Bush Shifts Focus to Small Picture

With his term winding down, President Bush is putting an increased emphasis on the small picture—domestic issues that have a tangible effect on people's lives, the New York Times reports. While still engaged with weighty foreign matters such as Iraq and the upcoming Mideast summit, Bush has shifted focus to topics such as the holiday travel crunch, unsafe foods, and shaky home loans.

“These are issues that don’t tend to be at the center of the political debate but actually are of paramount importance to a lot of Americans,” said a White House official. Here Bush is following his predecessor: Washington laughed when Clinton talked about car seats or school uniforms, a former Clinton aide notes, but the public didn't. (More China stories.)