In an interview with GQ correspondent Robert Draper for his book Dead Certain, President Bush described his Iraq strategy as “playing for October-November.” He explained that his hope was to “get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence,” and, he said, “stay longer.”
In an interview with the The Examiner’s Bill Sammon for his book The Evangelical President, Bush goes even further, explaining that he is actively “providing back-channel advice” to the Democratic presidential candidates on Iraq. According to White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, Bush is urging the candidates to remain flexible enough in their rhetoric so that they can maintain a long-term occupation of Iraq:
White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said Bush has “been urging candidates: ‘Don’t get yourself too locked in where you stand right now. If you end up sitting where I sit, things could change dramatically.’”
Bolten said Bush wants enough continuity in his Iraq policy that “even a Democratic president would be in a position to sustain a legitimate presence there.”
“Especially if it’s a Democrat,” the chief of staff told The Examiner in his West Wing office. “He wants to create the conditions where a Democrat not only will have the leeway, but the obligation to see it out.”
“It’s different being a candidate and being the president,” Bush said in an Oval Office interview. “No matter who the president is, no matter what party, when they sit here in the Oval Office…they will then begin to understand the need to continue to support the young democracy.”
Sammon reports Bush “has been sending advice, mostly through aides,” aimed at convincing candidates not to speak too forcefully about a complete withdrawal from Iraq. “Asked by The Examiner whether the Democrats were reluctant to have private contacts with the administration, the White House official replied: ‘No, I think they sort of welcome conversation.’”
UPDATE: By advising Democrats to pursue a strategy overwhelmingly at odds with public opinion, is Bush trying to show how he can be a “strong asset” for conservative candidates?
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