
 |
|
May 13, 2013
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
May 23, 2006
/ 25 Iyar, 5766
Prez's road back
By
Dick Morris
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
ALL of Washington is asking the same question these days: Can President Bush improve his ratings while we continue to suffer daily combat losses in Iraq? The results of the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics survey answer the question with a resounding if hard to believe "yes."
Asked to describe in their own words what issues they most hear people talking about, 29 percent mentioned gas prices, 13 percent cited Iraq, and only 9 percent reported hearing about immigration around the water cooler or the kitchen table.
As incredible and almost sacrilegious as it seems, Iraq has faded as the dominant political issue even though we are still losing 50 to 60 good young men and women there every month.
And even after a prime-time speech and a solid week of congressional action on the subject immigration runs a distant third to pump prices as the major topic of conversation these days.
In fact, even though polls show approval of Bush's speech last week, the survey reports that the president's approval rating dropped another three points to 35 percent. Soon it will be as Elton John said: too low for zero.
The growth of the gas-price issue presents Bush with an incredible opportunity to change the subject of our political debate from a problem he can't solve before the 2006 elections Iraq to one he can begin to solve gas prices.
The danger for Bush, of course, is that he is an oilman. And a Texas oilman at that. Republican and Democratic populists alike reject the idea that the imbalance of supply and demand is driving up gas prices and report instead that they see a conspiracy of oil company executives at work. So long as he seems still an oilman, they see Bush as part of the problem, not part of the solution.
And they have a point. With oil stockpiles at near-record levels, the oil futures market seems to be irrationally betting on higher and higher prices, driving the costs ever upward.
There is a very good chance that the market will come back to reality and that prices will settle down again, regardless of long-term changes in demand or supply. But Bush must get on top of the issue particularly if there is a chance to show progress before November, 2006, he must stake out his program so he can crow about how well it worked.
The key for the president is to show how independent he is of big oil by leading the movement toward alternative fuels in a big way. He should declare the equivalent of the bomb-building Manhattan Project and embark on a crash course to switch us from gasoline to alcohol- and hydrogen-based fuels.
By moving away from gasoline, he can rebut the presumption that he is in the pocket of the oil companies and become the leader of a national crusade against gasoline.
And he can bring it back to Iraq and the War on Terror pointing out that his drive for alternative vehicle fuels is the key to disempowering the radical Islamists. Without our oil money, they are nothing. So, for Bush, the gas price issue is a twofer.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Dick Morris is author, most recently, of "Because He Could". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
Dick Morris Archives
© 2006, Dick Morris
| |

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|