Expert: Dennis Date: 4/28/2008 Subject: Political Capital
Question If a President pushes an unpopular bill, say an increase in spending, would this
affect his ability to pass another proposal that was completely separate?
Would Congress ignore the merits of a bill just because of the President's
popularity level?
Answer It would depend on who the bill was unpopular with, how he applied pressure, and if it was in someway connected to the subsequent bill.
Take NAFTA as an example. Bill Clinton (Democrat) wanted it passed. All of his supporters in the Democratic Party hated it. So he threatened, cajoled (meaning he made promises about other things), and worked with Republicans to get it passed.
After it passed some of his supporters worked against his other proposals, and some haven't forgiven him (or his wife) to this day.
As for the second part of your question - absolutely. If the President is in the other Party and is unpopular, the Party in power in Congress will do anything and everything they can do to defeat and/or embarrass the President. The perfect example exists today. Whatever Bush wants, the Congress is against. It's either too much, or not enough. It makes no difference what the bill says.
The Democrats control Congress, and with Bush's popularity at record lows, they feel there will be no voter retribution when they oppose the President, regardless of the issue. From budgets, to research, to funding for troops in Iraq, if the President says "A," they'll scream "B." Look at the "surge" in Iraq. Everyone, media, politicians, military people, all agree it has been a success. What did the Democrat Speaker of the House say two weeks ago? It's been an abject failure and we must get out of Iraq. If Bush said the world was round, the Democrats would say it was flat, and try to pass a bill making it a law.
