Quack!

"But now the second-term president faces a far different atmosphere on Capitol Hill, where his legislative priorities have been greeted with a heavy dose of hesitance topped with some skepticism and even a little resentment."

David Jackson writes in the Dallas Morning News that one big danger for Bush is a further downward spiral in his approval ratings.

"The less popular a president, the less he can force his political will, even on some members of his party. The less members of Congress fear a president, the more they are willing to buck him, even if he belongs to their party -- and especially if he is a lame duck."

Rupert Cornwall writes in the Independent: "Suddenly . . . only seven months after his clear re-election victory, the writ of this most dependably conservative President no longer runs as it did. Mr Bush's plan to part-privatise social security, intended as the flagship reform of his second term, is virtually dead in the water. His approval rating, according in one poll, has slumped to a new low of 43 per cent. The dread term 'lame duck' is already to be heard."

Julie Mason writes in the Houston Chronicle: "At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan has been batting away questions about whether the president's agenda is in trouble.

"Asked Wednesday whether Bush feared the onset of lame duck status, McClellan called the suggestion 'cynical.'

" 'This Congress has been in place for just over four months now. We have made significant progress in the first four months or so of this Congress,' McClellan said."

Here's the transcript of Wednesday's briefing:

The question: "Scott, the House ignored the President's veto threat and voted to ease the restriction on stem cell research. It looks like John Bolton's nomination will go to the Senate floor, but it's the Senate Republicans urging its colleagues not to vote for the nominee. And the President is having problems getting his Social Security package, even among -- even facing resistance among some members of his own party. Is there a concern about sort of an onset of lame duck status around here?"

McClellan replied: "You wouldn't want to take a more cynical look at things, would you?"

Live Online

I'll be Live Online tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET, eager to hear your questions and comments. Obviously, we'll spend a lot of time on today's press conference, which comes just after my deadline.

Bush's Tells

Judy Keen offers USA Today readers a cheat-sheet for interpreting Bush's throwaway lines at press conferences.