President Bush yesterday sought to showcase an agenda to address the concerns of economically stressed Americans, but his campaign found itself forced to explain why he told a television interviewer earlier in the day that it might not be possible ever to "win" the war on terror.
The controversy confronted Bush as he was setting out on a three-day march to the Republican National Convention to claim his renomination with an acceptance speech Thursday night.
Questions about his remarks seemed likely to distract from his attempt to use the next several days as an opportunity to lay out an agenda for a second term.
Democrat John Kerry's campaign seized on Bush's comments made in an NBC interview. Citing the president's early statements pledging victory in the war against terror, the Kerry campaign declared that Bush "flip-flops on whether he can win the war on terror."
Bush and his surrogates frequently accuse Kerry of having flip-flopped on several issues during his two decades in the Senate, including votes relating to the war in Iraq.
The situation arose when NBC interviewer Matt Lauer asked Bush whether the war could be won. According to a transcript, Bush replied, "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."
Seizing on the opportunity, Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, said, "This is no time to declare defeat."
