Bush Returns to the Capital

The Washington Times has an optimistic assessment of President Bush’s position as he returns to Washington after a month in Texas:
“President Bush, rested and ready after nearly a month at his ranch, returns to work at the White House today with high support from Americans for the war in Iraq, a reviving national economy and a burgeoning bank account for his 2004 re-election campaign.”
A number of commentators have argued that the Bush political effort is largely suspended during the summer, and that his approval ratings have consistently fallen during the summer months. The theory, I guess, is that few people are really paying attention during the summer, and these dips in his popularity are mostly meaningless. On this account, the administration will seize control of the agenda once again after Labor Day.
I’ve never really bought this theory, but for whatever reasons, it does appear that President Bush has weathered the last several months of incessant attacks surprisingly well. It remains to be seen how much he can accomplish this fall; with the election looming over everything that happens in Congress, it will be hard to get even minimal cooperation from the Democrats.

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