Looking Ahead

Just how badly weakened President Bush is on the international stage should come into focus in the next eight days as he tours Asia.

Bloodied by the Democratic victory last week, Bush goes into the trip with an even fresher wound: Congress's unexpected refusal to approve a trade bill he intended as a good-will gesture to his hosts in Vietnam.

And although diplomatic gatherings are always exceedingly polite, the subtext and the body language as Bush deals with other world leaders should be telling.

The damage to Bush's international stature is only one thing to watch for in the coming days and weeks, as we try to get a better sense of what the last two years of the Bush presidency will be like.

This column is going on an extended Thanksgiving break as of tomorrow. It will return on Monday, November 27.

Here are just some of the questions you might well ask as you fend for yourself on the various news sites and blogs that keep an eye on the White House:

* Is Bush's claim that he wants to work in a bipartisan manner a genuine change -- or a ruse? Watch what he says -- but even more so, what he does.

* What will life be like with oversight? We've just gone through not only six years of congressional obedience, but six years of ignorance. Congressional oversight has historically put enormous amounts of important, otherwise secret information into the public domain -- about the government and the private sector alike. If you think bloggers have been a potent political force thus far -- just wait until oversight gives them better material to work with.

* Is Bush's credibility problem going to become a bigger issue? Will an emboldened Washington press corps more aggressively challenge the accuracy of White House statements? Now that the Washington echo chamber is at least partly owned by the opposition, will the credibility issue start to resonate?

* And what will Bush do about the elephant in the room? I mean, of course, Iraq. Is he ready to accept the brutal reality that things there are getting worse, rather than better? Is he ready to abandon the mythology that the major strategic decisions about Iraq are being made by the military? Is he ready to change not just tactics, but his strategy and his goals?

About Iraq

Jonathan Weisman writes in The Washington Post: "Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who was elected Senate majority leader yesterday, said last night that President Bush still has not grasped the urgent need to change course in Iraq. Reid vowed to press quickly for phased troop withdrawals, a more international approach to Iraq's problems and a rebuilding of the depleted U.S. military. . . .

"Voter anger over the war swept his party to power with the unlikely defeat of six Republican senators, he said. Democrats must respond to that anger, he added, with hearings to keep the heat on the Bush administration, and with calls for a regional Middle Eastern conference and a revitalized Iraqi reconstruction effort."