| Bush admits disquiet in nation { May 11 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0605110195may11,1,6115495.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hedhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0605110195may11,1,6115495.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Bush admits `disquiet' in nation President also says brother is definitely Oval Office material
By Jim Stratton, Tribune Newspapers: Orlando Sentinel; Tribune news services contributed Published May 11, 2006
ORLANDO -- President Bush, his approval ratings at a record low, acknowledged Wednesday that war in Iraq and rising gas prices have created "battle fatigue" among many Americans.
That anxiety, Bush said, has settled over much of the nation as people worry about whether the United States will succeed in Iraq and how they'll afford to fill up their tanks.
"There's a sense of disquiet because of the war in Iraq," said Bush, in an hourlong interview with the Orlando Sentinel and six other Florida newspapers.
But the president insisted his Iraq strategy will work: "There's a deep desire by the Iraqi people to live in a democracy," he said. And he urged Americans to be patient as his administration looks for ways to help ease the pain at the gas pump.
The president was in Florida to raise money for Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (R-Fla.) and urge people to sign up for the new Medicare prescription-drug plan before Monday's deadline.
Bush also talked about his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The governor hasn't divulged his plans, the president said, but added: "I think Jeb would make a great president."
"It's up to Jeb to make a decision to run," said Bush, who described his younger brother as an "extraordinary person who has proven his capacity as a political figure by serving well and serving honorably as the governor of this state."
But for now, Bush said, he has no idea what his younger brother intends to do.
"I truly don't think he knows," Bush said.
"In my judgment, his political future is very bright, if he chooses to have a political future. But he's an independent-minded guy. . . . I guess, like a lot of other people, you know, I pushed him fairly hard about what he intends to do. And I don't think he knows, and if he did know, he wasn't going to tell me, because he's afraid I'd tell you."
Jeb Bush has one asset his presidential brother doesn't enjoy--approval from most of his constituents.
Some 55 percent of Florida voters surveyed last month by Quinnipiac University said Jeb Bush was doing a good job while a New York Times/CBS News poll released Wednesday found that just 31 percent of Americans approve of the job the president is doing. That is a new low for Bush and the third lowest of any president in 50 years.
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
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