WASHINGTON - President Bush is not on the ballot in November, but he might as well be. Republican losses could make an already difficult situation in Congress almost untenable for him.
If his party loses control of one, or both chambers of Congress, the next two years could be a political nightmare for Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill.
With poll numbers at the lowest of his presidency, Bush has had trouble enough winning support for his priorities in his second term even with a Republican-led Congress. That helped lead to a recent reshuffling of the White House staff.
A Democratic House or Senate and presidential stubbornness could spell legislative gridlock.
Democratic control of either chamber could rearrange priorities. Bush's programs and spending requests would come under increased scrutiny. Congress could even take tentative steps toward bringing troops home from
Iraq or reducing funds.
Democratic control of committees in either chamber could lead to investigative hearings on Iraq, awarding of government contracts, the role of lobbyists, fraud and abuse, Pentagon divisions, any number of activities.
"You name the issue. There would be a lot of oversight hearings," said James Thurber, director of the American University Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. "He will be a true lame duck."
That is the biggest problem that the Bush White House has. They have no policy achievements that they can tout to the American people. In fact, the past two years have been nothing but scandals and policy disasters--Katrina, illegal NSA domestic spying, Scooter Libby and Valerie Plame, the war in Iraq, rising gas prices, Jack Abramoff, immigration no-reform, the budget deficit and the current debt, rising interest rates, inflation worries, the collapse of the housing bubble, rising health care and college education costs. The combination of both a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, the corruption and scandals emanating from the Republican Party, and the lack of providing leadership or policy reforms that benefit the average American, rather than the policies benefiting the corporate and rich elites, have left a bad electoral after taste. It is no wonder that the American public is giving both President Bush and congressional Republicans very low public approval ratings.
And the Republicans know it. They know their marketing spin is not resonating with the American public--even as President Bush has named Fox News commentator Tony Snow as the new White House press secretary. The so-called White House shake-up of moving Bush ubber-advisor Karl Rove from managing day-to-day domestic policy operations to becoming the Chief Republican Political Campaign Advisor for this year's midterm elections is a prime example of how worried the Republicans are. They have no political achievements which they can stand on. So the Republican campaign strategy will be to "Vote Republican, because if you don't, the Democrats will take control of Congress and will impeach a wartime president."
Do you want those treasonous Democrats to surrender our country to the terrorists? That will be the campaign strategy of the Republicans.
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