Political Bulletin

WASHINGTON NEWS

Bush: Congress Can't Stop Surge

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," President said Congress cannot stop his plan to boost US troop levels in Iraq. The Financial Times says the president "struck a defiant note" during the interview, and said Congress "could try to stop me from doing it. But I made my decision, and we're going forward." The Los Angeles Times notes that "when asked whether he thought he had the authority to send additional troops in the face of opposition from the Democratic majority in Congress, Bush said: 'In this situation, I do, yeah.'" In fact, the Washington Post reports on its front page that National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley "said yesterday that the money is already in place to begin moving additional troops to Iraq."

The Washington Times, meanwhile, reports that Bush was also "contrite, acknowledging that he has made mistakes in the execution of the Iraq war." The President "admitted" that the relatively low troops levels throughout the war "could have been a mistake" adding "Americans should not blame the military." The president said, "If the people want a scapegoat, they got one right here in me, because it's my decisions."

The AP says that "as the White House watched even some GOP support peel away for the war plan, it went all-out to regain some footing." The President and his top advisors, said NBC Night News, "have been hitting the air waves to talk up the plan." On Sunday Vice President Cheney continued the Administration's "PR offensive." The Vice President "lashed out at the Democrat's criticism of the President's plan." Cheney, asked on Fox News Sunday if Congress would be "undercutting the troops," if they pass a resolution opposing an increase in US troops in Iraq, answered, "I think they would be. ... It's not enough for [Democrats] to be critics anymore. We have these meetings with members of Congress, and they all agree we can't fail; the consequences of failure would be too great. But then they end up critical of what we're trying to do, advocating withdrawal or so-called redeployment of force, but they have absolutely nothing to offer in its place. I have yet to hear a coherent policy out of the Democratic side."

Democrats Split One factor that may be playing in the White House's favor as it seeks to implement its strategy: While Democrats are united in their opposition to Bush's plan, they appear split on how to proceed against it. The New York Times says "Democrats exhibited splits within their ranks over how aggressively to oppose the plan." Speaking on "This Week" on ABC News, Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, "the chairman of the subcommittee on military appropriations in the House, said he expected Congress to move to restrict financing for new troop deployments -- or at the very least tie approval to stringent conditions the White House would have to meet first." But Sen. Carl Levin, "the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CNN on Sunday that he did not believe Congress should 'use the power of the purse' to halt the president's plan and that it should go no further than approving nonbinding resolutions opposing it." The Washington Times and Washington Post run similar reports.

Bush In Frail Political Position

Media reports continue to portray the President's political position on Iraq as very weak and getting worse. The AP reports Bush "once said he was determined to stick with the Iraq war even if his wife and his dog were the only ones left at his side. It's moving in that direction." Newsweek in an article titled, "Republicans Revolt Over Bush's Iraq Plan: How close is Bush to losing his own party?" reports Bush "expected at least a handful of Republican senators -- critics like Chuck Hagel and George Voinovich -- to run from a troop increase. But the White House was surprised when even pro-war senators, including Sam Brownback and Lisa Murkowski, came out against the plan." And U.S. News and World Report cites a "growing GOP contingent" who have "expressed opposition to Bush's plan." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is predicting he will have "lined up as many as a dozen Republicans for a resolution opposing what he branded 'escalation.'"

Newsweek's Howard Fineman writes Republicans "have lost the unity that they had during the cold war and the early years of the war on terror." U.S. News and World Report's Gloria Borger claims that "not since Richard Nixon sent American troops into Cambodia has a president taken such a gamble with an unpopular war." And Paul Krugman, in a New York Times column titled "The Texas Strategy," compares Bush to 80s S&L scandal figure Charles Keating, "using other people's money to keep Lincoln Savings going long after it should have been shut down -- and squandering the life savings of thousands of investors, not to mention billions in taxpayer dollars, along the way. The parallel is actually quite exact."

And the plan itself continues to receive very negative reviews. This morning, the AP reports the "extra billion dollars of reconstruction aid...won't go far in a country where electricity output still barely meets half the demand and oil production is falling short by almost a million barrels a day. And a companion part of the plan, to expand US aid teams scattered across Iraq, may falter because of a shortage of volunteers." The New York Times echoes those criticisms in a story today, while a Washington Post analysis suggests the proposed "surge" could have little effect on Baghdad security. U.S. News and World Report also interviewed "a dozen counterinsurgency experts, who raised several concerns" about an escalation of fighting "if not accompanied by a political breakthrough that all Iraqis can rally around. ... Yet the plan includes no new U.S. effort on the political front." Likewise, Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria, meanwhile, writes that "the crucial question is, will military progress lead to political progress? That logic, at the heart of the president's new strategy, strikes me as highly dubious." And yesterday, editorials in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times blasted Bush's plan.

Another U.S. News and World Report story charges that Bush "is effectively repudiating many of the basic tenets that have been the foundation of his Iraq strategy-namely, that political progress would eventually quell the violence and that most Iraqis support America's efforts to build a democracy there. ... In his subdued prime-time address to the nation, Bush glossed over the minirevolution in his administration's approach." On Fox News Sunday, Cheney admitted as much, saying the Administration "came to the conclusion that, until we got a handle on the security situation in Baghdad, the Iraqis weren't going to be able to make the progress they need to make on the economic front, on the political front and so forth. And so, the conclusion is that, with the plan that we put in place now, that we're going to place a greater emphasis upon going after the security problem in Baghdad, that has to come first."

Pentagon Resisting New Strategy? A story in Sunday's Washington Times originally from the London Sunday Telegraph reported that retired Gen. John Keane "is criticizing the Bush administration, claiming the Pentagon is watering down the proposal for political reasons." Keane said the plan "could not be done 'piecemeal,' expressing 'alarm'" after Defense Secretary Robert Gates "testified on Capitol Hill that the troop buildup was expected to last 'a matter of months' -- rather than the 18 months proposed by Gen. Keane."

Sen. John McCain, on CBS's Face the Nation, was asked if he believes the Pentagon is "dragging its feet" in implementing Bush's troop increase plan. McCain replied, "Yes. ... I think there's bureaucratic resistance in the Pentagon to this proposal." The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol, on Fox News Sunday amplified McCain's charges, emphasizing that the "key is the urgency, the speed and the full bore commitment that the US government, across the board, puts on implementing this. Don't slow-walk the troops in. Front-load the surge." Kristol went to say that Defense Secretary Gates' testimony before Congress on Friday was "pretty pathetic, frankly -- you know, well, 'we hope to begin drawing down troops later this year.' That's the absolute wrong message to send."

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Two Iraqi Officials Hanged.

The AP reports this morning that Saddam Hussein's half brother and the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court were both hanged before dawn Monday, Prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon said. Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, "had been found guilty along with Saddam in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad." The New York Times and Los Angeles Times also run stories on the latest hangings.

Cheney Defends Financial Snooping

USA Today reports Vice President Cheney said in an interview on Sunday "that the Pentagon and CIA are not violating anyone's rights by examining the banking and credit records of people suspected of terrorism or espionage in the USA." Cheney said the Defense Department "gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets." USA adds that Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the new Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, "said that 'any expansion by the department into intelligence collection' is something the committee will want to thoroughly review." The AP, New York Times and Los Angeles Times also report the story this morning.

Libby Trial Opens This Week

The trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation of who leaked the identity of former CIA Valerie Plame, begins Tuesday. USA Today says the trial begins "amid diminished expectations for bombshells from a case that once dominated Washington headlines. Save for the expected testimony of Vice President Cheney -- a first for a sitting vice president in a criminal case, according to presidential historians -- the case against" Libby "has lost some of its appeal." The New York Times says Libby's situation "is a vivid example of what has become a contemporary capital cliché: 'It's not the crime but the cover-up' that often leads to legal problems for officials in high-profile investigations. The perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Mr. Libby stem not from the leak but from his behavior in the leak investigation." The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports the case "will put on display the secret strategizing of an Administration that cherry-picked information to justify war in Iraq and reporters who traded freely in gossip and protected their own interests as they worked on one of the big Washington stories of 2003."

Cheney Defends Libby's Honesty. The AP reports Cheney yesterday "called his former chief of staff, who goes on trial this week in the CIA leak case, 'one of the more honest men I know' and said Sunday he expects to testify for the defense."

Ethics Amendment Targets Reid

In a syndicated column appearing in the Washington Post, Bob Novak writes "Republican reformers will target" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "with an amendment to the senate ethics package. Sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the proposal is called the 'Reid amendment' because he inadvertently inspired it." Coburn's amendment would prohibit "senators from requesting earmarks that financially benefit a senator, an immediate family member of a senator or a family member of a senator's staffer. The proposal follows the revelation that Reid's four sons and his daughter's husband all have been lawyers or lobbyists for special interests."

Senate Ethics Reform "Slipping"? The New York Times editorializes, "The Senate's promising start in reforming its ethical shortcomings is showing signs of slippage. Senators ducked a worthy amendment that would bar members from putting family members on campaign payrolls, or see kin become lobbyists. The proposal was ruled unrelated to the debate over lobbyist and ethics reforms, which is hardly the case." USA Today, meanwhile, reports the Senate plans this week "to ban members from accepting free tickets to sporting events to cut ties between Congress and the special interests that provide the seats."

Bush Spend 365th Day At Camp David.

The Washington Post reports in its "In the Loop" column that according to Mark Knoller, CBS White House correspondent "and the unofficial archivist for the White House press corps," President Bush and the First Lady "took off Friday for their 116th visit to the beautiful presidential retreat and their 365th day there." Knoller said the Bushes "think he's being unfair in his counting method, because Knoller counts a partial day as a full one."

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CAMPAIGN NEWS

Iraq Shaping 2008 Presidential Race

President Bush's plan for a "surge" of troops to stabilize Iraq has become the early focus of the 2008 presidential race. USA Today reports Bush's plan "is putting Republican presidential prospects in a bind as they look ahead to a nomination process dominated by party loyalists." Polls show Republicans "are much more likely than the general public to support Bush, the war and the troop increase." Sens. John McCain and Sam Brownback, "have clear-cut and directly opposing positions. McCain has long said more troops are needed to achieve U.S. goals in Iraq. Brownback says more troops are not the answer." Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney "are offering muted support. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee calls Bush's stance 'risky' and 'fairly unique to him' and says he doesn't have enough inside information to judge the plan on its merits."

On the Democratic side, ABC World News reported Iraq is also "dominating the conversation in an already-crowded race for President." Former Democratic Sen. John Edwards "threw down the gauntlet to his rivals in Congress," saying, "You have the power, members of Congress, to prohibit the President from spending any money to escalate the war. Use that power." And The Chicago Tribune notes Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, "pressing for a phased withdrawal of US forces from Iraq starting in four to six months, said Sunday that...Bush's announced deployment of 21,500 additional US troops amounts to a policy of 'stay-the-course-plus.'"

Edwards Speech Seen As Reminiscent Of MLK The New York Times says Edwards was "greeted by thunderous applause in Manhattan yesterday when he called for an immediate pullback of troops from Iraq." Edwards "was the keynote speaker at a memorial service sponsored by Realizing the Dream, a group whose founders include Martin Luther King III." The AP says Edwards echoed "a plea by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 40 years ago to end the Vietnam War." He "spoke from the same wooden pulpit King used and was introduced by King's son, Martin Luther King III."

Gingrich: Rallying Base Not Enough

The Washington Times reports former House Speaker and potential 2008 candidate Newt Gingrich "says his party's biggest mistake is thinking that the way to a lasting majority is to emphasize its conservative voter base." Gingrich said, "A base-motivation party inherently, in the long run, drives away the non-base." Gingrich said the "better way" is "to define the opposition on specific issues so that the Democrats are exposed as espousing views shared by a small minority of voters."

Clinton In Afghanistan

The AP reports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "ate breakfast with soldiers from New York and Indiana at the main US base in Afghanistan on Sunday before meeting with the top American general in Afghanistan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai." Clinton "later went to Lahore, Pakistan, where she met briefly with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf." The two "discussed a range of issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East, the official said. Musharraf told Clinton about steps his government has taken to curb militancy and secure the Pakistani border with Afghanistan, the official said."

Pollster Says Clinton ConsideredMost "Reaganesque" U.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers" column notes this week that pollster John Zogby asked respondents which "past A-list president voters wish they could put in the Oval Office to fix the nation and which of the major 2008 presidential hopefuls best matches that pick. ... In order: Ronald Reagan, at 28 percent, FDR at 26 percent, JFK at 21 percent, Abraham Lincoln at 16 percent, and just 6 percent for George Washington. And who's viewed as most Reaganesque? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She also grabs the FDR and Washington mantle but falls far short of upstart Sen. Barack Obama for the JFK title. "

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POLITICAL HUMOR

The Latest From Late Night Comedians

Jay Leno: "It was so cold, I thought Hillary Clinton was out here campaigning. That is how cold."

Jay Leno: "President Bush not feeling too well today. Experts saying it might be something that didn't agree with him -- like most of America."

Jay Leno: "Now, if you watched the speech Wednesday night, you know President Bush has accepted responsibility for the mistakes in Iraq, to which Donald Rumsfeld said, 'Yeah, why did I get fired? What the hell happened there?'"

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