Williamsburg, Va. – Venturing into enemy territory, President Bush traveled to a retreat for House Democrats on Saturday to invite the new congressional majority to work with him on immigration, energy and national security.
“I do know we agree on some things,” Bush told a ballroom full of lawmakers and their families. It was his first visit to the House Democrats’ annual retreat since 2001, shortly after he took office.
Bush sought to turn on the charm for his Democratic rivals, cracking jokes about his diction and showering praise on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
But even the meticulous planning that went into the encounter could not conceal the deep divisions between the White House and the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill. While Pelosi introduced Bush from a lectern bearing the slogan “Governing for a New Direction,” he spoke from his own lectern a few feet away emblazoned with the presidential seal.
No issue so brought out the divisions as the war in Iraq. Bush devoted less than two minutes of his 16-minute address to the subject.
After his speech, Bush faced lawmakers in a private question-and-answer session, according to members of Congress and aides who were in the room.
In response to one question about Iraq, the president, who as recently as a few months ago insisted that America was winning, acknowledged that if he were asked about the conflict by a pollster, he would express concern as well. Large majorities of Americans feel the war is going poorly.
Bush also said the war was “sapping our souls,” according to people in the room.
Lawmakers also asked about immigration, the budget and the botched response to Hurricane Katrina.
During his speech, Bush joked about using the term “Democrat Party” in his recent State of the Union address, a phrase some lawmakers interpreted as derogatory.
“Now look, my diction isn’t all that good,” Bush said. “I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party.”
