You Call That the Center?

"Polls suggest that there is considerable public support for the approach outlined by Mr. Obama. In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, 56 percent of Americans said they favored reducing troops levels in Iraq, but leaving some forces in place to train Iraqi forces, fight terrorists and protect American diplomats."

And Senator Hillary Clinton yesterday released a letter she sent to Bush: "As Commander-in-Chief you have the authority and ability to greatly accelerate the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq, and to bring so many more troops home so much faster. I strongly urge you to choose this course of action.

"Mr. President, it has been nearly four and a half years since you landed on an aircraft carrier and stood before the American people under a banner that read 'Mission Accomplished.' Do not repeat that mistake on Thursday night. Do not misrepresent the facts about the situation on the ground. And do not portray an unavoidable reduction in U.S. troops to pre-surge levels that would occur anyway as a marker of success. Be candid with the American people. They deserve it."

Opinion Watch

Harold Meyerson writes in his Washington Post opinion column that Bush is his own worst spokesman: "The whole point of the Petraeus PR offensive, after all, is to decouple the war from the president. If it's the president's war, no one will vote to keep it going. . . .

"The administration knows this, which is why it was necessary to invent Gen. David Petraeus and his plan. It is why the president spent the past month invoking the general every time he spoke about the war and investing the general with strategic wisdom and moral authority that presidents usually claim for themselves. If the war is to continue fundamentally unchanged, so that Bush can stagger to the finish line of his presidency without having to acknowledge the disasters he inflicted on Iraq and on America's good name, someone with more credibility than he would have to be found to justify its continuation. . . .

"In the end, I don't think Petraeusization will succeed. The American people will understand it's the same stinking war. And for those who don't, George Bush will go on television tonight to drive that point home."

Pre- and Post-Speech Spin

The White House has scheduled some pre-speech spin in the form of an "off-camera background briefing" by "senior administration officials" mid-afternoon today.

For tomorrow, as Jennifer Loven writes for the Associated Press: "The day after his televised address, Bush was expected to reinforce the message with remarks from a Marine base in Quantico, Va., just outside Washington, and with the White House's release of an Iraq status report required by Congress.

"As part of the public relations flurry, Vice President Dick Cheney planned to travel to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Michigan and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. Iraq also was chosen as the topic for Bush's weekly Saturday radio address, and administration officials were being offered to television networks for Sunday news show appearances."

Post-Speech Counter Spin

Nedra Pickler writes for the Associated Press: "In the clamor of Democrats assailing President Bush on Iraq, presidential candidate John Edwards has found a way to be heard after Bush addresses the nation Thursday night: He's buying time for a rebuttal.

"Edwards has bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC, scheduled to air after Bush's 15-minute televised speech from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT. . . .

"'Unfortunately, the president is pressing on with the only strategy he's ever had -- more time, more troops, and more war,' Edwards says in the ad, according to excerpts provided by his campaign. . . .