Tossing Skittles to the voters as a simple bribe
Maybe Bush's game plan is simply to give freebies to the voters as a bribe. After he gets reelected, he can cancel the various bribes in the name of fiscal responsibility. Bush's new "Space Initiative" doesn't really do anything new until he's long out of office. He's promised NASA only a modest increase in its budget. He can easily withdraw that promise next year after he has been reelected.
Gary