President Bush is exactly right to send mixed signals to the Senate, so the critical squish Senators will not count on him to save their bacon and will not flip and vote Shays-Meehan out.
More and more I think this is a replay of stem cell research. Bush is keeping his power dry and talking to advisors who know exactly what they are doing. In the last two days I've come to the conclusion that Bush is taking exactly the right steps, including the delliberately leaked ambiguity to contribute to defeat of this bill in the Senate.
If that fails, I expect Bush to veto the bill, and ask for time on TV to tell the American people exactly why this bill is an assault on the Constitution and deserved to be vetoed. He will couple that with a demand that Congress go right back to work and pass an honest campaign reform bill that applies NOW, in this election.
The general reaction of most people will be, like on stem cell research,"Now there's a leader I can respect." And Congress, having been painted into a corner, will have to pass a bill that DOES meet Bush's six criteria.
I think that's the end game. If so, everything done, and NOT done, by he White House to date, leads up to putting the football clean and true through the uprights with no time left on the clock. I believe the "Patriots" will win this one, too.
In short, the adults are back in charge. The nay-sayers are like the critics on Afghanistan. Most of the White House action right now is behind the scenes and invisible. Do not assume with this Administration that if you don't see immediate results, nothing is happening.
Don't mess with Texas has a correlary. Don't underestimate Texas.
Congressman Billybob