Bush v. Dems: Choose Your Own Adventure

As the political battleground gets bloodier here in Washington, the last 21 months of the Bush presidency may not be the ceaseless war of attrition that many expect. To close out the week, here's another Choose Your Own Adventure-style pairing from our award winning Chief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh.

Bush Starts New Fight With Recess Appointment...

Democrats are stewing over President Bush's recess appointment this week of wealthy GOP contributor Sam Fox to be ambassador to Belgium. The Senate was away on spring break, so the nomination becomes effective without the need for a confirmation vote. Fox contributed $50,000 in 2004 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that said presidential candidate John Kerry exaggerated his wartime service in Vietnam.

But the big impact may be further contamination of the political atmosphere in Washington. Democratic insiders consider Bush's action a thumb in their eyes and another step away from the comity that Bush says he wants. But White House insiders say Bush wanted to show that he still has many cards to play even though he is under siege on so many fronts.

...But Will Democrats Fight So Hard They Implode?

Overall, White House advisers say they see signs that majority Democrats in Congress are shifting too far to the left or moving to extreme positions on Iraq and other issues, giving Republicans the potential opening they are looking for.

"The Democrats will overplay their hand," says a GOP strategist. "And this will allow us to go back on offense." White House insiders say the Democrats are pushing too far and too fast to force President Bush to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facilities for suspected terrorists, while they approve pork-barrel projects and conduct too many investigations into executive branch decision making. Those insiders say the country will eventually see the Democrats as defeatists and liberals who want to impose their views on Middle America.