Bush's white elephant. (Politico).(approval rating of Pres George W. Bush)(Brief Article)

President Bush's approval rating has remained above 70 percent for ten months. Far from being an asset, these approval ratings are a liability that has hurt his agenda.

Immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Democrats feared and Republicans hoped that Mr. Bush's approval ratings--which jumped from 57 percent to 90 percent--would create political capital that would help Bush advance his legislative agenda and elect more Republicans.

Both Republican hopes and Democratic fears went unfulfilled. On November 6, only 55 days after September 11, the GOP lost control of the governors' mansions in Virginia and New Jersey. President Bush made no progress on legislative priorities such as reforming Mexican immigration and giving Americans the option of investing part of their Social Security taxes. A dozen Congressional leadership staff members have told me that the President's high approval ratings have not helped him pass any important bills.

Since September 11, George W. Bush has agreed to federalize tens of thousands of airport screeners, approved Senator John McCain's campaign reform legislation, and signed the most expensive farm bill in U.S. history. Why?

Back when the President had an approval rating below 60 percent, he rammed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut, made the Senate approve John Ashcroft as attorney general, pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Treaty, and gave notice that the U.S. would leave the ABM treaty in order to build a missile defense system. Why was President Bush more successful in pushing his agenda and standing up to his critics when his approval rating was in the 50s than when it was in the 80s?

Some members of Congress argue that the President has failed to "spend" his political capital. But this misses the point that the difference between 55 percent and 75 percent approval is not political capital that can be spent. President Bush has demanded that the Senate approve more of his nominated judges. It hasn't. The Senate has stalled for more than eight ...