Growing voter discontent about Iraq. Harriet Miers. Looming indictments. FEMA's fumbles. The Bush presidency is in free fall. The "political capital" he claimed after last year's election is completely gone.
What could Bush do to arrest the decline and turn his second term back around? Is there anything? Or is it totally out of his control?
And in the bigger picture, what can any president do to avoid the "second term curse?" Does the scent of lame duck make a second term presidency automatically ignorable and ineffectual?
I'm very interested in the opinions of JU's political brain trust on this, conservative, liberal, and other.