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Washington Post - August 31, 2004

For openers, recalling the past to win the present

By John F. Harris

NEW YORK, Aug. 30 -- One month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a poll showed that 92 percent of Americans approved of how President Bush was handling terrorism. Almost two years later, after the surrender of Baghdad, that number still stood at 79 percent.

The speakers who opened the Republican National Convention on Monday night -- led by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani -- launched a concerted effort to convince Americans that what they thought of Bush then remains the way they should think of him now.

The evening was replete with unabashed efforts to invoke the emotional trauma of New York's Sept. 11 catastrophe on behalf of the Republican campaign. The aim was to restore the luster of Bush's credentials on national security despite the scuffs these have taken from the problems of the Iraq occupation and handover. It was the political equivalent of reintroducing a famous consumer brand after a season of controversies. In Bush's case, this meant trying to revive public appreciation for what had been his core assets: a reputation for strength and steadfastness against adversaries, even in the face of setbacks.

Convention stagers put little stock in subtlety. In addition to Giuliani, the partisans heard from the city's former police chief, two widows of people who died on Sept. 11, as well as all manner of tributes to the firefighters, doomed airline passengers and other heroes of the terrorist attacks. The message, sometimes unstated and sometimes explicit, was that Bush's presidency has itself been a story of rising to meet the demands of a terrible moment.

About 60 percent of Americans in a new Washington Post/ABC poll approved of Bush's handling of terrorism, and in recent months that number has dipped as low as 50 percent -- potentially providing an opening to Democrat John F. Kerry on what both candidates say is the preeminent issue in this year's race. The anomaly confronting Bush this year is that he is seen as comparatively effective on terrorism, but he has been dragged down by events in Iraq. The message from the podium here was to limit the Iraq damage by demonstrating Bush has been equally vigilant toward both problems….

Nonetheless, several Republicans have said the political baggage Bush is carrying from Iraq has affected his popularity enough that he has little choice but to portray Kerry as an unacceptable alternative. Among those who argued that was Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) , who introduced McCain….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47776-2004Aug30?language=printer