Thanksgiving not as relaxing for Bush this year

Dallas Morning News | Carl Leubsdorf:

"In recent weeks, Mr. Bush has received a lot of advice on how to turn things around. Some want him to stress immigration, a subject he plans to push on a border tour next week, or a tax simplification plan, based on proposals by his bipartisan study panel. ... All this advice avoids his real problem: Iraq. ... 'People in leadership make mistakes all the time,' Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, one of the GOP's sagest, most candid strategists replied to a question about the president's credibility. 'The people that admit it are a lot better off.'"

President Bush prides himself on holding firm to his beliefs, staying the course, not shifting positions based on focus groups or polls. Where others might see stubbornness, he sees determination, loyalty, faith.

He learned from his father's career that the conservative base will ruthlessly turn on a President who flip-flops on a core principle ("Read my lips. No new taxes.") This is what makes Iraq so hard to resolve. Even though what he's doing now isn't working, President Bush is unable to change course without violating that fundamental rule of conservative politics: don't be a flip-flopper.

So, what to do in a situation where admitting defeat and withdrawing would undercut his last remaining political support? The best we can hope for is that President Bush, sooner rather than later, applies some variant of the formula proposed by Senator George Aiken (R-VT) for resolving the Vietnam stalemate: Declare victory and get out.