Of course, with stagnation in wages and a larger and larger portion of the debt going toward repaying foreign lenders, they're quickly running out of even apparent "strengths" to brag about.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=akwb41dNaJ20&refer=politicsBush Emphasizes Economy as Security Message Weakens (Update1)
By Matthew Benjamin and Brendan Murray
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush is intensifying his bid to win his party credit for an improving economy, a move given new urgency by Republicans' difficulty in making moral values and the war on terror central issues in the mid-term elections.
Today, Bush will visit a FedEx Corp. facility in the Washington area to talk up his economic achievements. In remarks to workers, he'll trumpet progress in trimming the federal budget deficit, the millions of new jobs created on his watch, and a pro-growth business environment that he attributes to tax cuts.
Bush has given only one speech on the economy in the past six weeks, an event at Meyer Tool Inc., in Cincinnati, in which he extolled his record as a champion of small business. Experts said that a new push on the economy is timely now thanks to lower gasoline prices, a rebounding stock market, and renewed hope about interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
``You go with what you've got, and right now the economy is the best thing they've got going,'' said Philip Klinkner, professor of government at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
White House political strategist Karl Rove originally envisioned a three-pronged strategy for retaining Republicans' congressional majority. The plan cast Republicans as tougher than Democrats on fighting terrorism, more attuned to Americans' values on moral issues and more likely to keep the economy humming thanks to the party's commitment to tax cuts.
Troubled Plan
With just over a month to go before the election, Rove's plan has crashed into some daunting political realities. A best- selling book by Washington Post editor Bob Woodward has sown doubts about the Bush war cabinet's veracity and its vigilance over the terror threat posed by al-Qaeda.
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