[Mb-civic] For Bush, Next Moves Are Key to Rest of Term - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

For Bush, Next Moves Are Key to Rest of Term

By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 5, 2005; Page A01

The first week of September 2005 likely will be remembered as one of the 
most troubled weeks of George W. Bush's presidency, a time in which 
natural disaster combined with bureaucratic bungling in ways that 
threatened to inundate an administration already on the defensive.

Even before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast last Monday, Bush 
was buffeted by public dissatisfaction over the war in Iraq and consumer 
outrage over rising gasoline prices. But the federal government's widely 
criticized response to the hurricane's devastation in New Orleans and 
elsewhere turned a challenging environment into one that is potentially 
overwhelming.

His success in undoing the negative perceptions of the past few days 
could be critical to sustaining the political capital necessary to 
achieve other objectives of his second term -- from avoiding further 
erosion of support for his Iraq policies to domestic initiatives yet to 
come.

One goal is the reshaping of the federal judiciary, and the death of 
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist late Saturday presents Bush with the 
second opportunity in two months to put his stamp on the high court. It 
also adds to the burdens of an already besieged White House.

The confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court and 
selection of a successor to Rehnquist will be significant priorities for 
Bush, and in the long run, changing the courts may be seen as among his 
most significant domestic accomplishments. But Hurricane Katrina may 
prove to be the defining test of his second term, just as the attacks of 
Sept. 11, 2001, and the Iraq war defined his first.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090400597.html?nav=hcmodule
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