GOP Hopefuls Keep Distance From Bush

The Republicans took shots at Democratic candidates, saying they are soft on terrorism, prone to raise taxes and prepared to institute big-government health-care reform. But on issue after issue, they found ways to disparage Bush's work as well.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said the administration "bungled Katrina," has mismanaged the war and is indifferent to border security. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani called a bipartisan immigration bill that enjoys Bush's strong support "a typical Washington mess."

The candidates reaffirmed their support for Bush's troop increase in Iraq but competed to criticize what happened there after U.S. forces deposed Saddam Hussein.

"This war was very badly mismanaged for a long time," said Sen. John McCain of Arizona. "And Americans have made great sacrifices, some of which were unnecessary because of . . . mismanagement of this conflict."

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said the United States was " underprepared and underplanned for what came after we knocked down Saddam Hussein." Asked at a news conference yesterday who was responsible for the lack of preparation, he said, "The buck stops at the top, and I'm sure the president recognizes that."

Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who is working for McCain, told a Harvard University seminar earlier this year that Republican candidates must tread lightly in distancing themselves from the president.

"People in our party admire his consistency, his leadership and his personal dimensions, and you had better be very, very careful how you talk about the president around those things," he said.

But he added that the president's advisers are savvy enough to know that there will be criticism of Bush's record. "I believe they understand that our next nominee is going to be very different than this administration," he said.