President Bush showed his determination to cash in his political capital and press ahead with a broad and controversial domestic agenda. But he encountered increasing evidence of restlessness on the part of fellow Republicans and resolute opposition from Democrats.
At a retreat Friday with Republican House and Senate members in West Virginia, Bush urged unity, telling lawmakers to take chances and think big and promising to provide them with political cover.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Democrats seem emboldened by Republican defections and continuing softness in the president's poll ratings. That was the message behind the votes against Cabinet nominees in committee and on the floor, as well as warnings from moderate Democrats meant to disabuse the president of the notion that he will have an easy time translating November's election win into a string of quick legislative accomplishments.
The one exception may be legislation expected to pass that would give jurisdiction in large class-action lawsuits to federal rather than state courts. Plaintiff lawyers, who have had great success filing such suits in counties with favorable judges, juries and tort laws, have long opposed the move. But moderate Democrats who agree with the change warn that its passage should not be taken as a sign of future compromise on medical malpractice or caps on punitive damages.
The president is likely to stir a political hornets' nest if he pushes a free-trade agreement with Central America, a proposal to eliminate taxes on all investment income or a plan to revamp civil service rules that would tie pay to performance and make firing unproductive workers easier.
For their part, Republicans are already getting nervous about a Bush budget that will force them to make painful cuts in programs popular with red-state voters, such as farm subsidies, highway funding, veterans benefits and weapons-system contracts. And some Republican conservatives are in near revolt over the president's plan to rework immigration laws, which they argue would unjustly reward those who are living in the country illegally.
Within and between the parties, however, the biggest fight will be over the president's still undefined plan for partial privatization of Social Security. In his State of the Union speech Wednesday and a barnstorming tour of five states beginning Thursday, Bush will try to frame the issue in terms of boosting retirement income and giving workers more control over their own lives. But after toying with possible compromises, most Democrats and a number of key Republicans have already declared they won't agree to any diversion of Social Security money to private accounts.
