Post Politics Hour

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Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post White House reporter Michael Abramowitz was online Tuesday, July 25, at 11 a.m. ET .

The transcript follows.

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Wheaton, Md.: Has the president's strong support for our Israeli allies, in their struggle against terrorists, helped his popularity?

Michael Abramowitz: Good morning everybody. There are already a lot of questions piling up, so let's get to it.

On Israel, being supportive of Israel has generally been seen as politically smart in the United States, but I have no idea whether it has helped him in this case. I can imagine different schools of thought. Certainly, the headlines from Lebanon and Israel have crowded out all the bad news from Iraq in recent weeks, so one point of view might be that it has helped Bush by turning the focus from a situation that is increasingly a political liability.

On the other hand, perhaps it just underscores how world events, for many voters, are spinning out of control--not good news for the President. I think a lot depends on what happens: If Bush can get a cease-fire and Hezbollah is seriously degraded as a force, that probably helps Bush. But it's not clear that can happen.

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Cottage Grove, Minn.: Thanks for taking my question. Is there any possibility in the world Al Gore would suck up his pride and run as a VP for a more charismatic candidate (i.e. Obama, Edwards) before the primary to defeat the Hillary money machine?

Michael Abramowitz: I seriously doubt it. I do think there's a possibility he might decide to get in the race, but that seems also unlikely. He seems to be having a good time throwing bombs and having influence from the outside.

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Germantown, Md.: Good morning Mr. Abramowitz and thanks for taking my question. What is your take on Specter suing President Bush.

Sen. Specter preparing bill to sue Bush

"We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will...authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said on the Senate floor.

Will this actually go to court. Do we have a chance to expose this "cowboy" for what he is? He appears to have his own set of rules and processes,legal or not. Thanks

Michael Abramowitz: Good question. This is a reference to the controversy over President Bush's signing statements, in which he signs a bill and then indicates that he has reservations about certain provisions for constitutional reasons--and could ignore it. The Boston Globe had a good story about this a few months ago, and now the ABA is weighing in, saying the practice threatens our system of checks and balance.

One thing to keep in mind is that all the modern presidents have issued signing statements. The White House says the president is only doing what others have done; the ABA says he has done it a lot more than others, and that he is pushing the envelope of appropriate presidential behavior.

Given that Congress is controlled by the GOP right now, I kind of doubt this is going anywhere politically, but that might change in the fall if the Democrats take either chamber.

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Alexandria, Va.: With the Congressional Recess coming, is there much chance they will try to get something done before they leave - like immigration, or the pension reform bills?

Michael Abramowitz: I think the big question is about immigration reform. The truth is there is not much time left to get a bill done before the elections, only about four or five weeks of actual legislating weeks. I think both sides in this debate--those favoring tough enforcement and those wanting a more comprehensive bill--seem to feel that there is not a lot of political imperative to get something done before November. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that we won't see a bill before November, but Congress might come back in a lame-duck session and pass something.

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Wilmington, N.C.: "He seems to be having a good time throwing bombs..." Is Gingrich a "bomb-thrower", too?

Michael Abramowitz: I think so--he has been described that way before.

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Bloomer, Wis.: I am a great admirer of Senator Obama's, and were he to run, I would vote for him, and work diligently for his campaign.... BUT...is this the right move for him?

I see him as the great white hope in this country, and although I see a great future for the United States under his aegis, I fear he would not win, and what would this do to his chances in the future? Would he be a better candidate at this time as the vice president? How does he feel about his possibility?

Michael Abramowitz: Getting a number of questions about Obama. I think there is obviously a lot of buzz about him, and I think he's probably looking at a race. The safe thing to do would obviously be to take a pass on '08, and perhaps get the vice presidential nod. Sometimes, if you want to be president, the best thing to do is not the safe thing. I believe Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the nomination right now if she wants it, and I think there are a lot of Democrats who want an alternative that has yet to emerge. Could Obama be that person? Maybe.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Maliki is coming to D.C. What do you think the outcome will be? Is anyone in the WH willing to admit that Iraq is devolving into a civil war? Maliki is probably going to say that, right?

Michael Abramowitz: I don't know what Maliki is going to say--he's about to have a press conference with Bush, and we can all look in for ourselves. The reality is that sectarian violence has been steadily increasing, even more so since in the last month. Maliki, by many accounts, has been saying the right things about wanting reconciliation and cracking down on sectarian forces and militias. But it has not seemed to have an effect yet. I am not anticipating any major course corrections from Bush and Maliki, but an effort to tough it out, tweak things and hope for the best.

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Burke, Va.: Bomb throwing: What do you mean by "bomb throwing"? It seems kind of pejorative.

Michael Abramowitz: I realize I need to be more careful in these chats. I certainly did not mean it a pejorative way. I was just trying in a light-hearted way make reference to a politician who seems much more comfortable out of office making strong statements about global warming, civil liberties, the Iraq war. There are liberal and conservative "bomb-throwers." They make covering politics fun.

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Ann Arbor, Mich.: "My guess, and it is only a guess, is that we won't see a bill before November, but Congress might come back in a lame-duck session and pass something."

How much of a "lame duck" is Congress when over 98% of it's members are re-elected? The term doesn't seem to apply to the legislature like it does to the White House.

Michael Abramowitz: Good point! Maybe this year will be a little different.

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San Antonio, Tex.: Thank you for taking my question. Going back to the ABA and signing statements. Isn't the ABA position that just because this has been a practice doesn't mean it isn't unconstitutional. It just means that no one with 'standing' has been in a position to challenge. I thought that the ABA recommendation for legislation was a method to address that. Do you think legislation of this sort could get through this congress with its 'rules of loyalty to the party'?

Michael Abramowitz: Yes, you are right. The ABA report was focused on the practice in general as it has been used by different presidents. And you are right about standing--the ABA wants Congress to pass a law giving it standing to sue the president over a signing statement. As I said earlier, I think it is unlikely such a law would pass in the current environment.

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Washington, D.C.: What do you expect the response will be to the fact that we have known about Pakistan's plans to build a new plutonium reactor?

Michael Abramowitz: We have had a response. Here's the top of an article by Joby Warrick this morning. Given all that's going on in the world, I am not sure there's going to be much more:

The Bush administration acknowledged yesterday that it had long known about Pakistan's plans to build a large plutonium-production reactor, but it said the White House was working to dissuade Pakistan from using the plant to expand its nuclear arsenal.

"We discourage military use of the facility," White House spokesman Tony Snow said of a powerful heavy-water reactor under construction at Pakistan's Khushab nuclear site in Punjab state.

washingtonpost.com: U.S. Says It Knew of Pakistani Reactor Plan (Post, July 25)

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Boca Raton, Fla.: Good Morning Michael, You mentioned "I am not anticipating any major course corrections from Bush and Maliki,...." but how do you reconcile this with Prime Minister Maliki's very strong stand on Israel's destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure vs President Bush's laissez-faire attitude of "let the Israelis do what they want to do"?

Michael Abramowitz: I was referring to the current strategy in Iraq. Clearly there's a big disagreement about the war in Lebanon, but I don't think that will have a big impact on their efforts to try to stabilize Iraq.

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Atlanta, Ga.: This morning's headline online said the Sec. of State Rice made a 'surprise' visit to Lebanon. Ok, maybe it wasn't on her official schedule but it was not a surprise. Why must The Post call it one?

Michael Abramowitz: We generally try to describe these visits as unannounced visits, not surprise visits. They are unannounced for one major reason--security. You might want to take a look at a fun story Libby Copeland had about this subject in our Style section this morning. Here's the link:

Now You See Them . . .

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Kansas City, Mo.: Are the GOP efforts for hearings on John Bolton for the UN a signal that they fear they will lose in November and Bolton would not get out of committee then? Or is this just good politics?

Michael Abramowitz: I don't think so. I think Sen. Voinovich had a change of heart about Bolton, and the Republicans are trying to rush to take advantage of that.

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Signing statements: "The White House says the president is only doing what others have done; the ABA says he has done it a lot more than others, and that he is pushing the envelope of appropriate presidential behavior." Actually, didn't they report that he's done it more than all previous presidents combined? Wouldn't that go beyond "pushing the envelope?"

Michael Abramowitz: They did in fact report that, although the White House is disputing those numbers. My colleague Dan Froomkin, at washingtonpost.com, keeps a pretty useful blog on this subject at Nieman Reports. You might look at that for more context.

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Tony Snow...: ...had to swallow a pit of pride and admit the president does not believe stem cell research is "murder", as Snow had claimed in a previous press briefing.

How do these sorts of flubs affect a press secretary? Does Snow just shrug this off, or does it affect his job performance?

Michael Abramowitz: Snow is new, so I am not sure how this effects him. When one steps up in front of that mike every day for weeks on end, there are going to inevitably be mistakes and flubs and misstatements. If you make to many of them, you begin to lose credibility.

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Washington, D.C.: Will George Allen's tougher than expected re-election bid harm his chances at getting the Republican nomination for president in '08?

Michael Abramowitz: It all really depends on how he does in November. If he loses--unlikely, I think--he's probably sunk. If he is able to fight off a tough challenge, and win handily, I would argue it might strengthen his claim to to the nomination.

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Roseland, N.J.: RE Pushing Bolton... I can't believe the White House is this myopic. Don't they realize the spot they are putting Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) in? If he votes for Bolton he hurts his general election prospects... if he votes against him he might lose the primary!

All they have to do is wait until after the election. Bolton isn't going anywhere. Why the rush?

Michael Abramowitz: That's an interesting observation. I am not an expert on Rhode Island politics: My guess is that conservatives are already mad at him anyway, so a vote against Bolton would not necessarily aggravate that. But I am testing the limits of my knowledge here.

Anyway, thanks everybody for all the questions. There were many more than I had time to get to, and I will try next time to get to more of them.

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