A new chance for bipartisanship

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By ANN McFEATTERS
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
They say the apple never falls far from the tree. In President Bush's case, the apple rolled far away and now is struggling to get back up the hill to the tree.

It's odd, really, that compared with the son's presidency, the presidency of George H.W. Bush seems so much more competent, worthy of emulating, even to conservatives who conspired to dump the father from office. Reluctantly, at last, George W. Bush appears to be following the advice of his father's old cohorts, the ones he disdainfully ignored for the past five years, stately warhorses such as James Baker, Brent Scowcroft, and a situation room full of others. They were a team known for their ability to build international coalitions to deal with Iraq and get good results.

Bush's first dramatic public move, the ouster of the arrogant Defense chief Donald Rumsfeld, astonishingly long overdue, will not, of course, end our troubles in Iraq. The arrival of the cautious, pragmatic Bob Gates, formerly of CIA fame (no relation to the billionaire of the same last name), will not be a panacea for what ails our foreign policy.

But dictated by a president who has steadfastly refused to admit any mistakes in office or change any policy, the coming departure of Rumsfeld is of enormous significance to the military, the voters, the administration and, Bush hopes, to future historians. At this point in their second terms, presidents begin thinking of their legacy.

Bush, who had a good reputation for bipartisanship as governor of Texas but who as president ended up helping to cause nearly as much divisiveness as the Civil War, now pledges to work with the Democrats who "thumped" him and his party at the polls. He doesn't even sound like the same man he was a week ago.

The incoming Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, a polished, 66-year-old grandmother who has secured her place in history by becoming the first woman to be second in line for the U.S. presidency, will not have an easy job. She is loathed by many Republicans. And not only must she unite Democrats _ akin to herding cats, but she must avoid her old take-no-prisoners diatribes against the White House and make the country work again. Much easier to criticize chaos than create peace. And she must do all this in an atmosphere of 2008. (Oh, yes, the presidential race is on.)

Pelosi pledged at her first post-election Oval Office meeting to work, "in a confidence-building way with the president." She insisted, "We both extended the hand of friendship." But even a full frontal embrace wouldn't necessarily be enough to signal that we can be confident old rifts will be mended.

The election elated Democrats but humility would be in order. They won not because they are so great but because voters are so angry. The election also should take some of the starch out of the president, who promised a humble foreign policy and then adopted a strategy of preemptive war and trampling on the Constitution.

There is nothing in Gates' background to indicate he will be an outstanding defense secretary, but he is a beacon of hope. More of a factotum than a brilliant strategist, Gates is expected to carry out the plan for saving Iraq (and our face) now being devised by Baker, who was secretary of state for the first President Bush, and Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic congressman from Indiana and a co-chair of the 9/11 Commission.

Bush was smart to get control of the message and rid of Rumsfeld the day after the election. Better to eat a slice of crow pie now than get sick while gorging on it later.

And until and unless proved otherwise, Americans should feel more optimistic than they have in some time.

Voters were heard. They want less carping and caviling and more cooperation. They want good government. They want a meaningful plan for Iraq. They want attention paid to our growing domestic problems.

And the leaders of both parties are saying the right things. We can only hope they mean what they say and will work together as they say they will.

"We've made history," said Pelosi. "Now we have to make progress."

Bush said he will work with Democrats to "find common ground in the next two years."

Let's hope that common ground is not on a rocky uphill path and that the apple quickly nestles back to a secure nook under the tree.

(Scripps Howard columnist Ann McFeatters has covered the White House and national politics since 1986. E-mail amcfeatters(at)hotmail.com.)