WASHINGTON INSIGHT

WITH BUSH DOWN . . . Emboldened by President Bush’s slide in the polls, some members of Congress have decided to push ahead with legislation that seemed doomed a few months ago. . . . Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and William S. Cohen (R-Me.) plan to renew the post-Watergate independent counsel law, a measure Bush has threatened to veto. The law, under which top aides to former President Ronald Reagan have been prosecuted, is due to expire in December, and some members of Congress had given up hopes of reauthorizing it over Bush’s objections. But no more. . . . With Bush preoccupied, the Senate is moving ahead with the law.