After tonight, Bush should be willing to work with Dems, but I see nothing has changed. It's going to be a tough two years, but at least the patient has stopped hemorrhaging, but is still in critical condition. Bush disappointed at Republicans' losses Tue Nov 7, 2006 11:55pm ET29 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, disappointed at the Democrats' seizure of the House of Representatives, will hold a news conference on Wednesday to urge his opponents to work with him, the White House said. The news conference was set for 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). White House spokesman Tony Snow said the outcome of the elections, in which Democrats were projected to win control of the House and pick up several Senate seats, was "not what we would've hoped." "But it also gets us to a point: Democrats have spent a lot of time complaining about what the president has done. This is an opportunity for them to kind of stand up," Snow said. Bush, whose Iraq policy was a key factor in the elections, had dinner with top aides and close friends Brad Freeman and Don Evans, the former commerce secretary, and watched the election returns on television in the White House residence. He was told formally by his top political adviser, Karl Rove, that the House had gone to the Democrats. It was described as a businesslike environment with aides thumbing messages into their blackberries to keep track of developments. The bad news came after Bush spent the last five days of the campaign trying to help Republican candidates in 10 states. "Now, one of the things is both parties have got a lot work to do," Snow said. "The president has got a very active agenda for the next two years and you're going to need both parties. There has to be a calculated decision by the Democrats." http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...N07478317_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-ELECTIONS-BUSH.xml
I see a huge fight if the President really thinks we will win in Iraq. We can win, we just won't pay the price. I'm thinking a trillion dollars to fix broken down military equipment, purchase new equipment for the 700,000 new draftees, $ to train the new guys... future medical costs. A real rebuilding of infrastructure after peace is secured. This is far too expensive in dollars, lives, and votes. I'm hoping the President is willing to listen to the alternatives presented to him. I hope he does something other than sending in another 20-30k troops into Baghdad. Ain't workin'...
Six years later and having lost the House and possibly the Senate, he wants to work with his opponents. All this man understands is the hammer and I hope the Dem hammer is ready for some action.
No, no, no. A Democratic victory would be an enabler for the terrorists (and their agenda). Thus, W now looks to enable the terrorists.
Actually, this is what I saw: Bush wishes Dems congratulations on victory President invites new House leaders to White House for lunch Video: Decision 2006 Today show• House goes Democrat, Senate in balance Nov. 8: The Democrats seize control of the House of Representatives and are very close to winning the Senate. NBC's David Gregory has a roundup of the midterm election results. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • LIVE VIDEO: MSNBC Decision 2006 simulcast • In Virginia, vote outcome still uncertain • Dems' Tester discusses Montana race • Tim Russert discusses election results • Dems' Emanuel discusses midterm votes • GOP's Mehlman discusses vote results • DeLay: Election a 'Texas whooping' • History lessons from Decision 2006 • United Kingdom reacts to midterms • National overview • Senate • House • Governor • State results • Exit polls INTERACTIVE • 2006 key races The races to watch. Updated: 2 hours, 30 minutes ago WASHINGTON - President Bush, waking up on Wednesday to a new balance of power in Washington, picked up the phone and called House speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi to invite her to lunch. “They had a very good conversation. He congratulated her on their wins,” deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino said about Bush’s call to Pelosi the morning after Democrats took control of the House in Tuesday’s election. Bush invited Pelosi and Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the second-ranking Democratic leader in the House, to have lunch on Thursday at the White House. Bush also called a handful of other lawmakers and invited House Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, to the White House on Friday for a meeting over coffee. Story continues below ↓ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “In all of those calls, I would say there was a strong spirit of good will and the president said ‘Congresses change, but issues don’t,”’ Perino said. Recently, Bush dismissed the possibility that Pelosi could become speaker of the House, saying in an interview “That’s not going to happen.” He set a more conciliatory tone in call to Pelosi at 7:15 a.m. EST. “I’d characterize it as a very friendly conversation and they pledged to work together,” Perino said. Bush: 'A good effort' Before calling Pelosi, Bush called House Speaker Dennis Hastert. “He thanked him for running strong races around the country —that we fought hard, we have some tough loses, but that we’re going to work together as we move forward,” Perino said. Bush also spoke on the phone with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the No. 2 Republican leader in the Senate; House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic campaign chief. “He told Emanuel congratulations on a good race. It was a good effort and he’s looking forward to working together,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. Decision 2006 multimedia Getty Images • Slide show: Election Voters head to the polls in elections that could shift control of Congress and the Senate. After voting in Crawford, Texas, the president returned to Washington Tuesday afternoon. He was joined for a dinner of corn bisque and beef loin by political strategist Karl Rove, GOP chairman Ken Mehlman, White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, counselor to the president Dan Bartlett, former Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Brad Freeman, a California venture capitalist and top Bush fundraiser. They watched the returns in the study of the residence. Bush made just one phone call on Tuesday night — to Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the House GOP’s election effort, who was re-elected. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15620215/
Work with him? Gosh, the monkey really is full of itself. The new congress needs to do everything to correct the mistakes the monkey made. That means they need to work AGAINST the monkey on pretty much every issue I can think of.
Is anybody watching Bush's speech? Why is he being so defensive and pushy, or it seems like that to me anyway?
Because he understands the American people clearly don't agree with HIM and the way he has run his administration. Some of those questions were impossible to answer without showing some of his own colors he displayed on the campaign trail. Like, "How can you now say the Democrats care as much about defending this country as you do?" and then read back some of the things he said about Democrats a few days ago. I think the biggest reason he looked like he was trying to crap a cantelope on stage would be he's a child that has just been told he has to share all his toys and play nice with others.
Now W has TWO House of Congresses to anally probed his administration's *uckups. W now will be held accountable, probably for the first time in his cuddled existence. Bummer. Hey we might actually be told more than "trust me" wrt W's Iraq policy. Wow. Democracy in action.
Still the same arrogant guy. Instead of reaching out to promise some compromise or cooperation from him, even just as a gesture, he demanded others to work with him. In other words, on his terms. BTW, is that Snow guy a White House speaker or a party speaker? How come you never hear anything even remotely diplomatic from him? Well, I guess diplomacy was never in the vocabulary of this administration.
