Bush retorna a la arena con sus memorias en la mano
Despues de mantenerse en silencio por 19 meses, el ex-presidente se hace publico nuevamente en momentos en que Obama esta revisitando sus recortes de impuestos (los quieren hacer expirar), las celulas madres y otros asuntos controversiales de su presidencia.
Mr. Bush promovera su libro, el cual sera publicado una semana despues de las elecciones del 2 de Noviembre.
La salida del book sugiere que no afectara las elecciones, Mr. Bush retorna a la vida publica justo cuando los republicanos se preparan para tomar el poder en el Congreso y se alistan a nominar a su candidato para el 2012 y cuando Obama acusa a lso republicanos de querer hacer regresar al pais a los programas de la era de Bush que segun el presidente han llevado al pais al estado en que se encuentra.
Y el contenido de sus memoria hace que su voz sea escuchada en los asuntos politicos del momento.
El libro "Decisions Points" detallas las 14 decisiones mas importantes de Mr. Bush durante su gobierno. Entre ellas, el apoyo al rescate financiero, sus recortes de impuestos, la limitacion de las celulas madres, y el envio de mas tropas a Irak en el llamado "surge"
Algunos de esos asuntos son relevantes nuevamente.
Por ejemplo los recortes de impuestos de Bush expiran a fin de anio y se convertira en el mas fiero debate para los legisladores este otonio.
Mr. Bush prometio no criticar al nuevo presidente cuando cumplio su mandato. Promesa que ha cumplido.
La aprobacion de Mr. Bush esta en 45% es decir es mas alta que la de Obama actualmente.
Mr Bush ha dado 60 discursos alrededor de US, Europa y Asia.
Bush Returns to Arena With Memoir in Hand
By PETER WALLSTEN
George W. Bush has remained mostly out of view and silent on policy debates since leaving office 19 months ago.
.Now, the former president is about to step into the public arena again, at a moment when Washington is revisiting tax cuts, stem cells and other issues that were among the most contentious of his administration.
Mr. Bush is re-emerging to promote his memoir, to be published a week after the Nov. 2 elections.
While the timing suggests that the book will not provide fodder for midterm campaigns, Mr. Bush will return to the public eye just as the Republican Party looks ahead to asserting greater power in Congress and to choosing its 2012 presidential nominee, and as President Barack Obama accuses the GOP of wanting to take the country back to Bush-era programs that, the Democratic president says, "drove the car into the ditch."
And the contents of his memoir make it likely that his voice will be heard on policy issues of the moment.
The book, "Decision Points," published by Crown Publishing Group, lays out 14 major decisions by Mr. Bush during his life and White House tenure. Among them, according to several people who have seen the manuscript: backing the bailout of the nation's financial system, enacting billions of dollars in tax cuts, limiting the use of human embryonic stem cells, and building up troops in Iraq for the so-called surge.
Some of those issues have regained prominence recently.
Due to a court ruling this week, lawmakers this fall may revisit the question of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, one of the major domestic controversies of Mr. Bush's early years in office.
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.Mr. Bush's tax cuts expire at year's end, making them a likely topic of debate by lawmakers this fall, while Mr. Obama's commission on deficit reduction is scheduled to submit its report on related subjects Dec. 1.
Leading up to the midterm elections, the financial bailout also has emerged as a point of debate on the role of government. And this month's drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq, and the transition away from a combat focus, has spurred debate over Mr. Bush's surge.
Mr. Bush also offers new details on his decisions during Hurricane Katrina, and on immigration, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and other war-related issues, such as the controversial warrantless wiretapping program.
Mr. Bush's promotional efforts begin Nov. 8 with a one-hour, prime-time special on NBC hosted by Matt Lauer. Advisors to Mr. Bush say other media interviews and a book tour are in the works, possibly further opening him to questions from the media and the public.
Several close advisors to Mr. Bush said in interviews they hoped the book, along with the new museum and presidential center at Southern Methodist University, would begin to redefine the public's view of a president who left office with approval ratings in the 30s.
Mr. Bush has remained mostly silent and out of public view recently, though he has delivered more than 60 paid speeches in the U.S., Europe and Asia. As former Vice President Dick Cheney led the charge in criticizing Mr. Obama's foreign policy, Mr. Bush said that he would not criticize his successor—a pledge that advisers said Mr. Bush will keep.
The former first family's only campaign trail appearance will come next month, when Laura Bush headlines a fundraiser for GOP Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois.
Polls show Mr. Bush remains an unpopular figure but less divisive than he was during his final months in office. A June Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that half of Americans felt negatively toward him, compared with 60% who felt that way immediately before the 2008 election.
A new ad by the Democratic National Committee features an image of Mr. Bush and his voice as a narrator warns of returning to policies of the past.
Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's longtime political strategist, noted that, according to Gallup, Mr. Bush's approval rating stands at 45%—higher than Mr. Obama's in some surveys and a 10-point rise from the former president's standing a year ago.
Mr. Rove said that the president's attacks on Mr. Bush would only serve to raise questions about Mr. Obama. "The energetic hard left of the Democratic Party will say, 'Hooray,' but the vast bulk of the people will say, 'What about now? What have you done?"' Mr. Rove said.
Write to Peter Wallsten at
peter.wallsten@wsj.com