toxic president

At a (new) defining moment of his presidency, George W. Bush finds the political capital of his office to be about as valuable as shares of Bear Stearns. Around November of 2001, his approval rating hovered near 90 percent. By tomorrow morning, with approval ratings in the low 30s, Bush will have made 3 separate speeches (actually one speech and two speechlettes) extolling the Paulson plan and exhorting support for it, and still can not rest assured that his financial bailout (now called a "rescue") of Wall Street, Main Street, and Global Capitalism, Inc. will be passed by recalcitrant members of his own political party. The original plan had all the hallmarks of Bush/Cheneyism and enough irritants to send House and Senate leaders of both parties into a collective rage. At last Thursday's photo-opportunity of blessed bipartisanship, the President had to endure the revolt of Republican Senator Richard Shelby and a shouting match between the presumed deal makers, all without the cover of shadow president Cheney. We are a long way from the "dead or alive" and "bring it on" bravado of the early days.

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There may be a larger lesson to learn from this: beware Republicans who run for office on a platform of running against government. They make abysmal governors once they attain office.