LAT/Brownstein great analysis:Bush Replays Themes That Worked in 2000

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-assess24feb24,1,6007600.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

NEWS ANALYSIS
Bush Replays Themes That Worked in 2000 Election


By Ronald Brownstein, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — President Bush, in sharpening on Monday his case for reelection, signaled his determination to return to arguments that worked against Al Gore in 2000.<snip>

"The American people will decide between two visions of government: a government that encourages ownership and opportunity and responsibility, or a government that takes your money and makes your choices," Bush said....("to empower the American people" while Gore wanted "to empower the federal government")<snip>


The choice between big government and small government "obviously worked to a large extent for Bush in 2000, and could well do that again in 2004," said Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. "But I think we are in a very different context in 2004, where the public is much more attuned to the need for government to play an active role in policing excessive corporate power."<snip>

He defended ...Patriot Act..."It makes no sense not to have the tools available to chase these terrorists down."....Education/No Child Left Behind Act...insist upon results, to say for the first time, 'Would you please show us whether or not the children are learning to read and write and add and subtract.' ......Trade..."We won't back off our desire to open up markets for U.S. products — farm products, ranch products, manufacturing products."<snip>

...a sustained GOP effort to paint Kerry...as a big-spending liberal who has abandoned the fiscal discipline....A recent survey by Democratic strategist Stanley B. Greenberg found than nearly two-thirds of voters expressed doubts about Kerry when they were read Republican arguments that portrayed him as "a typical tax-and-spend liberal."<snip>


"Democrats have to remind voters that we want to reform government, not just expand it," said Bruce Reed, president of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.<snip>

<snip>

Democrats also believe anxiety over the economic trends during Bush's first term — from the loss of jobs to the rise in the number of Americans without health insurance — has shifted public concern away from the power of government to the power of private interests. Recent polls have shown that most voters believe Bush cares more about the wealthy and corporate interests than about average Americans.<snip>