WP analysis: Bush May Be Running Out of Time to Rebound

[DeepModem Mom]

Analysis
President May Be Running Out of Time to Rebound
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 9, 2006; Page A06

Several of President Bush's key legislative priorities stalled last week while his credibility took a hit with the disclosure that he authorized the release of sensitive intelligence in an effort to discredit a vocal critic of the invasion of Iraq. Some Republican strategists said they are concerned about whether he can reverse a political nosedive that has defined much of his second term.

With his approval ratings stuck at all-time lows, Bush finds himself increasingly powerless to influence events in Congress, where rebellious Republicans and opportunistic Democrats have combined to stall some of his most important initiatives. Heading into a two-week recess, senators could not agree on a plan to revamp immigration policy, while negotiations over the president's budget and efforts to extend tax cuts collapsed in the House late last week.

Meanwhile, the Iraq war continues to be the biggest political issue confronting Bush, as that country remains wracked by sectarian violence with U.S. troops stuck in the middle. The carnage continued even as Bush stepped up the pressure for leaders there to break a deadlock over forming a unity government that many analysts see as a necessary step toward ending the bloodshed.

The confluence of events, coupled with the continued fallout from previous missteps, including the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and the debacle over the deal to transfer control of terminal operations at six U.S. ports to an Arab firm, has some Republican strategists worried that Bush may be running out of time to reestablish his leadership.

"In politics, bad gets worse, and we've had about a six-month run of bad getting worse," said Ed Rogers, a Republican with close ties to the White House. "How do you stop it? You get sure-footed and you quit having bad luck. This president can now measure in a relatively few number of months his window for effective governance."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040800951.html

[C_U_L8R]

1. Not even another 9-11

can help the chimp now.

Too much distrust... well earned distrust.

[niyad]

2. "opportunistic democrats"?? who, pray tell, would THAT be? what a

smarmy characterization from WaPo

[Olney Blue]

11. "rebellious republicans and opportunistic democrats"

Well, its the lesser of two evils, I guess :)

[niyad]

3. I notice it ignores the basic premise: SHOULD this strutting jackass

rebound? this would imply that he has something positive to contribute to our lives, our fortune and our sacred honour (oh, wait, he destroyed that already)

[bush_is_wacko]

4. Rebound? I'm hoping IMPEACHMENT becomes a slam-dunk! nt

[DanCa]

5. It's that Pesky 36 percent though.

Is there anything that we can do to detox the kool aid drinkers?

[otohara]

9. God Would Have To Scream From The Heavens

wake up you idiots, the man is not a Christian - in fact he is Satan

[saltpoint]

17. I would entertain the notion of a GOP Trail of Tears, in which we would

line up the 36% or so who remain loyal to the president and force them to march to Wyoming.

In January.

When he's indicted and forced to resign, Dick Cheney could stand at the state line and welcome the crowd.

[otohara]

6. Going Down - Worst President in History

Which IMO is far too kind.

[unblock]

7. spreading the blame to "opportunistic democrats"

shrub has no one but himself to blame, save perhaps for the people he chose to surround himself with.
if they want to blame a few republicans for not agreeing with him 100% of the time, fine.

but to call the democrats "opportunistic" for opposing him when he does idiotic things like ignore katrina or sell our ports to an arabic government after playing the islamic fear card for years, well, that's just pure banana republican spin.

democrats have been a railroaded and ignored minority in congress since shrub stole the white house. they have no one but themselves to blame.

[acmavm]

8. With his record how does this writer think that bush** can ever

'rebound'? Everything he's done has been proven to have been based on lies and a scheming ploy to enrich the criminals in his administration, himself, his corporate supporters, and himself. Everything he's done has been shown to be based on some delusional scheme that he can become make a name for himself historically as this tough, smart, ass-kicking 'war president'. Even though he started the war and it has destroyed our military and bankrupted our country. And he's violated every pricipal that this country was founded on. And everything he's ever done has been based up lies.

Now how the hell can you 'rebound' with that kind of record?

[madrchsod]

10. kind`a hard to rebound when your

balls are flat and he`ll need an implant to get it up again...oh, i`m bad tonight...

[movonne]

12. What a joke...rebound..

[Canuckistanian]

13. Only a "dead cat bounce" for Shrub now.

There's nowhere but down. Or, if he's lucky, a status quo.

[saltpoint]

14. Lugar, Warner, and a handful of other party stalwarts need to arrange a

private meeting with the incumbent and make it clear that for the good of the country, for the good of the party, and for the good of specific legislative initiatives, significant changes must be made.

The most obvious one would be in Cabinet and staff.

Rove must be fired. Give the Nazi pig his walking papers and point him out the damn door. He's smeared people for ages, from Dubya's gubernatorial days in Texas, and likely before that.

Bolton? He should be given 15 minutes to pack and get out of the UN office and not more than 24 hours to leave New York. I'd re-appoint him to a fact-finding mission in the Seychelles.

Rumsfeld should publicly apologize for presiding over rendition centers and then following that press conference apology, he should be fired. The fuck-up quotient out of Don Rumsfeld's office regarding Iraq leaps vertically off the chart.

McClellan must go. He's a blubbering dolt and should never have been given that job in the first place. The White House press corps -- hardly a pack of liberals -- all believe McClellan is an idiot.

Cheney must also be asked to resign. He is a sinister and evil presence and a profound embarrassment to the idea of public service.

A good chunk of the Cabinet must be replaced with veteran bi-partisan types, some GOP & some DEMS. Lowell Weicker. Lee Hamilton. Thomas Keane. Richard Lamm. Fred Thompson. Martin Frost. Deliberatively bipartisan group.

If Dubya insists on replacing Cheney with Condiliar, then Lugar should get the job at State.

And they'll have to drag in someone like Gergen or Danforth or whoever to shore up relations with Congress and just about everybody else, too.

Bush will resist, but Lugar and Warner could simply tell him this is going to happen or they will withdraw their support for his budget, his immigration reform proposal, and his goddamned war.

[Kagemusha]

18. Bush would tell Lugar and Warner, nice knowing you.

Then he'd cut them off and they'd find themselves isolated within the party.

[saltpoint]

19. Last year, I think that would have been the case.

But this year, I think the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the Chamirman of the Foreign Relations Committee would be able to leverage some concessions from the little monkey in the White House.

I got no facts to back that up, just a hunch that the stalwarts (even tho they're way too conservative fro most of us on DU) nevertheless don't want a little fool to mess up the country and their party to this extent.

Nixon was clinging to the desk in the Oval Office but a posse of party stalwarts strode into the place and told him he's have to resign for the good of the country & party.

Hey. I'm a wishful thinker!

[rodeodance]

15. But he got the PA and looks like Congress will give him a new FISA bill

also. These two bills cast a shadow over EVERYTHING!

[Notoverit]

16. Rebellious Rep & opportunistic Democrats - somehow GOP-ers always

get the better sounding adjective...Damn librul media!