Summer Spinning

To GOP, Vacation Boosted Bush Agenda; To Democrats, Voters See a Shirk Ethic

In a speech to the American Legion's national convention, President Bush pressed Congress to fully fund his requested increase for defense spending. (AP Photo)

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 29 -- Republican officials were delighted to turn on their televisions this month and see a tanned President Bush chatting with voters in the snack bar of a Target store, clearing a hiking trail in Colorado, and talking expansively in relaxed settings about the Middle East, stem cell research and national defense.

Democratic officials were delighted to turn on their televisions this month and see late-night comedians, night after night and week after week, using Bush's "working vacation" as a running gag that competed for time with the troubles of Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.). David Letterman, who cracked that Bush's vacation will end Jan. 20, 2005, asked one night, "Unwind? When the hell does this guy wind? Come on."

The president will leave his ranch here Thursday morning and fly back to Washington to face a sagging economy, a tight budget and a Senate that does not seem inclined to give him many more trophies to go with his tax cut. Officials in both parties agree that depending on which images of his month out of Washington wind up sticking with voters, Bush either will have more leverage for the battles ahead, or will be hobbled by fresh doubts about his command of the job.

"Everything depends on whether he is seen as taking charge when there's something to take charge of," said Richard E. Neustadt, a presidential scholar at Harvard University. "But there is a view of Bush that he's a total lightweight. This makes it an easy shot, so it was a risk for him."

The White House had announced that Bush would stay at his 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford from Aug. 4 through Labor Day on Sept. 3, a 31-day stretch that would have broken a modern record for a presidential vacation, held by Richard M. Nixon for a 30-day trip to San Clemente, Calif., in 1969. News reports played up the record, and a Gallup Poll found that 55 percent of respondents thought Bush's vacation was too long.

The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic, and the poll and the news coverage caused consternation in the White House. Aides said they had planned an ambitious schedule for Bush as long ago as late June, but reporters were not told about it, even after they landed here. The White House, suddenly defensive, took every opportunity to show Bush on the go and even created a "Western White House" logo for the briefing room at Crawford Elementary School. Bush revealed that his ranch had new video conferencing equipment for keeping in touch with his national security team.

Bush's approval rating stayed at about 55 percent throughout the month, and some pollsters from both parties pointed out that most voters tune out of politics in August and will wind up judging him on what he does in Washington.

In any case, the trip was cut short from the announced dates, leaving Nixon's record intact. As Bush flew to San Antonio this morning to deliver the last of several major speeches during what he called his "Home to the Heartland Tour," administration officials contended that he had pulled off one of the most productive and picturesque months of his presidency, beginning with his somber address about the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, and concluding today with tough words for Congress about his unwillingness to compromise on defense spending or his tax cut.

Bush supporters said he had outsmarted the pundits and critics who had accused him of loafing. Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) described Bush as "at the top of his game" after having escaped the Beltway to connect with what Lott called "real Americans." Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) said Bush had a great August, politically and personally. "People know he didn't take a vacation from work," Ridge said. "He just took a vacation from Washington."

Democrats gleefully disagreed. Pollsters for both parties conducted focus groups this month, in which cross-sections of voters were asked about their impressions of the president's performance in August. Several Democratic officials do not dispute that Bush made a lot of public appearances this month, but they said that does not matter. What registered with voters, these pollsters said, was that Bush was on a month's vacation, a lot more time than these voters are able to get.

Geoffrey Garin, a Democratic pollster, said voters remembered the time Bush was taking off, but could not say what he had done during his twice-weekly outings from New Mexico to Missouri to Pennsylvania. "The president had an opportunity to command the stage when Congress was gone and the reality is that he hardly did that at all," Garin said. "It's certainly true that the president maintained his image of being a nice guy over the past month and of being a decent family man. But he did nothing to strengthen his image as a leader."

Democrats on Capitol Hill said that if the economy worsens, they can use that against Bush by suggesting he was goofing off on the job. "People like him and they're willing to cut him some slack," said one Democratic aide who has studied the focus group results. "But when things start to go wrong, the first thing they'll think of is the work ethic. We're in a battle of perceptions, and Leno and Letterman and morning radio made it conventional wisdom that this was a month-long vacation."

The Republican National Committee held its own focus groups on Bush's trip, and pollster Matthew Dowd said he found that voters feel a president is never really on vacation. "They referenced their own trips, when they take their cell phones and download on their laptops, and they said, 'Just think what the president must do,' " Dowd said. "Their comment about the economy is that the problem is politicians aren't engaged in people's lives, and they don't want someone bunkered in Washington. The voters have no problem with him leaving Washington to go to Crawford, as long as they see him at the helm and talking to people in everyday America."

Bush began making the transition with a speech at the San Antonio Convention Center to the 83rd annual convention of the American Legion, the world's largest veterans organization. Bush said that despite the lagging economy, which gives the government less money to spend, cuts by Congress to his defense budget could endanger national security. "I know this nation still has enemies, and we cannot expect them to be idle," he said. "Security is my first responsibility, and I will not permit any course that leaves America undefended."

Bush called education and national defense "our administration's two highest priorities." Signaling a combative fall, he said he will entertain no rollback of the tax cut he signed into law. "That would tie an anchor on our economy, and I can assure you I won't allow it," he said, to applause.

The president flew out of state for several addresses throughout the month, and Bush's aides said those appearances should have dispelled any impression of indolence. Karen Hughes, Bush's counselor, said most people consider a month away from Washington to be "good and healthy and constructive."

"The American people are pretty good about looking on television and discerning the difference between reality and spin," she said. "I've had a lot of people say to me, 'What is all this talk about vacation? He's giving a speech every day, always someplace different.' "