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Author Topic:   President Bush's Stubbornness May Be Hindering Him
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posted June 10, 2005 11:50 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
President Bush's Stubbornness May Be Hindering Him

By Judy Keen and Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY



Getty Images


According to Merriam-Webster:

stub·born: performed or carried on in an unyielding, obstinate, or persistent manner


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· A Stubborn Agenda?
· Is Stubbornness an Asset?

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WASHINGTON -- President Bush is a stubborn man.

He said so himself in March, when he vowed to continue pressing for changes to Social Security despite the qualms of Congress and the public. "I'm going to be stubborn on this issue," he said in Iowa.

He demonstrated his persistence again Wednesday, when he gave another speech promoting changes he wants to make in Social Security. "My strategy is pretty simple: Explain the problem to the American people, and keep explaining it and explaining it," he told the Association of Builders and Contractors.

Bush's stubbornness has served him well in the past. Charlie Black, a Republican strategist, notes that Bush's biggest legislative successes, such as tax cuts, education policy and creation of a Medicare prescription-drug benefit, were the result of Bush "sticking to his guns." But there are signs his determination to do things his way is beginning to be counterproductive, and the stakes are high. Without progress on his agenda, he risks being viewed as a lame duck when he needs an aura of invincibility: He'll almost certainly face a battle with Congress this year over a Supreme Court nominee.

Bush doesn't have a lot to show for the 18 weeks in which he's been making regular speeches to promote his Social Security proposals. Congress isn't racing to enact his plan to allow younger workers to invest part of their taxes in stocks and bonds. Polls show support has dropped since he's been promoting the plan. Bush has said he's open to all ideas, but insists that investment accounts be a part of the changes. He's not getting his way lately on other issues, either:

•Despite his adamant objections, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted May 25 to overturn his ban on federal funding of stem cell research. Bush's stance puts him on the other side of the issue from former first lady Nancy Reagan, and the vote was a rebuke from his own party that could undercut his clout.

•There was near-meltdown on Capitol Hill when he insisted on renominating 10 judicial candidates Democrats blocked last year. In the effort to push them through, Bush's handpicked Senate leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, threatened to end the use of the filibuster against judicial nominees — a move that even some Senate Republicans opposed.

Bush did win confirmation of some judges; the latest, California judge Janice Rogers Brown, was confirmed Wednesday to the federal appeals court. But a bipartisan deal preserved the filibuster, incensed conservatives and empowered moderates.


The President's Agenda


Social Security


Bush has made limited progress on his Social Security plan to incorporate investment accounts.

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John Bolton


Bush continues to support John Bolton as his nominee to be U.N. ambassador despite opposition in the Senate.

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Patriot Act


Bush is pushing for Congress to renew the Patriot Act. Portions of the bill expire at the end of the year.

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Sources: AP, usatoday.com | Photos: AP, Getty Images

•His support for John Bolton, his nominee for United Nations ambassador, continues despite concerns even among Republicans such as Ohio Sen. George Voinovich that Bolton is ill-suited for the job. Bolton is likely to be confirmed, but Voinovich showed that even Bush loyalists can buck the president.

An ABC News/Washington Post Poll taken Thursday through Sunday found that Bush is paying a price for his stances: 62% disapproved of the way he's handling Social Security, and 55% disapproved of his handling of the stem cell issue. Asked about his handling of federal judges, 46% approved, and 44% disapproved. Six in 10 said Bush and GOP leaders are not making good progress on the nation's problems.

"If you paint yourself in a corner, then stubbornness has been countereffective and counterproductive," says Fred Greenstein, a Princeton University presidential scholar whose book The Presidential Difference examines presidents' leadership styles.

Unwavering agenda

Bush is a disciplined man who promised action on a handful of issues in his campaigns for Texas governor and president and never wavered. Is his refusal to yield in the face of opposition an obstacle to getting his agenda enacted?

Hardly, says John Bridgeland, who served as director of the domestic policy council in Bush's first term. "He's not a person who will make a judgment one day and then weeks later, because of the political winds, decides to turn another way," he says. "He's actually very open-minded, but once he gets advice and considers all the facts, he's extraordinarily decisive."

Some of Bush's current and former allies wonder whether his inflexibility is hurting him.


Quotes on Bush's Style


On the left, many have criticized Bush for being stubborn. But the president and his supporters take that as a compliment.

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Sources: cnn.com, usatoday.com, washingtonpost.com, whitehouse.gov

Tim Penny, a former Democratic congressman from Minnesota who supports some of Bush's Social Security ideas, said this week that the president should be conferring with Democrats "to at least find where common ground exists."

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., worked with Bush in 2001 on big changes in public schools but hasn't collaborated with Bush since. He says Bush has become more unyielding. He suggests 9/11 changed Bush, whose "go-it-alone" foreign policy affected the way he deals with domestic affairs. Bush interpreted his re-election as "a reaffirmation that he can do his own thing," Kennedy says.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., encountered Bush's stubborn nature at a White House meeting in April. As they discussed Social Security, Rangel recalls, the president told him, "If Congress doesn't respond, they're going to pay." Rangel told Bush Democrats would be more cooperative if he withdrew his plan for individual investment accounts. "I'm the president, and private accounts are going to stay on the table 'til my last day in office," Bush said, according to the congressman.

"This is a shrill interpretation of the president's comments," White House spokesman Trent Duffy says.

Asked whether Bush has become more inflexible, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., says, "This is his style."

'No doubt in my mind'

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says he thinks Bush's decision to campaign hard for Republican candidates in 2002 and 2004 hardened Democrats against the president.



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Bush's supporters say his determination helped him win a second term. A Los Angeles Times Poll taken a year ago found that 56% of voters said Bush was "too ideological and stubborn."

But on Election Day, surveys of voters found that of the 17% who said they voted for the candidate they thought was a strong leader, 87% voted for Bush.

"Bush's biggest asset when he ran for president and won twice was that he knows what he believes in," says Scott Reed, a Republican strategist.

Bush shows no signs of rethinking his approach. "There's no doubt in my mind that I'm doing the right thing on this issue," he said in his Social Security speech Wednesday.

In a debate with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry last October, Bush compared his decision to go to war with Iraq to President Reagan's decision to challenge the Soviet Union. "He stood on principle," Bush said of Reagan. "Some might have called that stubborn."

Contributing: Richard Benedetto


06-09-05 10:37 EDT

© Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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