Bush claims Democrats are to blame for Bush's very Low Approval Rating

By Adam Entous
Tue Jun 14, 9:54 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday unleashed his harshest criticism yet on Democrats for thwarting his second-term agenda, demanding they put forward ideas of their own or "step aside" and signaling a more aggressive administration strategy of attack.

With approval ratings the lowest of his presidency and critics suggesting he is already losing political clout, Bush blamed "do-nothing" Democrats for holding up an overhaul of Social Security and delaying votes on his nominees to the federal bench and the United Nations.

The assault highlighted administration frustrations over Democratic tactics, and offered a preview of Republican strategy in the run-up to the 2006 mid-term elections.

"On issue after issue, they (the Democrats) stand for nothing except obstruction," Bush said at the annual President's Dinner, a $23 million fund-raiser attended by Republican leaders, party donors, and a blond porn star and former California gubernatorial candidate named Mary Carey.

Bush accused Democratic leaders of trying to "delay solutions" and "obstruct progress."

The speech marked a combative turn for the president, who declared two days after winning re-election last November that he had earned "political capital, and now I intend to spend it."

Much of Bush's legislative agenda has run into opposition, and critics point to the administration's recent troubles keeping fellow Republicans on board as a sign Bush may soon become a lame duck.

In recent weeks, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for legislation on embryonic stem cell research over Bush's objections.

He has made little progress pushing through his top legislative priority -- adding private accounts to the Social Security retirement program -- in part because some Republicans fear a backlash at the polls in 2006.

Senate Democrats, with the help of as many as two Republicans, delayed a vote on John Bolton, Bush's choice to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

And some Republicans are joining calls for a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq, breaking with Bush, whose approval ratings have fallen to the mid-40 percent range, the lowest of his presidency.

Bush made no mention of these defections as he sought to present the Republican Party as driven and focused on finding solutions.

'AGENDA OF THE ROAD BLOCK'

Bush said the Democrats, in contrast, were employing a "philosophy of the stop sign" and an "agenda of the road block," and warned: "Political parties that choose the path of obstruction will not gain the trust of the American people."

He issued a challenge to the Democrats: "If leaders of the other party have innovative ideas, let's hear them. But if they have no ideas or policies except obstruction, they should step aside and let others lead."

Bush's line of attack was echoed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican who accused "half" of the Senate of being "determined to keep anything from being accomplished."

Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee took aim at Democratic Party boss Howard Dean, saying he was "helping us expand our Republican majority."

Republicans have stepped up attacks on the Democratic National Committee chairman after he said Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives" and were "pretty much a white, Christian party."

Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the total raised for the President's Dinner was $23 million -- $14 million from House members and $9 million from senators.

The Democratic National Committee pointed to Carey's attendance of as evidence of an "anything goes" policy by Republicans.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bush attended a fund-raiser for Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), a Pennsylvania Republican who is up for re-election next year but has lagged behind his likely Democratic challenger in public opinion polls. That fund-raiser brought in an estimated $1.5 million.


And you Republicans call us crybabies :D

What do you expect? He's a Republican is he not? It's funny how even the president, the guy who's running the country, tries to blame the other side for the failings of his own party.

That's so true. Fuck, 20+ mil for a goddamn dinner party? There's something wrong with that. And why do we always get mention of a porn star? Jesus Christ, is it like people expect some juicy new scandal to arise? What the fuck man.....

He's probably jealous because he didn't get the blond porn star. Lol.

I bet they just mention the porn star to make it belittle Bush by saying, "HEY! You! The President! YOU WERE AROUND A PORN STAR!" I guess they think it's not very...gentlemenly like, especially for the president.

when the fucking north koreans invade with their 1,000,000+ army that cant be overrun due to the fact we have almost no troops left, then we won't have time for political correctness.

It's the fall of the Roman Empire people.

W. really is delusional. The whole idea of an opposition party, as the Democrats are now, is to oppose the agenda of the party in power.

What the hell does he expect Democrats to do?