SCARY

Our President is trapped in a self-serving fantasy world.

Analysis: The Bush Take on U.S. Opinion
JENNIFER LOVEN AP May 28, 2007 07:21 PM EST

Confronted with strong opposition to his Iraq policies, President Bush decides to interpret public opinion his own way. Actually, he says, people agree with him.

Democrats view the November elections that gave them control of Congress as a mandate to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. They're backed by evidence; election exit poll surveys by The Associated Press and television networks found 55 percent saying the U.S. should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq.

The president says Democrats have it all wrong: the public doesn't want the troops pulled out _ they want to give the military more support in its mission.

Increasingly isolated on a war that is going badly, Bush has presented his alternative reality in other ways, too. ... Bush said: "I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, `Get out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well."

In fact, polls show Americans do not disagree, and that leaving _ not winning _ is their main goal.

Wayne Fields, an expert on presidential rhetoric at Washington University in St. Louis, said ... "This is a very tricky thing in our politics. We want to think that we want our leaders to stand up to public opinion. But we also like to think of ourselves as being in a democracy where we are listened to," Fields said. "He risks either the notion of being thought out of touch ... or to be thought simply duplicitous."