Heck of a job, Denny!

[BobcatJH]

It looks like the president, who has given others the Official Kiss of Death by praising them, is now doing the same thing for Dennis Hastert:

President Bush came to the home turf of the House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, on Thursday to give him a resounding pledge of support before a revved-up group of Republican donors, activists and leaders who were clearly glad to witness a presidential lift for the buffeted dean of their state party.

Appearing at a fund-raising event for two local Republican House candidates facing competitive races, David McSweeney and Peter Roskam, Mr. Bush bounded onto the stage alongside Mr. Hastert, whose Congressional district is several miles outside Chicago. Standing beside the speaker, Mr. Bush, wearing a smile that lasted for minutes, gave him a hearty handshake as Mr. Hastert, beaming, patted him on the back.

Mr. Bush came here with a far larger retinue of photographers and reporters than usual for such campaign trips. It was evidence of the anticipation surrounding his visit as questions continued to swirl about what Mr. Hastert's office knew, and when, about former Representative Mark Foley's e-mail to male pages.

Mr. Bush seemed more than happy to oblige, after Mr. Hastert introduced the president as "our friend" and "our leader."

"Before I liberate the speaker so he doesn't have to stand up here for that long, Speaker, I want to say this to you," Mr. Bush said. "I am proud to be standing with the current speaker of the House who is going to be the future speaker of the House."

"He's not one of these Washington politicians who spews a lot of hot air — he just gets the job done," Mr. Bush said as the room erupted. "This country is better off with Denny Hastert as the speaker."

A few questions. First, was the reporter really saying Hastert "bounded" onto the stage? Second, on a related point, it's good to see that the president is concerned about Hastert's well-being. Third, and most importantly, isn't it amazing how far these guys will go to protect a majority?