Washington – Embattled White House aides have begun to believe President Bush must take the reins personally if his evaporating agenda and credibility are to be salvaged.
“We’re just plodding along,” said a senior Bush aide from deep within the West Wing bunker. “It’s up to the president to turn things around now.”
Even as his poll numbers tank, however, Bush is described by aides as determined to stay the course. He resists advice from Republicans who fear disaster in next year’s congressional elections and rejects criticism from a media establishment he disdains.
“The president has always been willing to make changes,” the senior aide said, “but not because someone in this town tells him to – never.”
For the moment, Bush has dismissed discreetly offered advice from friends and loyalists to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and bring back longtime confidante Karen Hughes from the State Department to shore up his personal White House staff.
“He thinks that would be an admission he’s screwed up, and he can’t bring himself to do that,” a former senior staffer said.
So aides have circled the wagons as Bush’s troubles mount, partly hoping they can sell the president on a December blitz of media interviews to help turn the tide.
“The staff basically still has an unyielding belief in the wisdom of what they’re doing,” a close Bush confidante said. “They’re talking to people who could help them, but they’re not listening.”
Two sources said Bush not only has lost some confidence in his top aides but also is furious with a stream of leaks about the mood within the West Wing.
Much to Bush’s relief, political mastermind Karl Rove is said to be engaged in day-to- day strategy, even though he still could be indicted in the CIA leak case.
Some in the White House think Rove is a continuing drain and has also hurt Bush’s recovery by not clearing the reputation of spokesman Scott McClellan, who repeatedly told reporters Rove assured him he had nothing to do with leaking covert agent Valerie Plame’s name.
The problem for Bush, advisers say, is that the ongoing leak probe reinforces allegations that the White House allegedly hyped prewar intelligence to justify a war most Americans no longer support.
A member of the Washington GOP establishment with close ties to the White House recently encountered several senior presidential aides at a dinner and came away shaking his head at their “no problems here” mentality.
“There is just no introspection there at all,” he said. “It is everybody else’s fault – the press, gutless Republicans on the Hill. They’re still in denial.”
Not ready to throw in the towel and declare Bush a lame duck, aides are hoping two issues can help firm up their base and perhaps make inroads with centrists who voted for Bush: the anticipated confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, and a plan to reinforce the border with Mexico to help stop illegal immigration.
