Bush: The Man Who Fell to Earth
Public confidence in Bush in general is deteriorating and internecine warfare has broken out among the once-monolithic conservative camp.In a CBS poll released last week, President Bush’s job approval ratings fell to an all-time low of just 37%.
According to a series of surveys, a majority of Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of the Iraq war; believe that the president botched the response to Hurricane Katrina and are worried about high petrol prices and the future of the US economy.
A stunning 66% say the country is headed in the wrong direction, with anxiety rising among some of Bush’s core supporters, including evangelical Christians, Southerners and Republican women, an AP-Ipsos poll showed.
The conservative movement that propelled Bush to victory and secured a Republican majority in Congress is showing serious signs of strain.
The Republicans are divided between working-class Christians intent on social engineering and affluent libertarians who want to scale back the size of government.
Between neo-conservatives who dream of imperial projects and the traditionalists wary of costly foreign entanglements.
Conservatives in Congress who want to reduce the budget and those who support deficit spending are likely to do battle in coming months, while Christian right-wingers may choose to punish those Republicans it deems traitors to the cause.
Once he was able to command the loyalty of the Republican majority in Congress and leverage his popularity after the September 11 attacks, but now Bush has lost momentum and virtually abandoned ambitious proposals to overhaul the country’s pension programme.
And instead of directing its energy to slamming the opposition Democrats, the Bush administration is desperately trying to shore up its own conservative support.
At a press conference last week, a subdued President defended his nominee to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers.
His comments failed to reassure right-wing activists, particularly Christian evangelicals, who feel betrayed by the nomination of an unknown figure without the ideological credentials to shape the highest court in the land.
One of the leading voices of the neo-conservative movement, William Kristol, editor of news magazine the Weekly Standard, who has tirelessly defended the war in Iraq and the president’s handling of the global “war on terror”, expressed outrage upon hearing the nomination of Miers.
He wrote: “I’m disappointed, depressed and demoralised. What does this say about the next three years of the Bush administration? What are the prospects for a strong Bush second term?”
Bush told reporters he had “plenty” of political capital left to spend, but the in-fighting among conservatives signals his influence is waning.
“The president is almost a lame duck,” said Patrick Basham of conservative think tank the Cato Institute. “But he’s not quite there yet.”
On the international front, the Bush administration has softened its hawkish approach, choosing to support European efforts to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programme. And Washington has reversed its stance on talks with North Korea, agreeing to speak directly to the regime.
Constrained by massive troop deployments in Iraq and flagging public support for the war, Bush can no longer afford to pursue the aggressive foreign policy his neo-conservative supporters envisaged.
The Democratic response to Bush’s troubles has been gleeful as the party senses it could overturn the Republican majority in at least one of the two legislative chambers of Congress in mid-term elections next year.
Prominent Democrats refer repeatedly to a “culture of corruption” plaguing the Bush administration. But it remains to be seen if the party can exploit the opportunity that has presented itself.
The Democrats have sent out mixed signals on most major issues, with a more moderate wing unwilling to denounce the war in Iraq or tax cuts that have caused the country’s deficit to soar.
Still, the cracks in Republican unity have restored some life and spontaneity to the political debate. Instead of predictable partisan exchanges, real issues are now genuinely up for discussion.
After the September 11 attacks, Bush’s ratings were extraordinarily high. Riding on his coat tails, his neo-conservative backers believed they could transform the Middle East through bold military action, while inventing a new kind of high-tech army that would require fewer soldiers.
His Christian supporters dreamed of blurring the line between church and state. Fiscal conservatives expected Bush to start dismantling the social programmes and policies inherited from decades of Democratic party rule and make huge tax cuts.
Much of this agenda, from foreign policy to privatising the social security pension programme, has come undone. On some issues, the outcome is still uncertain.
But Republicans are no longer in agreement about what should take priority and whether Bush is the man to carry out the mission.
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