The far-right Washington Times had an interesting report today on the deteriorating relationship between the Bush White House and congressional Republicans. In particular, the Times noted, GOP lawmakers didn’t care for the president’s veto threat last week.
“I was offended,” Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, said of Mr. Bush’s threat last week to veto legislation aimed at stopping the transfer of port operations to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates. He said Mr. Bush “threatened me before I even knew the details of what was involved or whether I was going to vote for the bill or not.”
Mr. Lott said his immediate reaction was: “OK, big boy, I’ll just vote to override your veto.”
What’s interesting, beyond Lott’s colorful choice of words, is that Lott commented to the Times now. By that I mean, Bush made the threat and irritated his allies nine days ago, but even after showing a little flexibility in his line in the sand, the president’s tactic has generated lingering hard feelings, so much so that key senators are complaining to reporters about it over a week later.
For that matter, I know there’s some debate about whether Bush’s plummeting poll numbers matter, but Lott wouldn’t mockingly call the president “big boy,” in a conservative media outlet, if Bush enjoyed a 70% approval rating. The “political capital” that Bush is so confident about? It’s in short supply.
