Is the president, as Dan Froomkin asked today, “on a roll“? Various news reports suggest he is. Consider this New York Times piece today on Bush’s recent fortunes.
His problems remain many, and include the relentless violence in Iraq, the leak investigation that has ensnared some of his top aides and poll numbers that suggest substantial dissatisfaction with both his foreign and domestic policies. But President Bush has still had a pretty good July, showing how his own doggedness and a Republican majority in Congress have consistently allowed him to push his agenda forward even when the political winds are in his face.
In a flurry of last-minute action as it prepared to recess, Congress on Thursday passed or stood at the brink of final action on several hard-fought measures that had been at the top of Mr. Bush’s summer to-do list and that at times had seemed to be long shots. The House narrowly approved a new trade deal with Central American nations early on Thursday morning, the final hurdle for a pact that was one of the administration’s top economic priorities this year.
The House and Senate were wrapping up work Thursday on an energy bill that more or less conforms to what Mr. Bush has sought. And the two chambers were moving toward final passage of a transportation bill that contained enough pork to please lawmakers as they headed home, but with a price tag acceptable to the White House.
The president, in other words, is “winning.” The AP reported today, “After a rocky start, President Bush is scoring legislative wins.” The Christian Science Monitor said, “After months of slumping poll numbers, President Bush is ending the critical summer session of Congress with big wins.”
This may be too esoteric a point to matter, but the idea that Bush is “winning” suggests something good is happening. The president, after all, must doing something right because we’re hearing this week about all of his “victories.”
Does this mean Bush’s presidency is back on track? That his support is likely to rebound? I don’t think so.
One has to wonder if the public will really be impressed with these “wins.” Maybe I’ve missed it, but I don’t perceive a great public clamoring for CAFTA, the highway bill, and legislation to shield gun manufacturers from litigation.
There’s ample polling data that shows where the public’s interests lie. Can lawmakers return home in August and talk about what Congress has delivered in dealing with the war in Iraq, health care, Social Security, and job creation? Not so much.
Moreover, these “wins” are not necessarily value-positive. CAFTA is intensely controversial among those who are familiar with it. The energy legislation is a bill “only Exxon could love.” Republicans can’t score points by passing bills that few Americans want and/or like.
For that matter, why is it so terribly impressive that conservative Republicans in Congress can get together with conservative Republicans in the White House to pass a few bills? The fact that these “wins” have become so rare only highlights the fact that the GOP is now benefiting from the soft bigotry of low governing expectations.
Republicans, by working furiously this week, seem to believe they’ll benefit simply by successfully passing bills. The public wants to see lawmakers doing something, so bragging about passed legislation, even if it isn’t addressing issues of immediate concern, can be persuasive and beneficial.
I don’t buy it. In the 104th Congress (1993-1994), which saw a Dem president and a Dem Congress, they passed into law the largest deficit-reduction package in U.S. history, a sweeping crime bill that included the Brady Bill, a landmark education bill that rebuilt and expanded the college student loan program, NAFTA, and AmeriCoprs. The Washington Post, shortly before the midterm elections, said, “This will go into the record books as perhaps the worst Congress — least effective, most destructive, nastiest — in 50 years.” Shortly thereafter, Dems lost control of Congress.
Note to Republicans: This could happen to you. A few pieces of bad legislation won’t make a bit of difference.