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December 15, 2005
McCain Bests Bush
Just a day after Arizona Senator John McCain handed President Bush a stunning legislative defeat by getting the House of Representatives (normally reliable in delivering Bush's agenda) to pass his torture ban over strong White House objections, President Bush caved and agreed to most of McCain's proposals.
Considering McCain achieved veto-proof margins in both chambers -- 308-122 in the House and 90-9 in the Senate earlier this year -- President Bush had little choice to save political face. The measure bans torture and limits interrogation tactics in U.S. detention facilities, and is considered in line with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and in McCain's words "would not contradict the Nuremburg decision" that obeying orders is no excuse for engaging in torture.
McCain's success is not only a victory for human rights and the United States' damaged good name around the world, but is a remarkable testament to just how far the President has fallen politically.
President Bush's first term was notable for the extraordinary discipline he exercised and maintained over Republican lawmakers. Tax cuts (several of them), Medicare legislation, defense appropriations and No Child Left Behind were all legislative "victories" achieved for the administration by a compliant and unified Republican-controlled Congress.
Since Mr. Bush's reelection, however, amid rising casualties in Iraq, gas prices and health care costs at home, worries about the national economy, and government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina, many Republican Congressional members seem to have left the reservation.
Some who may have been previously cowed by the President now seem emboldened by his sagging approval numbers (mostly below 40%) and unafraid to buck him. Others who otherwise might be happy to follow the Administration's lead, fear a backlash in next year's midterm election and are running for cover from a President who has become somewhat politically radioactive.
Whatever the reasons, the effect is remarkable. Mr. Bush seems to have become a lame duck over a year before his time. His personal intransigence on so many big issues, coupled with limited, and mostly unpalatable options for the federal government to resolve the major public policy issues of the day portends much quacking over the next three years.
As we have said repeatedly, Democrats have a real opportunity to gain at least modest, and perhaps major political ground next fall. Will they seize the day or snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Recent history is not encouraging, but we haven't given up yet.
Posted by houtopia at December 15, 2005 05:46 PM