Cheney's Parting Gift

Pollsters don't ask about Cheney very often, but when they do, his numbers tend to be even worse than Bush's.

The Invisible President

Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote for the New York Times on Friday: "With Mr. Bush's job approval ratings at historic lows, political analysts have long said Republican candidates simply do not want to be seen with him. But now, with the election just days away, it seems that Republican candidates do not want Mr. Bush to be seen, period.

"'One of McCain's biggest challenges has been how to deal with Bush, and he never quite got it right,' said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who ran Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. 'Now, the best thing is silence.'

"So the president has temporarily dropped out of sight. Until recently, Mr. Bush was giving talks about the battered economy on nearly a daily basis, prompting some Republicans to grumble privately that so much presidential face time was hurting their election chances. This week, Mr. Bush stepped back, holding just four public events, none with real policy implications. . . .

"Joe Lockhart, a former Clinton press secretary, said Mr. Bush's absence from the public stage, though brief, had consequences. 'This has an impact,' Mr. Lockhart said. 'The world marches on; we're in an economic crisis. We have tensions at home and abroad, yet I think if you walk down the street and ask people, "Has the president already left?" you'd have a lot of people saying, "Yeah, I think so."'"

As for the election itself, Stolberg writes: "If the past is any guide, Mr. Bush will be matter-of-fact about the result. At [a celebration last week in honor of the 150th birthday of Theodore Roosevelt], the president 'seemed sort of fatalistic' about Mr. McCain's chances and his own place in history, said Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, who was there. Mr. King said his wife grew emotional, telling the president how much she would miss him. Mr. Bush did not grow emotional in return.

"'He just said, "Yeah, yeah," -- he seemed like, what happens, happens,' Mr. King said. 'I always feel that he thinks it's his job to keep everybody's spirits up.'"

The Bubble Holds

Indeed, as unlikely as it seems, Bush's aides insist the president isn't showing any signs of despair.

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: [T]he economy is melting down, his own party has shunned him and Tuesday's election is shaping up as a searing rebuke to his eight years in office.

"Yet according to allies inside and outside the White House, Bush's mood remains buoyant and his attention is focused on the global financial collapse. In private meetings with business leaders, Bush has made a point of saying that he is happy the crisis happened on his watch so the next president and a new economic team do not have to grapple with it."

Some aides are evidently in a different state of denial. Writes Eggen: "Others inside and outside the administration, however, say the upbeat talk masks disappointment and frustration among many White House staffers, who believe Bush's reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities -- from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the financial crisis -- that were beyond his control and which he handled well. GOP nominee John McCain's escalating attacks on Bush's tenure have added to irritation, these people said.

"'Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that,' said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.