Thread: Bush woos Democrats despite divisions on UN post

By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush courted leaders of the Senate's new Democratic majority on Friday while pressing ahead with a divisive bid to get John Bolton confirmed as U.N. envoy before power changes hands in Congress.
Adapting to new political realities after Democrats won control of both chambers in Tuesday's elections, Bush met senior opposition lawmakers who will have increased influence over his policies at home and abroad, starting with the unpopular war in Iraq. "The election's over. The problems haven't gone away," Bush said at the end of the meeting. "There is a great opportunity for us to show the country ... that we can work together."


But the call for bipartisanship after years of bitter political combat between Bush's Republicans and their Democratic rivals could be undercut by his renewed effort to push through Bolton's nomination.
Despite a more conciliatory tone, Bush on Thursday urged the outgoing Republican-led Senate to confirm Bolton, a favorite of conservatives, before Democrats gain formal control in January.
Democrats derailed Bolton's confirmation last year, saying he used an earlier job as top U.S. diplomat for arms control to manipulate intelligence to promote his hawkish views. He has been serving as U.N. envoy under a temporary appointment by Bush that allows him to stay on until January.
Senate Democrats, joined by Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, are vowing to block the renomination, imperiling Bush's attempt to keep Bolton in the post. "Democrats have real concerns with John Bolton. And Bolton has problems with Republican support as well," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada

Controversial bills such as Bush's proposal for broader broader domestic wiretapping powers could be doomed.
Faced with a new political landscape in Washington, Bush met Harry Reid and Democratic whip Richard Durbin at the White House on Friday after holding talks with the Democratic House leadership on Thursday.
"The only way to move forward is with bipartisanship and openness, and to get some results," Reid told reporters. Just how long the new mood of cooperation lasts may depend on the looming 2008 presidential race.




Reid has urged Bush to convene a bipartisan summit on Iraq, but the White House was noncommittal on Friday. Democrats have made clear they will exert strong pressure on Bush for a policy shift in Iraq amid rising U.S. casualties and violence.
The White House has insisted Bush is open to changes in tactics but not in strategy on Iraq.
Analysts say a bipartisan commission co-chaired by Bush family loyalist and former Secretary of State James Baker could give the president a face-saving way to begin extricating U.S. forces from Iraq when it offers recommendations expected soon. Bush is due to meet the panel on Monday. In further election fallout, the White House confirmed Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, a Bush ally who guided his 2004 re-election, would not seek a second term.