The Important Stuff

Snow: "Well, but I think this is all of a piece. I think something that is informed by his faith is something that a lot of people just necessarily don't like or trust. That's one of the big cultural battles going on in the United States of America."

Okay, but back to the marriage amendment.

Dobson: "This president is committed to this issue, is that right?"

Snow: "Yes. Yeah. He's said that many, many times."

Dobson: "Is he working the Hill, is he calling?"

(Snow, incidentally, was asked that repeatedly last week. It's obvious to anyone inside or outside the White House that Bush has not made any such calls. And an anonymous White House official explicitly told Newsweek last week that Bush had in fact not made any. But Snow pleaded heartfelt ignorance.)

Tony: "I honestly don't know. I can't give you an answer for that and I'm not going to lie to you."

Dobson: "That's unfortunate. Because, you know, when Lyndon Johnson wanted the civil rights legislation, he didn't have the votes for it, and the Democrats in the South didn't want it . . . and he made it happen. He got out there and beat on people. He used the bully pulpit to make it happen. President Bush has not done that yet, to our knowledge."

Snow: "Well, Dr. Dobson, today's political atmosphere, it's a little different from Lyndon Johnson's time. Because in Lyndon Johnson's time, every once in a while, people did set their partisanship aside. And I think what you're seeing right now -- the president's not having that much difficulty with Republican votes. And unfortunately, we've seen a number of situations where the Democrats have simply said, 'No, we're not going to help you out.' So he doesn't have a lot of persuasive power when it comes to people on the other side of the aisle."

Dobson, clearly irritated, asked about Laura Bush's Fox News interview last month.

Dobson: "Why do you think the first lady made her comment about marriage not being a campaign issue?"

Snow: "I have no idea. I don't know."

Dobson: "I don't remember her giving advice on any other issue."

Speaking of family, Snow showed off photos of his three children. "The only two things I brought into this office were those three pictures and a Bible," he said.

The Focus on the Family Web site published an article about the interview, which included some of Snow's comments.

Blogger Steve Benen saw that article and responded:

" 'This is an issue on which George W. Bush has been very clear over the years -- and he's spoken repeatedly about it,' Snow told Dobson.

"That's about half-true. Searching through White House transcripts, I found that in 2004, Bush mentioned his support for a constitutional amendment 'defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman' in public speeches over 100 times. In 2005? Zero. In 2006, before this past weekend's radio address? Zero.

"In other words, Bush has spoken about the amendment 'repeatedly' -- but only when he needed to use his base to get a second term."

On Language

David Link writes in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece: "Listening to President Bush, you'd never know that the nation is having a debate over gay marriage. His Saturday radio address to the nation had no mention of gay couples -- or even homosexual individuals."

Link writes that "the irony gets thick when the president purports to be evenhanded in conducting this half-debate. Bush said this in his most recent address on the issue: 'As this debate goes forward, we must remember that every American deserves to be treated with tolerance, respect and dignity. All of us have a duty to conduct this discussion with civility and decency toward one another, and all people deserve to have their voices heard.'

"What Americans is he talking about? The ones he consciously never named in his speech? Does he seriously think lesbians and gay men are being treated with 'civility and decency' -- much less 'tolerance' or 'respect' -- when he will not meet publicly with a gay or lesbian group on this issue and will not even mention that the debate over same-sex marriage is about them?"

Poll Watch

Courtney Kennedy and Michael Dimock write for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: "As public approval of George W. Bush languishes at all-time low levels, supporters of the president are increasingly hard to find. . . .

"While the decline in support transcends ideological and demographic lines, the drop among one group -- moderate Republicans -- has been especially steep. . . .

"Looking at various population groups across all partisan lines, the decline in Bush's approval rating is fairly consistent among various groups with the largest drops coming from those who had supported him the most strongly and, thus, had the farthest to fall."

Here are some of the poll details .

Down on the Border

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "Having nudged the Senate into action, Mr. Bush is turning his attention to the House, where Republicans deride the Senate plan as amnesty and are balking at the idea of compromise. . . .

"The image of Mr. Bush, his collar open and his starched blue shirt sleeves rolled up, surrounded by Border Patrol agents and trainees clad in olive drab uniforms in the dusty New Mexico desert, was carefully calibrated to sell the president's plan to the American people -- and, by extension, their representatives in Washington."

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post: "Bush broke little ground substantively in his speech to border agents and agents in training, repeating many of the same points he had made since announcing his general approach to immigration in a nationally televised address last month. But aides say he is trying to build grass-roots support in advance of negotiations aimed at reconciling House and Senate bills that take sharply different approaches toward undocumented workers."

Here's the text of Bush's speech.

Julie Mason writes in the Houston Chronicle that Bush also was in Texas, briefly.

"While in Laredo, Bush made two unscheduled stops, pulling the motorcade over on a main commercial street to visit briefly with schoolchildren, and stopping at a Mexican-style barbecue joint to meet with residents and border guards.

"'¿Como estas?' Bush greeted patrons at Cotulla's, a restaurant decorated with deer heads. . . .

"Such encounters, carefully planned but unannounced, are part of a larger White House strategy to remind Americans why they once liked him so much and use his personal popularity to help sell a controversial immigration program."

Insert Comment Here

Bill Nichols writes in USA Today: "The Bush administration was cautiously upbeat Tuesday about Iran's initial reaction to incentives aimed at persuading it to freeze its efforts to make nuclear fuel.

" 'It sounds like a positive step to me,' President Bush told reporters in Texas after visiting a Border Patrol facility. 'We will see if the Iranians take our offer seriously.' "

Reading the transcript of Bush's comments makes one take Bush's reaction a little less seriously, however.

"Q Yes, sir. Can you respond to Iran's initial reaction to the incentives package today?

"THE PRESIDENT: Why don't you tell me what it was?"

Cartoon Watch

On gay marriage: Tony Auth ; Mike Luckovich ; Ann Telnaes .

On executive power: Paul Conrad .