If Mr. Bush really cared about our troops, their families and the welfare of Iraqis, he would not persist in this cynical folly.

And just 50 percent of the blacks, as against 66 percent of the whites, said they thought Mr. Bush cared for people like them.

Only 18 percent said Mr. Bush cared "a great deal" about the needs and problems of people like themselves, down from 28 percent last March.

In another strange reversal, Mr. Bush did not care about the Reagan dictum "Trust but verify."

But in Florida, half the respondents said they thought Mr. Bush cared.

Forty-nine percent say that Mr. Bush cares about ordinary people, a decline from 55 percent in July.

Asked whether Mr. Bush "cares about the needs and problems of people like yourself," 68 percent responded yes.

Mr. Bush either does not understand this, or does not care.

No one can doubt that Mr. Bush cares about the issue, deeply and personally.

Although Mr. Bush has never cared for prime-time news conferences, he was right to give a worried nation the opportunity to hear him answer questions.