Bush's Pivot Point

Dallas Morning News | William McKenzie:

“He's reaching out to left and right on health, immigration and education, and that could give his presidency the boost it needs”

Ed Cognoski responds:

The first half of the Bush Presidency was all unilateral. Tax cuts; pre-emptive war; to hell with the Democrats, the Europeans and the Arabs. Bush continued this approach to governing into his second term with unilateral initiatives for remaking Social Security and the tax code. As those initiatives died on the vine and the man-made disaster in Iraq became harder to deny and the natural disaster called Katrina revealed incompetence at home, President Bush's approval ratings sank. It seemed as if only the hard-core conservative base was still with him. Then, through some clumsy moves, he alienated even his base. The Harriet Miers nomination and the sale of port management to Dubai Ports World raised howls of protest from Republicans.

Mr McKenzie sees President Bush's latest proposals on health, immigration and education as reaching out to left and right. In the worst case, he may find he just alienates his base even more, without winning support from Democrats. If so, his approval ratings will sink to historic lows and he will leave office a failed President. I think that outcome to be at least as likely as Mr McKenzie's prediction of a popularity boost.