George Bush has staked his reputation on the notion that his singular goal is to protect the American people--from terrorism, from crisis or whatever--that he has the strength and the vision and the leadership skills to do that. But there is a significant number of Americans right now who feel the crisis-manager president didn't act quickly enough, didn't act decisively enough, didn't put the right people in charge. If that view were to fester, that would be devastating to the rest of the president's term and his legacy.
