Bush prepares for 2004

President Bush and his team are gearing up for the 2004 election and in doing so decided to move the Republican National Convention to September 2004, according to the New York Times.

The convention is to be held in New York on September 2 so that the date will be closer to the third anniversary of September 11th. This will be the latest convention since the party was founded and leave little time before the election but Bush's advisers say that it will enhance his fundraising abilities.

The strategy is to focus on Bush's role in the war on terrorism and national security. "Al Qaeda is still out there. The security and national security issue is going to remain very, very strong," said a Bush advisor as reported by the Times.

Television ads for his reelection should begin around next spring when the Democratic candidate will probably have been chosen but weakened in terms of money after the primaries. Bush's advisers said that they may spend as much as $200 million on the election which will be twice as much as his first campaign.

Karl Rove, Bush's chief advisor has been studying the history of campaigns as to not repeat other candidate's mistakes. Bush's travel schedule has reflected the upcoming election as he has traveled such important states as Missouri and Ohio.

All of the preparation for 2004 have been taking place behind the scenes and Bush himself has been fairly uninvolved. The Republican National Committee has already been delving into the backgrounds of all of Bush's potential opponents to discredit them. The Democratic candidate should probably emerge from the pack around March 2004.