Republicans Worry About Bush Poll Numbers [View All]

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=716&e=15&u=/nm/20030914/ts_nm/politics_bush_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With President Bush's poll numbers dropping, many of his fellow Republicans are uneasy about the state of the U.S. economy, rising budget deficits, and the U.S. military operation in Iraq. snip

"The White House needs to get back on the offensive and talk about some ideas and policies," said a senior Republican strategist in Washington, who asked to remain unidentified. snip

The U.S. economy has lost close to 3 million jobs since Bush took office in January 2001, a situation the president blames on a recession under way when he began his term, the Sept. 11 attacks, corporate scandals and Iraq war jitters. snip

Some Republicans are concerned Bush seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time raising money for his 2004 re-election campaign race, lowering his profile from commander in chief to solicitor in chief and leaving him more open to Democratic assault.

Bush has been to 20 fund-raising events in 12 states and Washington since mid-June and has raised more than $60 million, on his way to a goal of $170 million for a Republican primary campaign for which he has no challengers.

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