Change Of Course?

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes for the New York Times that Bush is reaching out to Congress: "Without necessarily taking the advice he is seeking from Capitol Hill, Mr. Bush is adding a more personal touch to his presidency in an effort to put himself in the good graces of lawmakers.

"The effort, choreographed by senior advisers to Mr. Bush, began late last year and intensified in April after Joshua B. Bolten became chief of staff, said two officials involved. So the president, a man not given to Washington schmoozing, now holds intimate cocktail parties on the Truman Balcony, overlooking the South Lawn, for lawmakers and their spouses, complete with tours of the Lincoln Bedroom led by him and the first lady."

Stolberg notes skeptically: "But courting lawmakers only goes so far in bridging serious policy and political differences, and it is hard to find evidence that Mr. Bush's new open-ear policy has led to any substantive change in direction by the White House."

Just More of the Same?

In Newsweek, Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey find it significant that Bush didn't gloat about Zarqawi. But beyond that, they don't see much change in Bush's pitch on Iraq: "The idea is to show that Iraq is improving by touting progress in the government and the Iraqi security forces while projecting a measured optimism about defeating the insurgency. . . .

"One private reason for the [Camp David] meeting was to take a cold look at the military strategy in Iraq. In recent weeks, briefers have given Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte a grim view of the war effort. Before Zarqawi's death, 'there was a sense that the insurgency was getting stronger, and we were on the road to nowhere,' says an administration official who declined to be named talking about intelligence. But the public highlight of the Camp David session will be much sunnier: a picture-perfect videoconference between the Bush cabinet and the new Iraqi cabinet -- symbolically projecting an image of two independent, democratically elected governments working together."

Mr. Accommodator?

Bush's ambivalent approach to being more accommodating was plainly in view in his brief press availability with the Danish prime minister on Friday.

Here's his exchange with Deb Riechmann of the Associated Press:

"Q Mr. President, after meeting with the Danish Prime Minister last month, [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] said he thought he could stand up the Iraqi security forces in about a year-and-a-half. And with Zarqawi's death, do you think this is realistic?

"PRESIDENT BUSH: I think it is -- we'll get a realistic appraisal about the capacity for standing up Iraqi troops as this new government begins to function as a government. It wasn't until just a couple of days ago that they had a Defense Minister. Now they've got a Defense Minister, which will give us time to assess their command and control, their capacity to be able to send an order from the top to the bottom of their organization. . . .

"Once we make those assessments, then I think I'll be able to give the American people a better feel for what 'stand up/stand down' means. . . .

"Q Can I ask you a follow up?

"PRESIDENT BUSH: Probably not.