Bush aims to dodge tough poll issues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1115946,00.htmlPresident seeks second term with a 'soft-focus' campaign
Lawrence Donegan in San Francisco -- Sunday January 4, 2004 -- The Observer
There may be a conflict raging in Iraq that is killing US soldiers on a daily basis. There may be the threat of an economic crisis, too much unemployment and political debate infused with vitriol levels unseen for years. Yet President George W Bush is planning to win re-election by turning reality on its head.
Bush is drawing up a positive, soft-focus and upbeat campaigning platform portraying him as the candidate of national unity.
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Senior figures close to Bush have spent months examining previous presidential campaigns in an effort to shape a winning strategy against a potentially tricky electoral backdrop. They have settled on an approach echoing Ronald Reagan's dreamlike 'morning in America' re-election campaign of 1984, which successfully portrayed another divisive Republican President as a moderate 'father of the nation' in a series of television adverts which were light on actual politics but heavy on soft-focus camera work.
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