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Inside Washington's Headlines
by Ken Feltman
Congress will continue to break with Bush on many different issues
For the first time since 9-11, President Bush is viewed unfavorably on national security.
Decision-Maker focus groups Friday and Saturday showed an ominous development for President Bush’s ability to hold the Republican coalition together. Criticism of the Dubai Ports World decision is deep and wide. Concern goes beyond political party and beyond the merits of the deal itself. It centers on two other vulnerabilities of the Administration: unease over the White House’s tendency toward secrecy and questions about competence.
Coming on the heels of the Cheney hunting accident, the ports deal may be the last straw. The public is disenchanted. The public is surprised that Bush and his advisors did not foresee problems with the deal. The White House has been on the defensive over national security eavesdropping, Scooter Libby, Katrina, etc. Now, even the Republican base is voicing concerned about the competence of the Bush Administration.
Recent polls, including one by the widely followed Rasmussen Reports, show the disintegration. (You can see that Rasmussen poll by using the link to PollsPlus.com below and linking to “sites with polls” and then “Rasmussen Reports.”)
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The focus group participants believe that this
White House has resisted - or is unable to implement - corrective action. The
question now is whether the president can regain his footing. Past
administrations rarely recovered. In other words, for the first time, President
Bush is viewed unfavorably on the one issue that has buoyed him through
controversy: national security.
Other significant finding from the focus groups:
- Most Americans say they expect civil war in
Iraq. In fact, they say that they have long expected civil war. Many express
amazement that the Bush Administration continues to stress “good news” when
there seems to be little evidence of positive developments. A majority of
focus group participants now fault the President for mismanagement of the war.
- A majority of participants think Cheney is
too powerful and too secretive. A sizable number believe that the vice
president may think of himself as a co-president.
- Interestingly, talk of a co-presidency is a
major negative point for not just Bush-Cheney but for Clinton-Clinton. Senator
Clinton may be dragged down by moderates of both parties who think former
President Clinton may be too powerful in a Hillary Clinton Administration.
- Conservatives are bitter about what they see
as lost opportunities in Iraq and the War on Terror and what they consider
out-of-control spending. They are looking past the Bush Administration toward
2008 and do not like their choices. When conservatives begin to look toward
the next presidential election this early, it may mean that they do not
participate in the coming mid-term elections. That could doom vulnerable
Republican candidates.
As these changing attitudes harden, and as members of Congress hear them reflected by the folks back home, expect more Congressional Republicans to break with Bush. They will be increasingly concerned that Bush will drag them down. The White House is running out of time and may become irrelevant as Republicans scramble to save themselves.
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