The Making Of A Kodak Moment

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George W. Bush will spend nearly $300 million trying to get re-elected in 2004, but nothing he buys will come close, in sheer political capital, to what he deposited in his campaign bank last week: the perfect presidential photo op. The scene, of Bush's landing aboard an aircraft carrier in a Navy jet and then strutting across the deck outfitted in a jump suit, "will be the moment of George W. Bush's presidency," predicts Mike Deaver, the master imagemaker to Ronald Reagan.

It took no small amount of jostling to get there. Though the White House first insisted that Bush had to fly in a jet, rather than the customary helicopter, because the carrier would be hundreds of miles out to sea, that turned out not to be true: the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln was just 39 miles from shore. (Still, Bush spent part of last Tuesday taking a water-emergency training course at the White House pool, in case he was forced to eject into the Pacific.) Then there was the carrier's position, which had to be tilted to obscure any view of the nearby coastline and ensure a picture-perfect azure backdrop. All in a day's work for the President? Not exactly. Bush was so energized by the experience that he didn't get to his cabin until 11 p.m. P.T.--four hours past his usual bedtime.