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TIME He meant it as an attack on you.
BUSH I think that a President must listen and take into account the advice of a lot of people. And I do. I've got a smart Administration. One of your jobs, of course, is to find out all the little tensions and bring them to the fore. But it's all part of decision making. See, that's what this job is. It's essential that the world and the country see a resolute nature. Leaders set a vision, they listen, they make decisions, and they lead. People will tell you I'm open-minded. But I can decide, see. I can make up my mind. If you say, Write your job description, I'd say, Decision maker. I make a lot of decisions. Some of them you'll never see. In the course of history, I was called upon to make some big decisions. And I'm very comfortable with that role.
TIME Is there anything in John Kerry's Vietnam career that you think is relevant to this race?
BUSH His service was honorable, as far as I'm concerned. This debate ought to be about who can lead the war on terror. And that's where I'll conduct it. Look, I know there's a lot of consternation about 527s [groups outside the political parties that can spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections]. I share the same consternation. When I signed that [campaign-finance-reform] bill, I thought we got rid of this kind of stuff--unregulated soft money, billionaires pouring money into a campaign. I can understand why Senator Kerry is upset with us. I wasn't so pleased with the ads that were run about me. And my call is get rid of them all, now.
TIME Your spokesman said Kerry lost his cool in reacting to these charges. If his service was honorable, shouldn't he have lost his cool?
BUSH He can handle his business the way he feels like it. I'm just telling you, these ads shouldn't be around.
TIME How is this election different from the one in 2000?
BUSH The good thing about this race, as opposed to the last race, is the voters now know me.
TIME They know what they're getting?
BUSH Yes. Steady, strong leadership. I'm going to make hard decisions and be willing to lead and make the tough calls. Some don't like that. But my job is to solve problems, not pass them on. I'm not going to read the history about it while I'm alive because I don't trust short-term history. Most historians wouldn't have voted for me, so I don't think they can write an objective history. But I think long-term history will say that this Administration accomplished a lot and recognized the changing times and helped adjust policy to those changing times.
TIME One of us asked you at a press conference last April what you thought your biggest mistake was. You didn't have an answer then. Do you now?