Dateline today, though it sounds old: Bush, Cheney turn focus to terrorism

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070304-104124-8874r.htm

Bush, Cheney turn focus to terrorism

By Jon Ward
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 5, 2007

Both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will give speeches in the next few days on the war on terrorism, to the applause of Republicans who say the White House needs to be more aggressive in selling the successes in Iraq.

"The administration should step it up when it comes to messaging," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who is one of the strongest supporters in Congress of the president's Iraq policy. "I think the president has to do more. People like myself have to do more."

Mr. Graham said the president is "doing a better job of connecting the outcome in Iraq to the global war on terror," but added that Mr. Bush should "mix it up" in how he communicates the war's stakes. "Don't always go to a place where there's a bunch of troops behind you," he said, referring to Mr. Bush's many speeches at military bases.

Mr. Bush will speak on Iraq and the war against terrorism tomorrow in a speech to the American Legion. Mr. Cheney will speak today to the Veterans of Foreign Wars legislative convention.

A senior Bush administration official, however, said that "more than anything else, the actions on the ground in Iraq, part in Baghdad, are going to dictate how it's interpreted, so, the president, we view his role in this is to give the broader context."

Politically, the White House is happy that the center of the Iraq war debate has shifted to Capitol Hill, giving the Democrats the chance to fail on their campaign promises to end the war.

"Some of the favorite things for Democrats to unite and kind of coalesce around is to be against the president," the senior official said. "I think as you saw in that House debate. We let them have that debate themselves."

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