Being a dedicated blogger can be lonely duty — as the accompanying photo shows. When the president began his address to CPAC at 7:15 (text here), only a few bloggers were there to watch. Though he has not addressed CPAC since the start of his presidency, Bush seemed very comfortable here. Some of his lines prompted warm and clear responses from his audience — like the call of ‘we love you,’ when he spoke about the importance of reaching out lovingly to troubled soul. (Bush’s answer back: ‘My soul is not that troubled.’) He joked about his gray hair, about Dick Cheney being a better vice president than his father was, and about critics like CodePink and MoveOn.org. The speech overall seemed to reflect the tail end of his administration — he explained and justified his policies on national security, spending, and social issues, while laying down a marker for his eventual successor. He didn’t directly reference the presidential race, or John McCain, except (perhaps) for a reference to how he had listened to the advice of others, and decided to send more troops to Iraq:
Bush sounded ambitious — particularly on fiscal issues. He pressed for reform of entitlements and health care, while declaring himself ready to ‘finish strong.’ It’s too bad that’s essentially impossible.
