Bush's Rose Garden Strategy

President Bush has inaugurated a Rose Garden strategy to pacify his right flank.

Yesterday, Bush triumphantly celebrated the swearing-in of a longtime aide to the U.S. Court of Appeals in a special Rose Garden ceremony. The aide, Brett Kavanaugh, is a darling of the conservative movement in part due to his work as a deputy to independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater and Lewinsky investigations.

And Bush has invited some of the nation's leading social conservatives to the Rose Garden on Monday, to cheer him on as he strongly endorses a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

David Jackson and Richard Benedetto write in USA Today: "Whether President Bush is talking about a get-tough border policy or the importance of judicial restraint -- he discussed both Thursday -- he is sure to throw in an appeal these days to wavering conservative supporters.

"Bush and his aides are playing up items such as tighter borders and judges who 'administer the law' rather than make it, seeking to reconnect with conservative Republicans whose support has shrunk in recent polls -- and whose votes will be critical in this fall's congressional elections."

Jackson and Benedetto cite Bush's swearing-in for Kavanaugh and his planned speech on gay marriage, and they say Bush will also soon "renew his call for a line-item veto."

Nedra Pickler confirms for the Associated Press that Bush "will promote a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on Monday, the eve of a scheduled Senate vote on the cause that is dear to his conservative backers."

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos writes for Fox News: "With Republicans facing a potential backlash at the polls in November, a renewed national debate over gay marriage can only boost the morale of the party's religious conservative base, which for a variety of reasons is near mutiny, say sources in the movement."

A Family Affair

For Bush, yesterday's Rose Garden event was a celebration on multiple counts. Not only is Kavanaugh a poster child for the president's drive to put a conservative stamp on the judiciary, and not only has Kavanaugh been a loyal White House aide since 2001 -- but two summers ago, the Bushes attended Kavanaugh's wedding to Ashley Estes, then Bush's personal secretary.

Here's the transcript of yesterday's event.

Bush: "I'm especially pleased to be with Brett's wife, Ashley -- (laughter) -- whose face I know well and whose marriage was the first lifetime appointment I arranged for Brett. (Laughter and applause.)"

Bush's delight in the appointment was obvious. "Today, a court that is often considered the second-highest in our land gains a brilliant and talented new member. The staff of the White House celebrates a friend they admire and a colleague they will miss."