The American people, most of whom have paid scant attention to the events so far, will have to get used to Mr Bush, and to trust him.

ECONOMIST: Is he ready? | The

Rather, they trust Mr Bush's judgment.

ECONOMIST: Who’s backing Bush? | The

But with polls showing Americans have more trust in President Bush than Kerry on national security matters, defense and security made up much of Kerry's speech.

CNN: 'Help is on the way,' Kerry tells middle class

There is a growing consensus among Republicans, not to mention Democrats, that another failure like last summer's Operation Forward Together will tear the fabric of trust between the Bush and al-Maliki command centers.

NPR: Hiding the Implicit Timetable in Iraq

This trust is there largely because Mr Bush has fought harder on the other big social issue, abortion.

ECONOMIST: George Bush and the social conservatives

And, support has fallen for Bush recently in key areas, such as credibility and trust.

CNN: Bush campaign set to turn up the heat

When it came to the crunch this week, a majority was prepared to trust the prime minister, but Labour's suspicion of Mr Bush remains as intense as ever.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

By doing this, Bush guaranteed that income taxes would have to be raised in order to amortize the trust funds.

FORBES: No, The United States Will Not Go Into A Debt Crisis, Not Now, Not Ever

And immigration - that was thought to be the best opportunity for the two parties and the two branches to work together in this second Bush term since the Democrats took over Congress, and that's really been hobbled by a lack of trust.

NPR: Iraq, Gonzales Still Prove Problematic for Bush