Looking For The Restart Button

By Mike Allen

Back in December 2000, if you had asked the then dark-haired President-elect to assess his predecessors, George W. Bush might have ranked Bill Clinton down around, oh, say, 42 out of 42. The President's friends say he has a lot more respect for Clinton now having seen what the ups and downs of the office are like. And this White House can only envy the final trajectory of Clinton's presidency--in a trough with two years to go and then celebrated as he ran up surpluses and pulled all-nighters negotiating Middle East peace. President Ronald Reagan, stung by the Iran-contra scandal, plunged in polls 23 months before he moved out of the White House. But he overhauled his staff and went on to give his "tear down this wall" speech and sign a missile-reduction treaty with the Soviets.

These are examples of the time-honored presidential restart--an unofficial third term for re-elected Presidents loping toward the history books. Bush could use a reset button. Not only does he face emboldened Democrats who aren't planning to give him any breaks, but also his own Republicans are grumpy. A former top aide says it is "impossible to overstate the disappointment and disgust" among Bush loyalists about how the President squandered his post-9/11 popularity. So Bush is using a pair of momentous appearances this month--his "new way forward" speech on Iraq and his penultimate State of the Union address--to try to reconnect with Americans.

"While some may view this as a final chapter, the President views it very much more as a new chapter--one in which there is an enormous amount of time to get things done," presidential counselor Dan Bartlett says. "As you look back over history, divided government has often produced big results." White House officials say they have a plan, and told TIME how they hope to pull off their Houdini act.

1) Assert your Commander-in-Chief authority. In prime time, Bush put more of an onus on Iraqi officials to secure their country while announcing a hike in U.S. troop strength and contending that the U.S. cannot afford to fail. House and Senate Democrats put forward plans to rein him in through the pressure of a bipartisan resolution and harsh scrutiny of the budget request for what they called an "escalation." However, White House officials say the President will not be deterred. They know that Democrats will not cut off funds if doing so could hurt troops, and the Democrats admit their resolution is nonbinding.

2) Hire a velvet hammer. G.O.P. officials said the return of White House counsel Fred Fielding to the job he held in the Reagan Administration signaled to Capitol Hill that the Administration would not simply stonewall in the face of subpoenas and investigations. Fielding will take a tough stance in some negotiations and be flexible in others. "He's highly partisan but highly regarded," an official said.

3) Search for common ground. Both parties believe that Bush will finally get through Congress an immigration bill that includes at least temporary legal status for workers who are now undocumented. Bush will also emphasize other issues on which Democrats may want to deal, including lowering costs for college students, making health care affordable and curbing spending.

4) With world events largely beyond control, tackle a robust agenda at home. Bush plans an ambitious energy initiative that could include the extension of tougher fuel-economy standards for light trucks to all vehicles, along with a major expansion of research and development of alternatives to oil.

5) Get real. Bush had once hoped to overhaul Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid all at once, saying these entitlement programs would hamstring today's children. Aides say that with Democrats in no mood to help, he will start with Social Security but is not going in with his past no-new-taxes swagger, nor will he insist on private accounts, as he did in 2005, though he wants to wind up with both. An official calls it the "new reality."

At a pre-Christmas news conference, a reporter asked Bush what he planned to do during the final quarter of his presidency in order to be remembered for something in addition to Iraq. "I'm going to work hard," Bush replied. "I'm going to sprint to the finish." The President wanted it known that he's not sweating his legacy. "I'm reading about George Washington, still," he joked. "My attitude is, if they're still analyzing No. 1, 43 ought not to worry about it and just do what he thinks is right." At the same time, he's hoping to pull off a Bush 3.0.

With reporting by Perry Bacon Jr., Massimo Calabresi, Michael Duffy/ Washington