WPLLC > Partner Perspectives > Archived Issue

Partner Perspectives -
Providing regularly updated insider views into Capitol Hill, the White House and more.

Washington Partner Perspectives For February 22, 2007



Today’s questions are answered by Harrison Wadsworth, a principal with the firm.

Wadsworth is former press secretary and legislative director to Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and has also worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. His work at Washington Partners includes working with educational and financial institutions involved in the federal student aid programs, contributing to the firm’s growing public relations practice, and working with an association of financial institutions offering financing for American students enrolled in non-U.S. institutions.

Wadsworth received a B.A. in mass communications from the University of California at Davis and an M.A. in economics and American foreign policy/security studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Wadsworth serves on the board of directors and editorial policy committee of Higher Education Washington, the co-publisher of Partner Perspectives.

Today’s questions focus on the initial accomplishments of the 110th Congress and its working relationship with President Bush.

A recent poll indicated that approximately 58 percent of all Americans now wished the Bush Presidency were over. How is the President’s lack of popularity impacting his ability to work with the 110th Congress?

Wadsworth:

At this point the vultures are circling this presidency with Congressional Republicans depressed and/or angry and Democrats still in the afterglow of their November victory. What the president and his administration have to do, and have been trying to do in the case of Iraq at least, is show signs of life. As those who wrote off Clinton in 1995 found, it’s much tougher to govern in Congress, and a president can use his power to turn the national agenda on its head. At this point, the Administration is as irrelevant as an administration can be to Congress. I think that will probably change in the coming months as Democrats will probably have a stumble and the president will eventually luck into something positive happening.

Does the President have any political capital left that might be used with Congress?

Wadsworth:

Not too much right now. Republicans feel like his policies, mainly in Iraq, cost them their majorities, while Democrats are not paying him any mind. What he needs is a good veto fight to assert himself, since he clearly would prevail in almost any override attempt.

As is well understood on Capitol Hill, unhappiness with President Bush relates in very large measure to the increasing unpopularity of the war in Iraq and the President’s recent proposal to increase the troops in-country. Is there anything the President can do to separate disagreements with him on war policy from his domestic agenda, including education?

Wadsworth:

He can try but I don’t think he will succeed. The war looms so heavily over public opinion. Also, the presidential races are underway, and the war is a central theme there, so it won’t go away. However, the President has an able secretary of education who may through her own initiatives and personality be able to assert herself despite the President’s problems. This is especially true for No Child Left Behind reauthorization. For higher education, the president hasn’t put much on the table, other than increasing Pell Grants which is not exactly a controversial proposal.

Some on Capitol Hill suggest that President Bush “already has his eye on the door” and is getting progressively more interested in his legacy. What will be the President’s legacy in the education and budget areas?

Wadsworth:

No Child Left Behind will be his major education legacy – the law is already on the books and it has had significant impacts across the country already. For the budget, his legacy will apparently be taking the country from historic surpluses to historic deficits, leaving the bulk of the deficit problem for his successor to fix.

Mr. Wadsworth may be e-mailed at hwadsworth@wpllc.net or 202.289.3900.