I AM THE FORCE

Regarding the President's trip to Milwaukee.

With all due respect to my President, who cares? Is a trip like this actually expected to drum up support for the President's energy policy? Just issue a national security edict to drill ANWR and I'll be happy.

While the Bush energy plan certainly has merit (go nuclear!) I just have to wonder how they expect to get anyone to care. Fuel cells at Johnson Controls, are you kidding me? This has all the hallmarks of going through the motions, and driving in cruise control.

Is anyone expecting Kohl and Feingold to be flooded with calls in support of the GOP President's energy plan? Will the eight seconds on tonight's nightly news generate any shifts in public opinion? If he really wanted to make some progress in Wisconsin, he could tour the state challenging Russ Feingold on national security issues. Now that would be news.

Another interesting press tour could highlight how much worse everything would be had Al Gore been elected president.

I understand that the presidential spin machine has to work on something, but this energy mishmash is so terribly weak. Nobody cares! This visit is almost as lame as the Doyle hearings on oil prices. A useless posing for inauthentic holy pictures. He's my President and I love him. But this one is kind of embarrassing.

To avoid lame duck status, George W. Bush must be both bold in his initiatives and willing to challenge the status quo of public opinion. Unfortunately, today's dog and pony show was more Clintonian than Lincolnesque. He needs to start selling some bigger ideas, and not fritter away his time talking about energy efficiency in Glendale.

Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for him, cautioning him about this group or that group or what they found in exit polls a year earlier. When will we have the courage of Lincoln?
Robert Coles