Recent setbacks may be bad omen for White House agenda

[struggle4progress]

By PETER BAKER and JIM VANDEHEI, The Washington Post

Published: Sunday, Jun. 5, 2005

Two days after winning re-election last fall, President Bush declared that he had earned plenty of “political capital and now I intend to spend it.” Six months later, according to Republicans and Democrats alike, his bank account has been significantly drained.

In the last week of May alone, the Republican-led House defied his veto threat and passed legislation promoting stem cell research, Senate Democrats blocked confirmation, at least temporarily, of his choice for U.N. ambassador and a rump group of GOP senators abandoned the president in his battle to win floor votes for all of his judicial nominees.

With his approval ratings in public opinion polls at the lowest level of his presidency, Bush has been stymied so far in his campaign to restructure Social Security. On the international front, violence has surged again in Iraq in recent weeks, dispelling much of the optimism generated by the elections back in January, while allies such as Egypt and Uzbekistan have complicated his campaign to spread democracy. <snip>

“He has really burned up whatever mandate he had from that last election,” said Leon E. Panetta, who served as White House chief of staff during President Bill Clinton’s second term. “You can’t slam dunk issues in Washington. You can’t just say, ‘This is what I want done’ and by mandate get it done. It’s a lesson everybody has to learn and sometimes you learn it the hard way.” <snip>

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/OPINION04/106050001/-1/opinion

[mike_c]

1. bwahahahaha-- his man date....

Somewhere there is a pretzel waiting to do its duty....

[mrdmk]

2. It is a bitch when a big wave throws you head first into the sand

or the rocks! :rofl:

[giant_robot]

3. Great piece!

Kickety-kick! :kick: