them on to future presidents and future generations. These committed killers will not be stopped by negotiations. They won't respond to therapy or to reason."
• "Our challenges will be overcome with optimism and resolve and confidence in the ideals of our country. Our work in Iraq has been long and hard, and it is not finished.”
• "Last month, the economy exceeded expectations and added net new jobs. Just as our economy is coming around, some are saying now is the time to raise taxes. To be fair, they [Democrats] think anytime is a good time to raise taxes. At least they're consistent. But I strongly disagree.”

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