By Lois Romano
Thursday, May 17, 2007; A15

Even as the capital buzzed with word of the tense meeting last week between President Bush and a group of House Republicans who worry that his handling of the war will damage the GOP's future, there was another White House meeting the same day that slipped by largely unnoticed.

Bush reached out to about 15 moderate and conservative Democrats seeking support for a war spending bill with few restrictions on the administration's Iraq strategy.

But the president made little progress at the May 8 meeting. The Democrats expressed concern to Bush about the course of the war and urged scaling back U.S. involvement. They found Bush cordial but not particularly receptive, said three members who were in the meeting.

"He believes what he's saying, and I respect him for that," said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.). "But I found it also scary. . . . He has tunnel vision."

One of the members pressed the president on how he defined "victory" in Iraq, and the president responded that winning would mean installing a permanent, stable democracy.

"We said that's not likely to happen for many years," said another member who asked for anonymity to try to preserve good relations with the White House.

"We overthrew Saddam," Ross said. "How many more goal posts?"

The meeting was one of a several that moderates have had with the president since the GOP lost control of Congress and the White House began looking for allies among the opposition. "I've been at the White House more in the past four months that I had been in the previous six years," Ross said.

"He is trying to develop a relationship with some of us who are on the moderate side of the Democratic caucus," said Rep. Allen Boyd of Florida. "I applaud that. . . . It will help break down the partisan wall that the White House and Tom DeLay created over the years."

Also included were Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Bud Cramer of Alabama, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Artur Davis of Alabama, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, Gene Green of Texas, Jane Harman of California, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota, Jim Matheson of Utah, Mike McIntyre of North Carolina and Dennis Moore of Kansas.

The White House declined to comment on the meeting. Most of those invited were members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog caucus, but many of that group were also left out. Conspicuously absent were freshmen -- many of whom owe their seats to their tough criticism of Bush and the war.

Last week's meeting lasted an hour and was in the president's residence at the White House. The group covered a number of issues, but the discussion always returned to Iraq, the lawmakers said.

One legislator gently raised the possibly of withdrawing 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops later this year to help motivate the Iraqi government to step up and fill in the gap, and as a sign to the American public that the war is winding down. They came away believing that Bush was not considering the negative political impact the war strategy was having on his party. "I'm not making decisions based on politics. I'll make decisions based on what General Petraeus says," they said Bush told them.

Rep. Barney Frank, the tart-tongued Democrat from Massachusetts, has never been accused of coddling his colleagues -- and he wants no special treatment in return.

Members of the House received a letter from him this week making that clear. Courtesy of one of the recipients:

"Dear Colleague: I appreciate the concern expressed by many about why my arm is in a sling. In order to avoid having to repeat the same conversation, I am sending out this Dear Colleague.

"I ruptured a tendon in my left arm using a curling machine in a gym, and I had it surgically repaired yesterday at Bethesda Naval Hospital. I'll be using the sling for a week or two, but I feel fine. Thanks for not asking."

So ask no more.

Republicans, under siege by Democrats for supporting the war, are trying to find new ways to go on the offensive to get attention on other issues.

Last week, GOP members twice tried and failed to force the House into secret session to discuss Democratic earmarks to the Intelligence Authorization Act.

Republicans specifically tried to kill funds for one of Rep. John Murtha's pet projects -- the National Drug Intelligence Center, which is in his district -- also without success. This last effort was made at 1:23 a.m. Friday, which is why most normal people missed it. The House passed the bill.

Said Murtha spokesman Matthew Mazonkey: "Mr. Murtha is focused on putting together a plan for redeploying our troops from Iraq. He doesn't have times for political games."

Allies of Republican Christopher Shays of Connecticut say the congressman is being unfairly frozen out by Democrats who are blocking his bills -- just because he narrowly survived his election.

They point to an amendment he offered last week that would have required the Department of Homeland Security to share information with Interpol. The amendment was blocked.

It was no secret that before the election, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), then the House minority leader, had strongly warned Democrats against working with Republicans and giving the GOP opportunities to showcase faux bipartisanship for constituents. It was also no secret that Shays was on top of her list as a member to avoid since the Democrats were after his seat.

But that was then, sources say. An aide to a Democrat who has often worked with Shays said no such mandate has come from Speaker Pelosi since the election.

And Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said, "The speaker has said many times since the election that we have to work in a bipartisan manner to achieve results for the American people."

Before we all start singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" together, this does not mean that Shays gets invited to caucus meetings.

Quipped another leadership aide: "Ask him how many rules he voted for over 12 years in the majority that excluded thousands of worthy Democratic amendments?"

Lawmakers and staff members will gather in Statuary Hall at the Capitol at 10 a.m. today for a memorial service for Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), who died last month. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) will lead the service, with tributes from Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.).

To show that she's doing more than fretting over the war, Pelosi will host the National Summit on America's Children on the Hill on Tuesday, bringing in experts and academics to help inform legislators to shape federal policy on early-childhood learning, health care and child care. Leading the conference will be Democratic Reps. George Miller (Calif.), Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) and Chaka Fattah (Pa.). Nobel laureate James Heckman of the University of Chicago will give the keynote speech.