White House Watch: Toning it down for the holidays
White House strategists traveling with President Bush in Asia have been more than a bit unsettled by the escalating arguments back home over the Iraq war in the past week. But they expect members of Congress to ease off the rhetoric as the holidays approach, starting with Thanksgiving.
For one thing, the House and Senate will be out of town for most of the next month, which should lower the decibel level. For another, senior advisers to Bush sense that all sides want tempers to cool, especially after the vehement finger-pointing prompted last week by Democratic Rep. John Murtha's call for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Murtha had been a supporter of the war.
"We think there will be a lull," a senior Bush adviser told U.S. News. "We all need one."
But once the new year starts, White House strategists expect the hostilities to resume. What could change this dynamic is the behavior of White House officials themselves. If Bush or his surrogates stir the pot, all bets are off. Some Republican strategists say Vice President Dick Cheney still seems eager to forcefully argue the administration's case on Iraq and warn that if his rhetoric is harsh, the Democrats will respond in kind.
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