Washington (Reuters) -

Democrat John Kerry has a solid lead over President Bush among voters nationwide, according to a Los Angeles Times poll on Thursday that cited widespread unease over the country’s direction, Iraq policies and the economy.

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A stunned and petulant President Bush addressed the problem in a brief statement on the White House lawn this morning.

“Don’t you people get it?” Bush asked the public. “Ronald Reagan is dead. Do I have to spell it out? Great American, folksy Republican, talked about tax cuts and values and stuff… Huh?”

Frustrated by the continued low polling numbers, the Bush campaign announced further plans to make the Bush-Reagan linkage more explicit. “You’d think that stuff like the Bush campaign site turning into a Reagan site would’ve made it obvious,” said a puzzled Scott MCClellan. “But I guess Americans need things made a little more explicit.”

Among the “tie-in” initiatives are a new TV commercial that magically morphs the two Presidents’ faces into one, the coining of “The Nipper” as Bush’s new nickname, and the prosaic new campaign slogan “Bush: Because Ronald Reagan Would Vote For Him If He Wasn’t Dead. But He Is. So It’s Up To You.”

“These are natural measures to take,” McClellan said, “Just to let the public know that it’s important to re-elect Reagan. I mean, Bush. Gosh, it is SO easy to confuse them! There I go again…”

Back on the White House lawn, Bush underscored the connection. Remarking on Reagan’s long struggle with Alzheimer’s, the President said, “I’ve been forgetting things all my life. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?” Bush then announced plans to extend the weeklong period of mourning for President Reagan by “an additional 5 months” in order to give the nation “plenty of time to grieve.” The extended grieving will culminate in a second state funeral for Reagan, currently scheduled for November 3rd.