In a second day of overtures to Democrats, President Bush lunched with presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday and instructed his Cabinet to cooperate with the newly empowered opposition party.
“The American people expect us to rise above partisan differences, and my administration will do its part,” Bush pledged in the Rose Garden, where he was flanked by his Cabinet. “It is our responsibility to put the elections behind us and work together on the great issues facing America.”
The remarks came as Republicans conceded Senate seats in Virginia and Montana, thereby giving control of the chamber to Democrats, who already had been assured of controlling the House after Tuesday’s election.
After lunching in the White House with Pelosi and the House’s No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Bush acknowledged: “We won’t agree on every issue. But we do agree that we love America equally, that we’re concerned about the future of this country, and that we will do our very best to address big problems.”
Pelosi said she and Hoyer “extended the hand of friendship” to Bush.
“It is very exciting to be the first woman speaker of the House, God-willing, if my colleagues support that in another few days,” the California Democrat said.
Hoyer, who is running for House majority leader, called the lunch “a very positive first step” toward bipartisan cooperation.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow suggested the onus now is on Democrats to help come up with a way forward in Iraq.
“There’s an opportunity for some really good and important bipartisan work here, because Democrats have been complaining about Iraq,” he said. “OK, now is the chance for both parties to work together, working toward victory.”
But Snow made clear Bush would resist any Democratic calls for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq, even if polls showed such a withdrawal had public support.
“He’s willing to take whatever political hits come,” the spokesman said of Bush. “If he has to choose between doing his job properly and being popular, he’s going to do the job properly to save American lives — not only now, but for future generations.”
