First lady becomes part of Bush’s new war plan

AS US President George W Bush’s job-approval numbers hit a new low, he’s turning to his wife to help him make the case for his re-election.

Laura Welch Bush is shy. In 26 years of marriage to George W Bush, she has been balance wheel and panic button in private, never a comfortable public figure in the manner of her mother-in-law.

Yet as the campaign heats up and her husband's poll numbers drop, she is moving to centre stage and closer to the role once played by Barbara Pierce Bush.