Shirtsleeves Style Is a Strong Suit for Bush

[kentuck]

The Washington Post says that his "Plain George" style should not be underestimated. He is a formidable politician...
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3650-2004Aug15.html?referrer=email

<snip>

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- President Bush has formidable obstacles to reelection, but he served a reminder last week that he is a politician with formidable strengths.

Anyone who doubts it should spend some time watching the shirtsleeves campaign. In five days of energetic campaigning through five swing states, Bush looked and sounded like someone dropping by a neighbor's lawn party -- no coat, no tie, rolled-up sleeves, and conversational speeches in which he implored voters to "put a man in there who can get the job done."


In loosening his style, Bush tightened his message. Fielding friendly questions at "Ask President Bush" forums, or lathering up the crowds at pep rallies like the one here on Saturday afternoon, he presented his case for reelection with a force and fluency that sometimes eluded him at important moments over the past year.

The message Bush offered at these events has been familiar for months: that he is a plain-spoken conservative who knows his mind and is resolute in crisis, and that his Democratic opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry, is the opposite on each count. But crafting an argument and finding the words and cadences to deliver it effectively can be different things
....more

[Cocoa]

1. voters don't care about his sleeves

not as much as journalists think we do, or tell us we do.

Isn't it odd that after over three years in office, Bush and the media don't really talk about his record? Bush keeps levelling attacks against Kerry, and the media devotes itself to analyzing those attacks.

And when they talk about Bush, it's about his sleeves.

[kwolf68]

2. Yep

The continued perpetuation of the facade that Bush is a "regular guy."

[NJCher]

3. I think those jerks out there do care about stupid stuff like that

I know plenty of them in that area.

Now from here, the sight of bush sweating up his shirts is repulsive but out there they think he's the real thing.

Makes me shudder.


Cher

[trotsky]

4. And yet when Gore changed his wardrobe or campaign style...

he was "reinventing" himself "again".

Goddamned media whores.

[Skidmore]

5. Kinda foolish looking for a guy who apparently

requires his wife to refer to him as "The President" (LKL interview) and requires staff to wear formal clothing when entering the inner sanctum of the Oval Office. Did he forget he needs to look presidential?

[unfrigginreal]

6. Doesn't everybody roll up their sleeves to go on vacation?

I thought the article was pretty funny. I guess it does perpetuate the myth of "Bush the everyman" a little, but I wouldn't consider it a pro Bush article. They get in some pretty good digs about his audiences and the scripted questions he receives. They also show him to be a total phony at the end of the article, where he just makes up shit about Babs and the White House.