Deference Prevails Over Hostility

"I want to change the relationship."

Voting Rights

Jeff Zeleny writes in the Chicago Tribune: "One day before President Bush addresses the NAACP for the first time during his presidency, two Democratic senators on Wednesday urged those attending the meeting to hold the administration accountable for renewing -- and enforcing -- the Voting Rights Act.

"Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois warned NAACP delegates to be cautious of any civil rights promises Bush offers when speaking to the group Thursday. The senators criticized Republicans for allowing the landmark 1965 voting act to nearly expire and said the Justice Department has failed to aggressively pursue allegations of disenfranchisement.

" 'Don't be bamboozled. Don't buy into it,' Obama said, trying to anticipate Bush's speech, which is expected to touch upon his support for extending the Voting Rights Act. 'It's great if he commits to signing it, but what is critical is the follow-through. You don't just talk the talk, but you also walk the walk.' "

Mike Allen 's new blog for Time notes the White House hasn't ruled out supporting a bill by Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), that would give the District of Columbia a vote in the House of Representatives

"A Republican official familiar with White House views on the matter said Bush's aides have indicated they have 'an open mind' about the Davis bill and 'understand that it makes sense to do it, politically -- it's something tangible and doable that would be popular with the African American community.' "

On Poverty

Michael A. Fletcher writes in The Washington Post: "Poverty forced its way to the top of President Bush's agenda in the confusing days after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans. . . .

"As it happened, poverty's turn in the presidential limelight was brief. Bush has talked little about the issue since the immediate crisis passed, while pursuing policies that his liberal critics say will hurt the poor. . . .

" 'I'll never forget the night the president gave that speech from Jackson Square,' said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), one of the black lawmakers summoned to meet with administration officials in Katrina's hectic aftermath. 'He talked about stamping out poverty. He talked about things that showed the compassionate side of his compassionate conservative stance. Since then, what I've found is that he has been long on conservatism and short on compassion.'

"The number of Americans living in poverty has risen each year Bush has been president, increasing to 37 million in 2004 from 31.6 million in 2000. Overall, 12.7 percent of the nation's population lives in poverty, which for a family of four means an income less than $20,000 a year."

Erik Eckholm writes in the New York Times about "the Bush administration's campaign to fight poverty and aid children by promoting marriage -- an effort that, after years in the pilot stage, is about to get going in earnest this fall and has drawn surprising support from some liberal poverty experts."

The First Veto

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times: "President Bush on Wednesday rejected legislation to expand federally supported embryonic stem cell research, exercising his first veto while putting himself at odds with many members of his own party and what polls say is a majority of the public. . . .