Bush on offensive as ratings hit floor [View All]

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=ede5f8932179ee33&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Bush on offensive as ratings hit floor
Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent
April 30, 2005
PRESIDENT George W.Bush sought to wrest back control of his second-term agenda yesterday amid a dramatic drop in the opinion polls that is threatening his legislative program and the Republicans' dominance of Congress.

In a prime-time televised press conference, Mr Bush urged Congress to pass his new social security package - the biggest overhaul so far of Franklin D.Roosevelt's 1930s New Deal safety net - and called for support for an energy bill that he says will reduce the US's reliance on imported oil.

The President also wants Congress to confirm controversial judicial nominees and back John Bolton, his choice for US ambassador to the UN.

The plan to cut and privatise the social security services is the centerpiece of changes Mr Bush hoped would ensure he avoided the lame duck tag that besets most second-term presidents.

But after almost two months on the stump trying to sell his plan around the country, the electorate is making it clear that tinkering with the social security safety net ingrained in the US psyche is dangerous politics -- just as many Republicans feared when Mr Bush zeroed in on social security in his State of the Union address in February.









This week, polls indicated Mr Bush's approval rating had fallen to a record low.

The sudden shift in the polls is causing concern among many Republicans who, until a couple of months ago, could not have contemplated that the 2006 mid-term elections might turn out to be a threat to the party's majority in Congress.

more...
They still pursue Social Security ...