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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (59309)	3/31/2005 2:45:26 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Bush Team Singing 'Second-Term Blues' -Analysts By Alan Elsner \| March 31, 2005 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's domestic agenda seems stymied on several fronts, leading some political analysts to conclude his administration is succumbing to the traditional "second-term blues." "Second-term blues have definitely set in," said George Mason University political scientist Mark Rozell. "Bush came in with big ideas, hoping to have a major-impact presidency, but things have taken a very different turn." The White House disagrees. Spokesman Trent Duffy pointed to two legislative victories: a bill aimed at curbing class-action suits which has become law and another making it harder for people to walk away from their debts, which has cleared the Senate and looks set to be endorsed by the House. "It's only March 31 and in legislative terms we are still very early in the process. We're very happy with what we've accomplished and optimistic about what can be done," he said. U.S. presidents are constitutionally barred from being elected to more than two terms, and those reelected, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, have often struggled or become mired in scandal in their second terms. The president gradually loses political clout in Congress, or administrations succumb to overconfidence and become sloppy. Bush went into his second term determined to avert any notion of weakness. He replaced much of his cabinet and, vowing to spend "political capital," launched an ambitious agenda that included promoting democracy abroad and overhauling the Social Security retirement system domestically. Bush has touted foreign policy successes, notably elections in Iraq and the Palestinian Authority, and stirrings of democracy in Lebanon and Egypt. FALLING ON A SWORD But even leading Republicans acknowledge his domestic centerpiece, the Social Security revamp, is in trouble. Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who as chairman of the Finance Committee would be in charge of shepherding Social Security legislation through the Senate, showed on Wednesday he was wary of political risk. "I said I intend to bring this up even if the president is not successful," Grassley told the Des Moines Register. "Now have I said I'd fall on my sword? I haven't said that yet." Bush erred by focusing on his skeptically-received plan to create private investment accounts as part of Social Security, said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "If an administration succeeds with its first issue, it can move on to more successes. But if it stumbles, it loses valuable momentum. At this point, I would say Bush's political capital is more or less gone," Jillson said. However, pollster Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center said Bush's problems were not major. He has "a mild case of second term-itis, just the sniffles," Kohut said. Bush insists his Social Security ideas are gaining ground with Americans. "This issue is beginning to permeate. People, whether they're sitting on a tractor or anywhere else in society, are beginning to hear the message: We have a problem," he said on Wednesday in Iowa. A Bush initiative on immigration also seems stuck, weighed down by strong opposition from within his own Republican Party. Bush pledged last week to keep working for his plan to allow some illegal immigrants to gain temporary work visas, but acknowledged he could not guarantee success. Meanwhile, Bush's decision to intervene in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case by signing a special law that sent the issue to the federal courts appears to have backfired. "Bush went a step further than the American people thought was proper, and it's hurt him," said Rozell. Bush's approval ratings have slid recently, from 57 percent in early February to 45 percent in the latest Gallup poll. The same survey found a growing level of dissatisfaction with the direction of the United States. Higher gasoline prices, rising interest rates and a recently lackluster stock market all add to a general sense of public unease. But Bush has weathered tough times before and come back. "You can't count this White House, out because they don't give up easily," said University of Texas political scientist Bruce Buchanan