The New York Times-20080128--Great Idea-- -Happy to Help-- Amity May Give Bush a Lift-

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080128

'Great Idea.' 'Happy to Help.' Amity May Give Bush a Lift.

Full Text (710  words)

This week showcases an unusual role reversal: someplace else will look angrier and more dysfunctional than political Washington, at least for a moment.

The bitter contests pitting Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in Democratic presidential primaries and Senator John McCain of Arizona and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in Republican contests suddenly make Pennsylvania Avenue appear an oasis of cooperation.

That is largely because of the extraordinarily swift agreement between the White House and Congress over a $150 billion stimulus package intended to forestall an economic recession.

The package hasn't passed either chamber, and senators in both parties are grumbling. Yet when President Bush enters the House chamber Monday night to deliver his final State of the Union address, his accord with Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have softened the atmosphere. And that may even have consequences that last longer than just one night.

Narrow Opening

Mr. Bush's State of the Union address -- described by a senior administration official as less antagonistic than some past messages -- will reflect diminished domestic ambitions. That is not unusual for lame-duck presidents, who typically elevate foreign policy concerns in their final year, since by that point their clout on Capitol Hill has waned.

But aides hope that the good feelings from cooperation on the economy may prove a modest prod to accords on some outstanding trade deals, as well as on re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind education law and terrorism surveillance.

No one is expecting the public suddenly to sit up and applaud, given the depth of Americans' discontent with Washington -- and now with economic anxieties heaped on top of their desire to end the war. That is because, also typically, The penalty for not acting is much greater than the reward for acting, the senior administration official says.

Walking Wounded?

But Mr. Bush's political relevance extends beyond the fate of legislation.

In recent months, Mr. Bush has helped stuff the coffers of the Republican National Committee, the one party organization with a cash edge over its Democratic counterpart. Since Mr. Bush remains popular with his party's conservative base, he can also help unite social, economic and national security conservatives behind the eventual nominee, despite their misgivings about the 2008 field.

Yet unless he can do something to boost his meager low-30s approval ratings, Mr. Bush could prove a major drag in the fall on the Republican nominee, as well as on Congressional candidates, Republican strategists fear. Staving off recession -- or at least showing Americans that he is trying to -- could be the very something he needs.

Anything they can do to get his numbers up is helpful to them, says Mark Mellman, a pollster who advises Democratic Congressional leaders.

Democrats insist that the tone of Mr. Bush's closing chapter is up to him. If he wants to go out with confrontation, we can do that, says Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the leader of the House Democratic Conference, a prospect that is plain from the contentiousness of the last seven years. But if he wants to go out in a wave of cooperation, we can do that, too.

Mr. Emanuel remains confident that neither alternative will threaten the House Democrats' ability to hold their majority, now at 232 seats.

In any event, no members in either party dare block the effort to send prompt rebate checks of $300 to $600 to taxpayers. Who would want to throw themselves in front of that train? notes a Senate Republican leadership aide.

It won't likely be embattled Republican incumbents like Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, whose races are critical to their party's hopes of preventing Democrats from substantially augmenting their 51-seat majority.

Presidential candidates have also treated the stimulus deal cautiously. While most have said it does not go far enough in one way or the other, Republicans aren't adopting the scorn of conservative analysts who condemn rebate checks as economically meaningless political gestures. Democrats aren't making too much noise about the absence of additional money for food stamps and unemployment benefits.

For once, Washington bashing can look like a bad bet.

[Illustration]PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHEN CROWLEY/THE NEW YORK TIMES)