Bush to NYC - Kiss my grits

I guess the feeling is mutual, but still, that's pretty cowardly of the Resident.

The New York Times > National > White House Letter: It's a Nice Place to Visit, but He Can't Stay:

More than a year ago, when Karl Rove and President Bush began planning the Republican National Convention, they picked New York City in early September so that the event would flow into the third anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

Some Republicans said then that Mr. Bush might even visit ground zero, despite the risk of appearing to make political use of the tragedy. Most others said the convention's timing would remind voters of what the campaign considers Mr. Bush's finest hour - the moment he grabbed the bullhorn in the rubble at the tip of Manhattan and shouted that the people who had knocked down the buildings would hear from him soon.

But now it turns out that Mr. Bush may not spend a single night in the city that helped transform his presidency. At this point, the unofficial plan is for him to arrive in Manhattan sometime on Thursday, Sept. 2, the final day of the four-day convention, deliver his acceptance speech that night, then leave immediately for Pennsylvania.

and the spinmeisters speak:

The advisers noted that Mr. Bush was also likely to alienate the city by lingering and tying up traffic, blocking streets and further inciting what could be the biggest street demonstrations at a political convention since the Democrats gathered in Chicago in 1968.

A quick exit would underscore the tone of Mr. Bush's campaign, the advisers said, which is that he is running hard in a tied race for his political life. They insisted that his getaway was not an insult to New York - a city that Mr. Bush never liked before Sept. 11, 2001, but that he warmed to when he met with firefighters and other rescue workers after the attacks.

"It's not a statement that he dislikes New York City,'' the Republican close to the campaign said. "It's a statement that he's going to work.''