Bush's 2004 Campaign Quietly in High Gear
WASHINGTON — While President Bush floats above the fray, White House strategists are laying the groundwork for his reelection effort, targeting key states and working to undermine the Democrats hoping to run against him in 2004.
The hub of activity is the Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill, stocked with key members of the Bush team and fashioned to serve as the president's reelection operation in all but name. The idea, say those familiar with the arrangement, is to distance Bush and the White House from overt politicking as long as possible, without ceding ground in a race expected to be hard-fought and probably close.
The war in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks "changed Bush's presidency
"By becoming 'candidate' Bush, you put yourself on the same level as 'candidate' Kerry," Reed added, referring to Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, one of the nine Democrats competing for the party's nomination. "Evolving from a candidate to president is a big step, and you never want to go backward."
Bush's top political aides declined to be interviewed for this article, and the White House has actively discouraged other Republican operatives from talking about the president's reelection plans; most of those willing to discuss Bush's strategy and the planning quietly underway would not do so for attribution.
"There is no campaign," said Jim Dyke, chief spokesman for the Republican National Committee, where all major decisions flow from the White House and the president's chief political aide, Karl Rove.
But others suggest that the Bush campaign never let up after the 2000 election, despite efforts to portray the White House as paying little attention to politics. "It's the campaign that never turns off," said a Western GOP operative, who participates in one of several weekly strategy calls that originate at party headquarters and tie in dozens of GOP operatives across the country. "They've been at it ever since they've been inaugurated."
Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist and leading Bush hand in that key state, said he had breakfast with Rove within 10 days of Bush's swearing-in and has regularly talked strategy with him since.
The reelection effort has picked up even more in recent weeks after Bush told aides to proceed with planning for 2004 -- provided they don't expect his active involvement soon.
