His stance and forceful rhetoric gave his campaign unprecedented success in obtaining funds and volunteers through the web. Zephyr Teachout and Thomas Streeter, eds. This accomplishment surprised the news media, generated reams of favorable coverage for him, helped him to raise funds, and transformed him from a marginal candidate to the front runner—all before a single vote was cast.
That night, shouting over the din of his supporters, he committed to continuing his campaign and then let out a loud scream. He seemed a bit unbalanced and certainly not presidential.
After the Iowa caucuses the news media reported that Senator Kerry was likely to be nominated. Dean received less coverage than before, most of it negative.
Missing from the convention were a vision and program for the future of the country. There were few attacks on President George W. Bush or his record. For these reasons, Kerry did not experience much of a postconvention bounce. The Republicans renominated the incumbents, President George W. The convention portrayed President Bush as a strong and decisive leader.
Convention speakers attacked Kerry as weak, a waffler, and unqualified to be president. The Iraq War was an issue that posed problems for both candidates. For Bush, it was the continued insurgency against the US occupation and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. He tried to finesse this by equating the war in Iraq with the war on terrorism.
Kerry offered few alternatives to existing policy. In a ranking of all 44 presidents by eminent scholars for Siena College Research Institute, there were no single-term presidents in the top The highest-rated incumbent to have been defeated in a re-election campaign was John Adams in 17th place.
Kennedy, in 11th place, was assassinated a year before he could return to the polls and James K Polk, in 12th, did not seek a second term. Since World War Two, eight sitting US presidents have been re-elected to serve a second term, while only three have failed in a general election. The presidency offers an unrivalled platform to attract airtime, raise campaign funds and set the policy agenda.
Sitting presidents, too, tend to escape bruising battles for their party's nomination - although not George HW Bush, who faced a gruelling primary challenge for his place on the Republican ticket from Pat Buchanan.
In addition, they have the rare ability to make a compelling claim - that they know what it is like to take decisions from inside the Oval Office. This carries added contemporary significance after Barack Obama's two terms.
Obama's own historical legacy appeared to be as important an election issue as any other, to both the president and his opponents alike, ahead of the ballot. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell famously declared in that his "number-one priority" was to make Obama, a Democrat, a "one-term president". Defenders of Bush, the 41st president, put him in the former category. His time in office coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall and his popularity soared in the wake of the first Gulf War.
However, a protracted economic recession on his watch saw him break a pledge not to raise taxes, provoking fierce hostility from within his own Republican party. With Ross Perot, a third-party candidate, splitting the vote in the election, Bush's attempts to win re-election were thwarted by the charismatic Bill Clinton.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, believes Bush was a victim both of timing and the US's system of fixed-term presidencies. Because President Bush believes the strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens, he has supported programs that encourage individuals to help their neighbors in need.
On the morning of September 11, , terrorists attacked our Nation. Since then, President Bush has taken unprecedented steps to protect our homeland and create a world free from terror. He is grateful for the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform and their families. The President is confident that by helping build free and prosperous societies, our Nation and our friends and allies will succeed in making America more secure and the world more peaceful.
President Bush is married to Laura Welch Bush, a former teacher and librarian, and they have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.
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