President Bush stood the test and should be re-elected

President George W. Bush, imperfect as his first term of office may have been, still offers more hope for America in the next four years than does John F. Kerry.
We endorsed Bush four years ago, and our editorial ended with these words: "His demonstrated willingness to stand tall rather than bend is the best reason The Vindicator has for endorsing George W. Bush for president, and one of many reasons the people have for voting for him."
Any question about that assessment dissolved in the days after Sept. 11, 2001. That day shook the world and redefined America's perceived place in it. It also defined Bush and his presidency. He stood tall at ground zero and reassured the people of New York, America and the world that the United States would declare war on terrorism and that it would win that war.
Unforeseen challenges
But even before 9/11, President Bush was being challenged. Between the time of his election and his taking office, it became apparent that the U.S. economy was troubled. Andy Card, the president's chief of staff, recalls being taken aback by the pessimism of the economic advisers he met with before the inauguration.
The president proposed and championed a package of tax cuts designed to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Those cuts are now being blamed for contributing to the budget deficits that have plagued the Bush administration. And while we have been critical of deficit spending, the president and his team argue persuasively that without the economic stimulus those cuts provided, the economy today would be in shambles rather than in recovery.
On the economic front, the Bush presidency has not only survived a recession it inherited, but it struggled through the enormous economic impact of 9/11, which cost the nation a million jobs. The damage was compounded by the effects of corporate scandals in which fortunes were lost and Wall Street was shaken.
These have been a difficult four years for President Bush and for the nation. The war on terrorism has brought with it overwhelming demands on the president's time and the nation's resources.
Second-term priorities
Those demands will continue, but President Bush must give more attention in a second term to his domestic agenda.
Medicare and Social Security must be protected. The cost of health care must be reined in. The deficit must be reduced.
Ohio has been the beneficiary of enormous attention from the candidates this year, and the state has a right to expect years of attention from whichever candidate wins. Both candidates have spent weeks in the state in 2004, pressing the flesh with thousands of Ohioans from Cincinnati to Cleveland and from Toledo to Steubenville.
Appearing in the Mahoning Valley Wednesday, the president said he recognized that Ohio has suffered through tough times, but he noted that the unemployment rate has dropped from 6.3 percent to 6 percent and that as the state's economy improves, jobs are being created.
But Ohioans should expect more from the president. Employers in Ohio, as in every state, face enormous financial burdens tied to health care, and part of that burden is linked to the cost of prescription drugs. The Medicare prescription drug bill should have encouraged government to use its power as a bulk buyer to bargain for the best possible price; instead it prohibited such bargaining. That's bad policy and will prove to be a costly mistake.
Ohio jobs are being lost to outsourcing. The administration should support a tax policy that discourages outsourcing. Likewise, the administration has been far too timid -- as Ohio's Republican senator, George Voinovich, will attest -- in cracking down on trade abuses by China.
The president would do well to adopt more of the unilateral approach he takes toward protecting America from terrorists to protecting American workers from unfair trade policies.
Not infallible
That said, President Bush has navigated uncharted waters since the unprecedented attack on the United States nine months after he took office. There have been mistakes -- which we think he knows, even if he cannot publicly acknowledge them to the world -- but there were no more mistakes than any mortal may have made, given the times.
The president has earned another four years under the most trying of circumstances, and The Vindicator endorses the re-election of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.