It isn't that most of the general public cared about it one way or the other; it is the MEDIA that they are afraid of. That is a hard nut to crack.
The thing is, I think he realizes he can only make so many stands and the big one, war with Iraq, is comming. The dems are going to be dragged kicking and screaming to vote on that, and he needs all his capital for that battle.
He might have been able to veto and get it held, but I think the cost was too high....lookung at what else is coming.
My opinion only, of course. Unlike many here, I do not KNOW what the President is thinking.
If the media is a hard nut to crack on a matter on which the public is indifferent...
How much harder will it be for Democrats who are foolish enough to oppose the war in Iraq, in the face of the full force and fury of American vengeance?
No way the media lobbies against that war, they know who spreads the butter on their ratings bread.
I think if Bush had vetoed CFR and made a strong public case about why he did so, he'd have beaten override (did it even pass with 67 votes?). And that's as good as a win, so that makes him more difficult to oppose on a war in Iraq, not less.