Bush still trying to rally the base

The Washington Post buries the lead in this story about Bush's campaign stop in Montana for Sen. Conrad Burns.

A Republican president normally would not need to come to a conservative bastion such as Montana this close to an election, nor to Nevada's 2nd District, which has never voted for a Democrat since it was created in 1982. But Bush is playing defense in red-state territory and sticking to states that voted for him two years ago.

Although Bush's approval ratings remain mired in the high 30s, the White House believes he can still make a difference in traditionally Republican districts and states by energizing core supporters who otherwise might not be enthusiastic about voting. Many conservatives have been alienated because of concerns over rising federal spending, illegal immigration, the Iraq war, the House page scandal and other issues.

Bush and the GOP can prattle on all they want about "tax-and-spend Democrats" and "San Francisco liberals." It is their complete failure to govern that has them on the run during this election.

All those stories about Bush's and Rove's optimism ignored the glarning fact that, just days before the election, they were still spending massive amounts of time and money trying to activate the one segment of voters they should be able to take for granted. The very fact that Bush is still trying to motivate conservatives to vote speaks volumes about what their internal polling is telling them. They're scared to death. This is shaping up to be a bloodbath.

And, they have no one to blame but themselves.