Let's talk about replacing GWBush in 2004.

On September 28, The Washington Post reported that according "a senior administration official," that "two top White House officials" who may or may not have been Novak's source had called at least "six journalists" to reveal the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. The Post story notes, "It is rare for one Bush administration official to turn on another" - suggesting the Post's source was disgusted with the leaker.


In the October 13 Newsweek, Andrea Mitchell is quoted as saying, "I heard in the White House that people were touting the Novak column and that was the real story." Newsweek also reported that Wilson had received a call from Chris Matthews, of MSNBC's "Hardball," who told him, "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove, who said your wife was fair game."

"The guy didn't even know how to start the thing," Evans reportedly said. "That was a bad omen. Finally we get it started and roll down the runway, and he tries to take it straight up like a jet! We go into a stall, buzzers are going off. I say, 'Give it some gas!' We finally get it airborne, and he decides he better turn around and go back. I can tell he's nervous, but he says, 'Okay, Evvie, got it under control.' We come down and he lands half on the runway and half on the grass. And then he pats my leg and says don't worry, and he takes it up again. This time he's so scared he says, 'Hey, let's fly around Midland.' He had to get his confidence up.

Somehow we got back safely. He's never flown again."

Dave Boyd, sipping a Busch Light in his lawn chair as Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) approached, was troubled. As a production operator at an auto interiors shop in Iowa City, he worried about the Bush administration's bid to revamp the nation's overtime rules.

"I think it would cut into our income quite a bit," Boyd said of the plan, which would make some middle-income workers ineligible for overtime pay.

"I voted against it," replied Leach, who was attending the town's annual Columbus Day parade. "The theory of those who advocate it is that it gives management more flexibility." But "lots of people would be affected by it" negatively.

Until recently, few Republican lawmakers would be so quick to distance themselves from President Bush. But the president's approval ratings have fallen sharply since April, the nation's job growth remains sluggish and some Americans feel the nation is putting too much money -- and not enough wise planning -- into Iraq.

About 12 million American families last year worried that they couldn't afford to buy food, and 32 percent of them actually experienced someone going hungry at one time or another, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

It was the third year in a row that the department has seen an increase in the number of households experiencing hunger and those worried about having enough money to pay for food.

the ball is in the Dems' court

Bush in Better Shape Than Most Recent Presidents at This Stage

The Associated Press
Nov 1, 2003
AP-ES-11-01-03 1223EST

President Bush's overall job approval rating was at 53 percent in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Except for his father in 1991, Bush is the only president since John F. Kennedy with a job approval above 50 percent at this point in his term.
The public tends to like Bush personally and back his efforts fighting terror, but has growing doubts about his handling of other issues like the economy and Iraq.

A look at presidents over the past four decades, including what year the poll was taken, what happened to the presidents afterward and their job approval rating in Gallup polls at this time of year:

-Democrat John F. Kennedy, 1963, (assassinated before 1964 election): 58 percent

-Democrat Lyndon Johnson, 1967 (did not seek second full term): 41 percent

-Republican Richard Nixon, 1971 (won re-election in 1972 over George McGovern in landslide): 49 percent [/b]

Reblican Gerald Ford, 1975 (narrowly lost race to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976): 44 percent

-Carter, 1979 (lost re-election in 1980 to Ronald Reagan by a substantial margin): 32 percent

-Republican Ronald Reagan, 1983 (won re-election in 1984 over Walter Mondale in landslide): 49 percent

-Republican George Bush, 1991 (lost re-election in 1992 to Democrat Bill Clinton): 59 percent

-Clinton, 1995 (won re-election in 1996 over Bob Dole by substantial margin): 49 percent

-George W. Bush, 2003, (running for re-election): 53 percent

Story

Yeah, but the repubs are bragging that the GDP went up 7.2 percent last quarter. I keep saying the important issue is the increase in jobs for a sustained economic recovery, so that some of those families who are unable to feed their families can again not worry about putting food on the table. Another problem is the increase in the uninsured for their health, and we're talking over 42 million Americans.