Bush as innovative, forward-looking CIC w/ vision beyond Iraq?

[papau]

"appeared intended to position him as an innovative, forward-looking commander in chief whose vision extends well beyond the problems he has had bringing Iraq under control." .. "the challenge for Mr. Bush is not so much to solidify his standing as the nation's commander in chief as it is to make sure he appears stronger and more reliable than Mr. Kerry. As Mr. Bush's political advisers often say, elections are about choices and comparisons." ..."The upshot is that Mr. Bush's standing among voters on national security matters is not what he and his advisers had hoped it would be heading into the Republican Convention in New York, which the White House had once assumed would be a perfect setting to showcase the president's standing as commander in chief in a post-9/11 world"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/19bush.html

A 'War President' Reinforces His Military Positions
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON

Published: August 19, 2004


T. PAUL, Aug. 18 - Nearly three years after the Sept. 11 attacks transformed him into what he calls a "war president," and 76 days before an election that will probably turn in large part on national security issues, George W. Bush is still trying to burnish his credentials as commander in chief.

On Monday, he endorsed the most far-reaching redeployment of American troops in decades, saying the military had to be reconfigured from its cold war posture to confront the more fluid threats of a new century.

On the campaign trail in Pennsylvania on Tuesday he raised his longstanding support for a national missile defense system, a program that is especially popular among conservatives. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld followed up on Wednesday with a speech on the same topic, saying that the early progress in deploying the antimissile system "represent the triumph of hope and vision over pessimism and skepticism."

Campaigning in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Mr. Bush proposed a small-bore way of updating the military to adapt to the stresses of long deployments. He called for increasing tuition subsidies for National Guard members and reservists, and giving grants to states to help the children of military personnel make the transition to new school systems when they move from base to base.<snip>