Curse of the second term leaves US presidents as lame ducks

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=2dfaafe510d33144&cat=c08dd24cec417021

By David Usborne in New York
Published: 27 October 2005
When George Bush won re-election last November it was reasonable to surmise that he might avoid repeating the pattern of most of the 20th century - presidents returning to the White House for a repeat round at governing only to be hobbled by what many call "the second-term curse".

Almost exactly one year later and with the administration in high anxiety over the threat of criminal charges being filed this week at the end of the CIA leak investigation, talk of the curse has inevitably resurfaced. Mr Bush has fallen foul of the same spell that so many of his two-term predecessors suffered.

If anyone in his administration's inner circle - notably his political aide Karl Rove or the chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, Libby Lewis - are slapped with indictments in "Plamegate" the political damage for Mr Bush will be severe. For Mr Cheney it could be more ruinous.

But even without the Valerie Plame affair, consider the wider range of Mr Bush's troubles. While it is true that an important energy bill and a free-trade pact with Central America have both been passed this year, elsewhere his agenda is, at best, in limbo. Items on hold include his pledge to reform Social Security, to eliminate death duties in the US and to extend his round of tax cuts. His poll ratings are miserable.

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These were the Best of times and the worst of times!!!

[smomfr]

1. This has a nice ring to it doesn´t it?

¨History will spit on this presidency¨