Clouds clear quickly for Bush
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 2, 2005
President Bush, coming off one of the roughest weeks of his presidency, appears to have rebounded by holding on to his top political strategist and ending a conservative rebellion over the Supreme Court.
"This has been a good week," a senior White House official said. "Everybody was shrieking about how terrible the president was doing and yet already, through the clouds, you begin to see the remedy take shape."
Just last week, Mr. Bush endured the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and the withdrawal of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.
But Mr. Libby, who has resigned, was an obscure figure outside of official Washington. By contrast, the widely known Karl Rove is the president's top strategist and was not indicted in the probe that ensnared Mr. Libby, contrary to Democratic expectations.
Moreover, the withdrawal of Miss Miers put an end to complaints from Mr. Bush's supporters about her thin conservative credentials. By replacing Miss Miers with the more demonstrably conservative Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Monday, the president rallied his base for a long-desired showdown with Democrats.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051101-115634-4404r.htm