No lame duck, but Bush is limping

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/19/news/assess.php

No lame duck, but Bush is limping
By Richard W. Stevenson The New York Times

MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2005


WASHINGTON Five months after being sworn in for another four years and setting out an ambitious second-term agenda, President George W. Bush's political authority appears to be ebbing, both within his own party, where members of Congress are increasingly if sporadically going their own way, and among Democrats, who have discovered that they pay little or no price for defying him.

In some cases, Bush is suffering mere political dings that can be patched up, like the votes by the House this past week to buck him on withholding dues to the United Nations and reauthorizing a controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act.

In others, the damage is more than cosmetic, as in the case of stem-cell research, an emotional issue on which a good portion of his party is breaking with him. In a few instances - most notably the centerpiece of his second-term agenda, his call to reshape Social Security - he is dangerously close to a fiery wreck that could have lasting consequences for his standing and for the Republican Party.

....

With the president's poll numbers sinking as voters grow more restive about Iraq and the economy, he faces additional big challenges in coming weeks and months, from legislative battles over energy, trade and immigration to the possibility of a divisive Supreme Court confirmation fight.

<</SNIP>>

[Cha]

1. Not Lame?...bush

is Dead Duck!

[PunkPop]

2. I feel strongly

that he won't be recovering from his wounds.

:nuke:

[Bellamia]

3. Best news I've heard all day!