President Bush is taking a more aggressive tack against Democrats by making controversial nominations that will reignite debates that could benefit Republicans in an election year.
By nominating Gen. Michael Hayden to be the new CIA director and White House aide Brett Kavanaugh to be a federal judge, Bush is reopening the debate over the terrorist surveillance program and other national security issues. Polls show Americans prefer Republicans over Democrats on matters of national security.
Although the White House insists the nominees were chosen because they are the most qualified, it is also relishing the prospect of reaping political dividends from the debates expected to arise at confirmation hearings.
Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said the Bush administration is trying to encourage conservative Republicans to vote in November.
“Their biggest problem is igniting the base,” he said. “I mean, this is a midterm election. You don’t have presidential-style turnout — you have base turnout.
“And this is the way to do it. You get people mad and you remind them of the differences between the parties, so they see a reason to vote.”
Democrats are planning to question Hayden on his implementation of a terrorist surveillance program at the National Security Agency. The program allows the U.S. to eavesdrop on international telephone conversations of suspected terrorists.
For nearly three years, Democrats have been blocking an up-or-down vote on Kavanaugh, who was nominated to serve on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Even if Democrats continue to block Kavanaugh, the White House hopes they can be portrayed as obstructing the president’s judicial nominees, which proved a winning strategy in the 2002 midterm campaign.
White House officials are planning to up the ante by nominating 20 or more conservatives to fill judicial vacancies in the coming weeks. If Democrats try to filibuster even a small number of the nominees, Bush plans to make it a campaign issue as he stumps for fellow Republicans.
