[priceless.....] washingtonpost.com The Economy, Smack Dab in an Ooch By a Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 5, 2002; Page A07
BOSTON, Oct. 4 -- Sometimes the economy is booming. Other times, it is contracting. At the moment, it is "ooching." This economic evaluation was offered here today by President Bush. Speaking at a fundraiser that gathered $1.25 million for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney, Bush volunteered his novel description of the economy's struggles to regain momentum. "When your economy is, kind of, ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money," Bush said. He called this axiom "the page out of the textbook that I believe is important; I know Romney feels the same way." Ooching? "Who?" replied Karl Rove, Bush's top strategist, when asked for an explanation. "Oh, ooching. That means moving in a slow, deliberate fashion." Close. Ooching, it turns out, is a sailing term, all the more relevant because Bush left here to spend the weekend at the family compound on the Maine coast. It is the process of getting a boat to start moving again after its motion is disrupted by a bad wave, and it involves moving your body forward on the boat and then suddenly stopping. "Though not as inherently graceful and aesthetic as roll tacking, it has its fine moments and occasional place in our sport," according to a Sailing World article, which noted that "bothersome abuses of ooching are rare." Ooching, therefore, is a perfectly accurate description for the economy which, while not in free fall, is not exactly moving forward, either. The usage by Bush was similar to his recent statement that Iraq's Saddam Hussein has "crawfished" his way out of United Nations resolutions, a similarly colloquial and colorful phrase that accurately depicted Hussein's evasions. Fresh evidence of the ooching came today in the form of new jobless numbers, which showed unemployment falling to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in August, better than expected. But stock markets declined anyway after more signs of poor corporate earnings. "The unemployment rate dropped, which was good news," Bush said today. "But that's not good enough. There's still too many people who wonder whether or not they're going to be able to find employment." Bush is expected to bring his record-shattering fundraising tally above $140 million this weekend in a pair of luncheons for Republican candidates as Bush begins a New England weekend of politics and relaxation. But Iraq will not be far from his mind. It will be the subject of his radio address Saturday and he will be preparing to deliver a speech to build support for his position in Cincinnati on Monday. The event today for Romney and a luncheon Saturday in Manchester, N.H., for Senate candidate John E. Sununu are Bush's 61st and 62nd fundraisers of the year as the president shows no sign of letting up in his unprecedented quest for campaign cash. Before today, Bush had raised $138.2 million for GOP candidates in the midterm elections. Here in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, Bush does not have the intimidating level of popularity he enjoys in much of the nation. The latest Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll found that 46 percent of voters viewed him favorably and 40 percent had an unfavorable view in September, down from a 62 percent favorable rating in August. The poll also brought unhappy news for Romney. His Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, had a lead of 42 percent to 36 percent. O'Brien's lead came largely from a lopsided margin of support among women. A Boston Herald poll today gave O'Brien a lead of 43 percent to 42 percent, a tie within the poll's margin of error. Earlier this year, as Romney announced his intention to return to Massachusetts after directing the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he appeared to be the prohibitive favorite in the race. But after O'Brien defeated former Clinton labor secretary Robert B. Reich and three other challengers in a primary, her fortunes improved as Romney began to quarrel with the state's conservative Republicans. Bush told donors here today that he's "confident" Romney will "make this state a safer, stronger and better place."
