Bush ex-strategist says loses faith in president

By Randall Mikkelsen

The chief strategist of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign said he had lost faith in the U.S. president over Iraq and other issues, in a high-level rupture of Bush's famously loyal inner circle.

Matthew Dowd, a polling expert who switched parties to become a Republican and also served as a senior strategist in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, told The New York Times in an interview on Sunday that Bush must face up to Americans' growing disillusionment with the war.

Dowd said he had found himself agreeing with calls by Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush's opponent in 2004, for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"If the American public says they're done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want," Dowd said. "They're saying, 'Get out of Iraq."'

He also cited the administration's bungled handling of the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Bush's refusal to meet Cindy Sheehan, who had lost a son in Iraq, while she was leading a protest outside Bush's Texas ranch.

"I had finally come to the conclusion that maybe all these things along do add up," Dowd said. "That it's not the same, it's not the person I thought."

Although some other administration officials have expressed similar views over the years, the Times said Dowd is the first member of Bush's inner circle to break so publicly with him...[Open in new window]

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Link to NY TIMES article:[Open in new window]

Bush response? A personal attack, of course:[Open in new window]

Too bad Bernie Kerick isn't the Homeland Security guy. Bush coulda had him 'wack' Dowd. Omerta, baby.

Mr. Dowd, a word to the wise: stay off of small planes.

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