Bush Hints at What He’d Do in Another Term

WASHINGTON —  For the first time in his reelection campaign, President Bush on Wednesday hinted that another four years in the White House could bring major changes to the nation’s healthcare and retirement programs.

In a half-hour address to 7,000 Republican donors, Bush promised a “new era of ownership” that would give Americans more control over their health insurance and savings plans and make healthcare less expensive. Though he offered few specifics, it was the president’s strongest suggestion yet that he would forge ahead with a plan to create private retirement savings and health accounts.

Many Democrats have opposed such plans, saying they place benefits further out of reach for middle- and low-income people. But on Wednesday, Bush indicated that he would offer the proposals on the campaign trail in populist terms.

“During the next four years, we’ll help more citizens to own their health plan, to own a piece of their retirement, to own their own home or their own small business,” Bush said. “We’ll usher in a new era of ownership in America with an agenda to help all our citizens save and build and invest so every person owns a part of the American dream.”

The president’s comments signaled a return to his 2000 theme of “compassionate conservatism,” a mantra intended to appeal to moderate swing voters who supported government’s role in such areas as public education while also appeasing a conservative base wary of the mounting budget deficit.

“Government should never try to control or dominate the lives of our citizens. Yet government can and should help citizens gain the tools to make their own choices and to improve their own lives. There is no greater force for good in the world [than] the energy of free people,” Bush said, speaking at a fundraising dinner at the Washington Convention Center.

Bush’s remarks struck a contrast to his intense focus on foreign policy and self-described status as a “war president,” in effect acknowledging that the election would also be decided by domestic concerns.

Although the Iraq war remains prominent in voters’ minds, a new survey by the Pew Center for the People & the Press shows the GOP losing ground on key domestic issues. On healthcare, for instance, half of registered voters say the Democrats would do the best job revamping healthcare, while 23% said that of Republicans.

Many of the president’s remarks in Wednesday’s speech touched on familiar themes, such as limiting lawsuit awards, curbing welfare programs and strengthening marriage, passing an energy plan to reduce dependency on foreign oil, promoting job training at community colleges and crafting “reasonable and fair” business regulations.

But his new focus on healthcare suggests the president is angling to make that a critical issue -- seizing on a topic that is likely to be an important theme for Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumed Democratic nominee.

Polls continue to show the race a tossup in more than a dozen states that will decide the election, and some analysts have said in recent days that Bush risks losing ground if he does not begin to outline a second-term agenda.

Though Bush’s proposals probably will spark controversy, his agenda appears to be less ambitious than his record -- one that includes significant shifts in education policy, massive tax cuts, a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients, rewriting of environmental and labor regulations and efforts to appoint more conservative judges to the federal courts.

The reason for the scaled-back ambitions, analysts say, is the mounting deficit.

The deficit in fiscal year 2004, which ends Sept. 30, is predicted to approach $500 billion -- an increase from the 2003 deficit of $374 billion. Bush administration officials blame the numbers on the war on terrorism, but critics say the tax cuts and other domestic programs are to blame.

To date, Bush’s campaign speeches have focused largely on promoting his record -- arguing that the invasion of Iraq and his handling of the war on terrorism has proved successful, promoting the No Child Left Behind education legislation, and contending that his tax cuts have spurred job growth.

He also has devoted much of his time -- and $80 million in TV ads -- to attacking Kerry as a liberal and a flip-flopper.

But aides and GOP strategists had promoted Wednesday’s speech -- delivered at a $23-million fundraising event for congressional campaigns -- as a turning point in which the president would begin telling voters what he would do if reelected.

Democrats said late Wednesday they were not impressed.

“For a speech that was supposed to start laying out an agenda, it’s difficult to spot what was new about it besides the hype,” said Phil Singer, a Kerry campaign spokesman. “The fact is that George Bush has been in office for four years and has yet to focus on the needs of American families.”

Bush strategists say the president will offer more details in the coming days, perhaps coinciding with the Democrat National Convention next week.

Vice President Dick Cheney has scheduled a Western campaign swing next week. Bush will be vacationing at his Texas ranch, but senior campaign aides and the Republican National Committee are establishing a response operation at an office near the Fleet Center in Boston, where Kerry is scheduled to accept the Democrats’ presidential nomination Thursday.

The next day, Bush is expected to hit the campaign trail again.

It was clear Wednesday that Bush was not ready to lay down the gloves.

As dinner guests settled in Wednesday, campaign ads were displayed on large screens. One attacked Kerry for voting against money for troops in Iraq. Another showed clips of onetime Democratic front-runner Howard Dean screaming to supporters in Iowa.

Bush hammered away at Kerry, chastising him again for the nasty tone expressed at a New York fundraiser this month in which celebrities called the president a “thug” and comedian Whoopi Goldberg mocked Bush’s name as a sexual innuendo.

He described the event as Kerry reaching out to his base, “his Hollywood friends.”

“Evidently things got a little out of hand,” Bush said. “My name came up a few times. Now the senator refuses to release a tape of that whole enchanted evening. Could be that his friends who he said represent the heart and soul of America actually embarrassed themselves and the candidate.”