Skye has a great post on this, so I’m just going to be very brief.

Bush made a brief remark during the press conference where he said, “I’d say I’m spending that capital on the war.”

Now I would not interpret that comment the way the New York Slime has headlined his comments. The headline reads, “Bush Concedes Iraq War Erodes Political Status”. Wow!! What a misrepresentation if I ever heard one. Where in that one line sentence does he say that the war is “eroding” his political status? I think he plainly says that he’s using the capital we gave him to prosecute this war. The only thing eroding the President’s “political status” is the constant media barrage to demean his presidency.

Check out the Slime’s analysis of this one statement: “Mr. Bush in effect acknowledged that until he could convince increasingly skeptical Americans that the United States was winning the war, Iraq would overshadow everything he did.” I’m speechless.

As a matter of fact this is exactly how the exchange went. Notice what the Slime left out of their commentary:

QUESTION: Just after the 2004 election, you seemed — you claimed a really enviable balance of political capital and a strong mandate.
QUESTION: Would you make that claim today; that you still have that?
BUSH: I’d say I’m spending that capital on the war.
QUESTION: Well, is that costing you elsewhere, then?
BUSH: I don’t think so. I just named an agenda that, over the last 12 months, that would be, I suspect, if looked at objectively, would say, Well, they got a lot done. I’d be glad to repeat them if you like, which is… (CROSSTALK)

I guess need another analyst who understands what “I don’t think so” means.