Making Waves

"Does anyone outside of the administration believe selling outsourcing the operation of our ports to the UAE is a good idea? Sure doesn't seem that way. Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Robert Menendez are against it, as are Republican Governors George Pataki and Robert Ehrlich, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), as well as a host of others.

"Yet the administration had Michael Chertoff out defending the deal on the Sunday shows, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales doing the same today in Birmingham, Alabama. I'm not well versed on the potential merits of the deal, but irrespective of whether it might be good policy it is darn sure terrible politics. It's surprising the White House couldn't see this from the beginning, and even more surprising they can't see it now. It feels a bit like a rerun of the Harriet Miers nomination where the administration dug its heels despite knowing within hours it had made a grave mistake.

"The port deal is potentially even more damaging politically to the president because it strikes at one of his few remaining core political assets: the public's perception of Bush as an aggressive fighter of terrorism and staunch defender of America."

Craig Crawford says the stakes are extremely high:

"Republicans will lose control of Congress if President Bush does not immediately reverse the decision to allow an Arab-owned company (with ties to his administration) to operate major U. S. ports. Fearing a deadly depression in November's conservative voter turnout (already in play over Bush's immigration policies), House Republican leaders are lining up to fight the White House on this one -- and outside the Beltway, dissent rises from GOP governors in affected states . . .

"But will Democrats take full advantage and risk appearing xenophobic?"

I'm still wondering how much of a threat all this is, since the Emirates are a U.S. ally. But it's clearly a political threat to the White House.

The morning papers are all over the port saga, now that Bush has dug in his heels.

"President Bush said Tuesday that he would veto any legislation seeking to block the administration's decision to allow a state-owned company from Dubai to assume control of port terminals in New York and other cities," reports the New York Times .

"Mr. Bush's rare veto threat came as Republican leaders and many of their Democratic counterparts called up today for the port takeover to be put on hold . . .

"The White House appeared stunned by the uprising, over a transaction that they considered routine -- especially since China's biggest state-owned shipper runs major ports in the United States, as do a host of other foreign companies."

Los Angeles Times : "In the face of growing Republican opposition, President Bush today threatened to veto any congressional effort to block a deal that will allow an Arab company to take over the management of six major U.S. seaports, saying that any attempt to scuttle the arrangement would send 'a terrible signal to friends around the world.' "