From Capitol Hill Blue
The
Rant
GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your
Presidency is Effectively Over'
By DOUG THOMPSON
Nov
4, 2005, 08:13
A growing number of Republican leaders, party strategists and political
professional now privately tell President George W. Bush that his
presidency "is effectively over" unless he fires embattled White House
advisor Karl Rove, apologizes to the American people for misleading the
country into war and revamps his administration from top to bottom.
"The only show of unity we have now in the Republican Party is the
belief that the President has failed the party, the American people and
the presidency," says a longtime, and angry, GOP strategist.
With the public face of support for Bush eroding daily from even
diehard Republicans, the President faces mounting anger from within his
party over the path that may well lead to loss of control of Congress in
the 2006 midterm elections and the White House in 2008.
"This presidency is in trouble," says a senior White House aide. "Even
worse, I don't know if there is a way out of the trouble."
Congressional leaders journeyed to the White House before Bush left on
his South American tour this week to tell the President that his
legislative agenda on the Hill is dead, his latest Supreme Court nominee
faces a tough confirmation fight in the Senate and he is facing open
revolt within party ranks.
"The Speaker is having an increasingly difficult time holding his
troops in line," says a source within the office of House Speaker Dennis
J. Hastert. "Anger at the President grows exponentially with each passing
day."
At a recent White House strategy session, internal party pollsters told
the President that his approval rating with Americans continues to slide
and may be irreversible, citing his failed Iraq war, the failed Supreme
Court nomination of Harriet Miers and his failure to deal decisively on a
number of fronts, including Hurricane Katrina, the economy and the Valerie
Plame scandal.
In meetings, leaders and strategists have suggested a number of things
that Bush must do to try and save his presidency and GOP prospects in
upcoming elections, including:
- Apologize to the American people, Congress and our allies for
misleading them on the reasons for invading Iraq;
- Revamp the White House staff from top to bottom;
- Fire Rove.
"We keep coming back to Rove," says a GOP pollster. "He has escaped
indictment, so far, but the feeling within the party is that another shoe
is ready to drop and the longer he waits to jettison Rove the greater the
damage. As long as Karl Rove remains at the President's side, the Bush
presidency is effectively over and he is just riding out the days until
the nation elects a Democrat to replace him. Even with Rove gone the
damage may be irreparable."
Bush, however, has dug his heels in on Rove. When a GOP strategist
suggested last weekend that the President fire Rove, Bush exploded.
"You go to hell," he screamed at the strategist. "You can leave and you
can take the rest of these lily-livered motherfuckers with you!" The
President then stormed out of the room and refused to meet further with
any other party leaders or strategists.
Bush's escalating temper tantrums and his intransigence on political
issues increase Republican worries about the long term effects on both his
presidency and the party's prospects in upcoming elections.
"Right now, George W. Bush is the Republican Party's chief liability,"
says a GOP strategist who has advised Presidential campaigns for 30 years.
"The entire political future of the party and perhaps the nation now rests
on the shoulders of a President that no one - Democrat or Republican -
believes in or trusts."
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