The President Who Sees the World the Way It Is

"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind. Again, I wish it wasn't true, but it is true. And the American people need to know they got a president who sees the world the way it is. And I see dangers that exist, and it's important for us to deal with them."

President Bush appeared on Meet the Press today (transcript here). I didn't see the show, but from the transcipt, I think this, moreso than the State of the Union address, was the opening salvo of the reelection campaign. He was obviously very well prepared and had good scripted answers for all of the tough questions. In fact, I would go so far as to say he did a great job. I thought he came off much better than in the Dianne Sawyer interview. He was frequently evasive, but smoothly redirected questions he didn't like. Many of the answers would not hold up to intense scrutiny, but would make great 30 second sound bites (classic Rove style). Any Democrats who think this will be a walk-over election (and there are many if you read the forums of the candidates) are in for a surprise.