Here's an interesting take on the current political environment from some savvy observers: The Note team at ABC News.
The horrific car bomb explosion outside of Baghdad — killing more than 100 and sure to dominate cable and network news all day — shows just how politically strong President Bush is right now.Posted by Alan at February 28, 2005 07:57 PMWe only reluctantly draw political lessons from human tragedy, but today's news is yet another reminder that on a range of issues — national security, foreign affairs, budgeting, dealing with the nation's gathered governors — the President has the whip hand.
Events and positions that would have brought hailstorms down on past presidents (say: Bill Clinton) don't seem to be seen as "political" problems for this administration right now.
In fact, with the oh-so-prominent exception of Social Security, it is amazing how relatively free and unscathed the White House is to pursue its at-home and abroad agendas.
The Democratic Party is still trying to figure out (1) what Howard Dean is all about; (2) what its positive agenda is/should be; (3) what its 2006 strategy is/should be; (4) who its 2008 presidential candidates are/should be; (5) how it should talk about Iraq; (6) which of allied interest groups it can count on; (7) if the Democratic Leadership Council or MoveOn is more of the answer; and (8) so much more.