It has been simply Amazing! Here we have a president, who has undergone withering criticism for years, kept his popularity, won reelection. Yet when he started his second term, he acted as though he was a new sailor, who has only just set foot on a ship, only to run into a heavy gale, and faced with a pitching deck. He appeared to be "down for the count".

but suddenly, he is fighting back, and with a vengence. And to add to the counter attack is a fantastic economy, so he has much to work with.

Where has he been all this time? Larry Kudlow, our most successful wall street economist, gives his opinions here.


Salesman-in-chief
By Lawrence Kudlow
Published December 6, 2005

Could it be George W. Bush, our first M.B.A. president, is adopting a new strategy to aggressively market and merchandise his policies and successes? Finally?
Following Friday morning's arrival of a strong jobs report -- well above the last year's monthly average -- Mr. Bush actually appeared on the White House South Lawn to make a statement on the success of the economy and his tax-cut policies. President Clinton did the same thing in the 1990s with each piece of good news, and President Reagan did so through many televised speeches from the White House in the 1980s. This is exactly what Mr. Bush needs to do.
Message repetition: Without it, the mainstream media will fill the void with their usual pessimism. But the economic story really is optimistic. GDP growth is steady and significant. November jobs expanded by 215,000 (238,000, including prior revisions) and unemployment remains a historic 5 percent low.
Earlier in the week a slew of new economic reports all came in above Wall Street estimates: rising consumer confidence, strong new home sales, expanding business investment in capital goods, and continued manufacturing growth, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The stock market is in the midst of a big year-end rally. These are great economic signs, but Mr. Bush must get the message out again and again.
The same holds true for the Iraq war. Things are going far better in the Middle East than the mainstream media would have us believe. Mr. Bush did himself a lot of good with his Iraq speech at Annapolis last Wednesday. It was filled with facts and figures and made the case Iraqization is moving forward.
The president laid out a comprehensive, easy-to-understand strategy of "clear, hold and build." Mr. Bush rightly refused to schedule a withdrawal timetable that would only help the terrorists. He provided plenty of numbers, such as 120 Iraqi army and police battalions today, where there were virtually none a year ago. Eighty of these are fighting side-by-side with U.S. troops, while 40 others are taking the lead in various fights. Thirty Iraqi battalions control specific geographic areas.
On the economic front, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Iraq's gross domestic product to grow in real terms by 3.7 percent in 2005 and nearly 17 percent in 2006.
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi essentially called Mr. Bush a liar on all this, saying, "The fact that the president says it's so doesn't mean it's so." Really? Even Bush military critics like Gen. Barry McCaffrey now believe there is significant progress on turning the fighting over to Iraqis.
Supposedly Mr. Bush will follow up with several more speeches on the war. If so, the new communications and marketing approach will yield high dividends -- not only for Mr. Bush's political standing, but more importantly for the health and security of the entire United States.
And the public agrees. Last Friday's Rasmussen poll puts Mr. Bush's approval rating at 46 percent, several percentage points higher than in the previous poll. The RealClearPolitics polling average of Mr. Bush approval has moved into the low 40s, which is also up several points.
I continue to believe George Bush has bottomed.
Iraq improvement, a strong job-creating economy, lower gasoline prices at the pump, and a rising stock market all clearly favor a Bush political comeback. So will Republican congressional passage of budget and tax-cut legislation.
Democrats gloating over Mr. Bush's political misfortunes are premature. What's more, the "Pelosi-Murtha" position of immediate withdrawal from Iraq is proving highly unpopular.
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha's latest antiwar broadside that the U.S. Army is "broken, worn-out" was an unmitigated disaster. So is Democratic failure to support Republican tax and budget cuts in Congress.
At long last, the second-term president may be seizing his bully pulpit. In doing so, he must take advantage of the weak Democratic opposition and build on his strengths, which include a strong economy and the many Iraq successes unreported day after day. If Mr. Bush repeatedly speaks plainly to the nation about every success, the tides of optimism will rise in his favor.
Basically, this country will follow if the president leads. After all, help comes to those who help themselves. If Mr. Bush doesn't do it, no one will do it for him. Presidential leadership requires strong communication. The commander in chief must also be the salesman in chief. That's a political necessity. What we saw last week was a good start, but Mr. Bush must follow through.

Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBC's "Kudlow & Company" and is a nationally syndicated columnist.

bush sounds like a DESPERATE man.
His PR campaign is falling on deaf ears.
Thats because Americans know their quality of life has declined rapidly under his watch, mainly because of issues like globalization (export of jobs), job security, and HEALTH CARE COSTS AND ACCESS!!!!!!

It was good when I signed on the see something other than TQ and Oz all over the board.

Same old worn out Left wing manure TQ. It is old and losing appeal, even among many more Jackasses as they realize that they are behind the "eight ball".

If you continue to believe your own flatulance, you probably NEED to be smoking somethig for a change.

Tuesday is ALWAYS a Premium new article day. I can't explain it, but almost without exception, the most timely and intelligent news comes out then. I am usually quite busy then, reading, and reporting, on all the "good stuff".

bush's poll numbers are dropping my the minute, like a BIG LEAD BALLOCKS.
Explain that one, genius.

You are not keepin up with things, you genius. It is NOT falling. It is on the Upswing, in case you have been asleep for the past couple of weeks.

Just What ARE you smoking TQ?