IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING:

Bush Takes Rhetorical Offensive: With Kerry rising in some polls, a routine speech is dropped to substitute a 'significant' address on terrorism and the economy today. (Matea Gold and Edwin Chen, October 6, 2004, LA Times)

President Bush, facing a new report on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, criticism from the former U.S. administrator in Iraq and new attacks from Sen. John F. Kerry, today will aim to redirect the campaign debate as he gives an abruptly scheduled speech on terrorism and the economy.

The president rarely makes last-minute changes to his schedule, but the White House announced Monday that Bush would give what it calls a "significant" speech in Pennsylvania. Bush originally was slated to speak there on medical liability reform.

The change was made as Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, has gained in some public opinion surveys following last week's debate with Bush.

The Bush campaign has long argued that Kerry has "flip-flopped" on support for the Iraq war, the Patriot Act and the No Child Left Behind education law, among other issues. But Bush is expected today to argue that Kerry's alleged vacillating has ultimately landed him in the wrong place on many policies, said a senior Republican strategist familiar with White House thinking.

Although today's speech was still subject to late changes, the president planned to offer a sharper critique of his rival's policy positions with the goal of shifting the campaign focus away from Bush and back onto Kerry, said the strategist. "It's a pivot away from 'flip-flop' to the content of Kerry's record, both on foreign policy and domestic policy," the strategist said.

Bush's speech also comes as the White House is seeking to put its cast on developments that have raised new questions about the administration's record on Iraq.

Not too smart to ratchet up expectations on yourself or to send Mr. Bush out on short notice, but if you have the power to dominate the storyline you use it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 6, 2004 9:22 AM