It plans to send the president out to stump for his next round of issues, including energy, military reorganization, his faith-based initiative, and a patients' bill of rights. It seems to have worked. In the course of that travel, expect to see plenty more trips to Florida, which will probably turn out to be the most-courted state in the nation in 2004, says GOP state party chairman Al Cardenas. With the nation still closely divided between Republicans and Democrats, Florida's 27 electoral votes are likely to be prized once again. The state also holds special significance for this president, who is trying to help his brother keep his governor's chair in 2002, and to soothe the raw feelings still left over from November.
Analysts acknowledge the wisdom of homing in on critical swing states for election purposes.
But Mr. Ornstein and others are skeptical that the president's heavy schedule outside of Washington is still the best way to move his agenda through a Congress now run in part by the Democrats. For starters, it's far from clear that presidential pressure from the hinterlands has any effect on senators in Washington. At the same time, the political landscape has changed. White House officials may insist that it's still the same 100 senators they have to deal with, it's Democrats who will set the Senate's agenda and chair its committees. With that in mind, says Mr. Ornstein, the president should spend more time in town working with Democrats on a centrist approach, as he did on education, instead of jetting around the country to sell an often conservative plan.