WASHINGTON — For all the attention President Bush devoted to the war in Iraq at his news conference Tuesday night, his message boiled down to three words: Stay the course.
Faced with rising turmoil across Iraq, Bush repeatedly stressed his resolve to drive that troubled nation toward stability and democracy -- but offered no new plans on how to achieve those aims.
Long on goals and short on means, his performance left even some supporters wondering whether he had found a formula to reassure the growing number of Americans expressing doubt in polls about his course.
"I was depressed," said conservative strategist William Kristol, one of the war's most vocal proponents. "I am obviously a supporter of the war, so I don't need to be convinced. But among people who were doubtful or worried, I don't think he made arguments that would convince them. He didn't explain how we are going to win there."
Throughout the session with reporters, Bush gave no ground to his critics, either on the war or on his administration's handling of the terrorist threat before Sept. 11, 2001. In his forceful answers, Bush repeatedly demonstrated the determination that his supporters find among his most appealing qualities.
The political risk he faces is that swing voters will view his refusal to reconsider his strategy as more dogmatic than determined.
"When he gets up there and digs in his heels and says the same things he has been saying all along with no give, no evidence of any kind of thoughtful flexibility, I think it undercuts him and adds to the doubts," presidential historian Robert Dallek said.
Bush's performance is unlikely to stem anxiety among Republicans already uneasy about poor reviews for his State of the Union address in January and a subsequent appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The skeptical tone of the questions Bush faced -- all of which centered on the war in Iraq or the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks -- underscored the decline in his political standing since his last news conference in December 2003. That session came while Bush was riding a wave of public support just after the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Most polls at that time found Bush's job approval near 60%, with support for the decision to invade Iraq and optimism about the country's reconstruction also swelling. Now, amid intense violence in Iraq, Bush's approval rating in most surveys has fallen just below 50% -- the danger zone for an incumbent.
