For President Bush, a classic political question — “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” — must be answered with a resounding “No.”
In 2001, within days of 9/11, mass media touted Bush as a walking FDR and hailed him as the nation’s visionary leader. The president settled into a jerky rhetorical rhythm that had the Washington press corps tapping its feet.
With major assistance from the news media, Bush struck a pose as the country’s protector-in-chief. That was his story, and he was sticking to it.
But now, in the wake of the hurricane, Bush is widely seen as the nation’s menace-in-chief…
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