As the War Debate Heats Up, Stagnant Air Is in the Forecast

At the center of this remains Bush, pummeled yet defiant, rejected yet still in charge. From the lectern in the newly reopened White House briefing room yesterday, he alternated between being grim and relaxed, unpopular commander of an unpopular war one moment and light-hearted pol the next.

"Do we ever use 'kinder and gentler'?" he asked after cutting off a reporter. "No," he said, rejecting his father's mantra with a smile.

At another point, he stopped to answer a shouted question after starting to leave the room, something he rarely does. "This is amazing," he declared. "The new me!"

But it did not really seem like a new Bush. Most of his arguments sounded familiar -- the need to persevere in Iraq against the radicals who would spread chaos, the search for signs of progress on the ground in the face of unremitting violence, the faith that success is still in reach. He tried to show he was willing to take on all comers, even calling upon nemesis Helen Thomas for the first question.

Yet, there were moments of reflection for a typically unreflective president. It was hard not to wonder whether he was talking about himself as he mused about the "ugly war" and how the American people have wearied of it. "You know, they're tired of the war," he said. "There is a war fatigue in America. It's affecting our psychology."

And then there was the concession that while he still commands policy, he no longer commands the affection of his nation. "I guess I'm like any other political figure -- everybody wants to be loved," he said. "Just sometimes the decisions you make and the consequences don't enable you to be loved."

Leaning on the lectern, Bush anticipated the day when the responsibility would no longer be his and expressed his hope for vindication. "When it's all said and done . . . if you ever come down and visit the old, tired me down there in Crawford, I will be able to say, 'I looked in the mirror and made decisions based upon principle, not based upon politics,' " he said. "And that's important to me."

Staff writers Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman contributed to this report.