Bush Charm Is Cast Wide in First Days

If relations between Congress and the White House soon deteriorate into bitterness-as-usual, it won’t be for lack of effort to avoid that by President Bush.

During his first days in office, before a single meeting with his own Cabinet, Bush has summoned dozens of members of Congress--Democrats and Republicans, leaders and backbenchers, liberals and conservatives--to the White House for a dose of his fabled charm.

It was vintage Bush: He gave nicknames to lawmakers he barely knows, listened intently to their pet concerns, asked their guidance on the ways of Washington.

Partly, the sessions were icebreakers. But they also underscored Bush’s recognition of two hard, cold realities. He’s a newcomer to a town where the wheels of political compromise are often greased by personal relationships. And his party’s hold on Congress is so tenuous that he is going to need every vote he can get--from Democrats as well as Republicans--to get his agenda enacted.

The courtship of Congress has been a central pillar of Bush’s first week in office. He also made good during the week on a signature campaign promise by unveiling his education reform proposal, and he won plaudits from conservatives by abruptly cutting off U.S. funding for overseas abortion-related services. Combined, the actions provide a window onto the guiding principles of his fledgling presidency.

“It’s revealing about how he will govern: employing personal relationships for legislative gain, relentlessly pursuing his campaign objectives and tending to his base,” said Marshall Wittmann, a conservative political analyst at the nonpartisan Hudson Institute think tank. “You can see the outlines of a personable, cautious and disciplined presidency.”

Bush’s overtures to Capitol Hill gave many lawmakers their first glimpse of a leadership style that served him well as governor of Texas, where the alliances he sealed with a Democratic-controlled legislature paid off in lawmaking successes.

But whether that style travels well remains very much in doubt. Bush confronts a dramatically different political scene in Washington, where the stakes are higher and party lines are much more sharply drawn.

“Dealing with Congress is different from dealing with a state legislature, and Bill Clinton learned that to his disappointment,” said Howard Paster, who was legislative affairs director at the White House when Clinton first made the transition from Arkansas governor to president.

Democrats Question Long-Term Effects

Even some of the Democrats wooed and wowed by Bush this week are unsure that the efforts will produce a lasting bond across party lines.

“It’s nice to be at his table his third day in office,” said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.). “We want to see if we can continue to be at the table.”

Cardin and others said that they will be watching closely to see whether Bush’s idea of bipartisanship is to push his agenda and try to pick off a handful of Democrats or whether he will be willing to compromise to build a broader consensus.

Another Democrat who was at the Bush White House this week was skeptical: “We haven’t engaged on any substance. That will be the test of how effective this charm offensive is. In the end, you have two parties who disagree on a lot of things.”

Bush does not enjoy the advantage of having been a member of Congress himself. But he may have compensated for that by surrounding himself with old Capitol Hill hands: Vice President Dick Cheney is a former House member. Bush’s congressional liaison, Nick Calio, held a similar job in Bush’s father’s White House. Calio’s two top deputies were plucked from the staffs of the House and Senate GOP leaders.

New presidents always try to sweet talk Congress, but Bush’s bid has been especially concerted. Clinton had a meeting of congressional leaders of both parties within a week of his inauguration, but from the beginning he was catching flak from senior Democrats, such as then-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, for not consulting with them about policy and Cabinet appointments.

There are no such complaints like that about Bush. In fact, Bush aides even gave advance word of potential Cabinet selections to the likes of Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), one of the most liberal members of Congress.

So far, Bush’s courtship of Congress has been as disciplined and focused as his presidential election campaign. By the end of Thursday, just his fourth working day in office, he had already conducted eight small-group meetings with lawmakers. More are planned.

“I hope people are now beginning to realize that, when I said the executive branch is willing to work with the legislative branch and do what’s right for the country, it’s not hollow words,” Bush said before one session.

Bush Guest List Carefully Crafted

His guests have been carefully chosen: Most are in positions that make them crucial to his legislative success. He started with GOP leaders, his political base without whom he can get nowhere in Congress. He moved on to a bipartisan group of leaders on education, including Miller and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). He met with a large group of centrists from both parties, including Democratic moderates who seem the most likely to join him on a range of issues.

He also met with potential adversaries, such as Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, as well as his erstwhile nemesis, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is pushing hard on a campaign finance reform bill that the administration opposes.

Many of these lawmakers emerged from their meetings far more impressed with Bush than when they went in. The president is, by all accounts, more impressive in person and in small groups than he is on television or giving speeches to large audiences.

The lawmakers were immediately impressed by the efficiency and focus of the Bush White House, a stark contrast to the chaotic early months of the Clinton operation. Some saw this as an outgrowth of Bush being the first president with a master’s degree in business administration. They noted that Bush starts his meetings on time. Clinton was so perennially late, some lawmakers suspected that he never stopped living on Central Standard Time when he left Arkansas.

“You get a real sense of a more disciplined, orderly meeting than you did with Clinton,” said one Democrat. “You don’t get him off the topic ruminating about things.”

Bush used the sessions this week to probe for more information about the factions and dynamics of Capitol Hill. For example, he quizzed Rep. Calvin M. Dooley (D-Visalia) on the difference between “blue dog” and “new” Democrats, two overlapping factions of moderates to conservatives in the party. (Dooley explained that the blue dogs tend to be mostly concerned with fiscal issues, such as taxes and debt reduction; new Democrats tend to focus on education, trade and high-technology issues.)

Bush’s political skills also were evident. Even when he met with almost two dozen relatively obscure House members, he knew most of their names and greeted each with a deft personal touch. He recalled a campaign appearance with Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) in Peoria. He autographed a place card for House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) to give to a child. Bush did not know Dooley but immediately recognized him when the Californian mentioned the name of the Republican he beat last fall.

Bush’s penchant for nicknames quickly surfaced. He dubbed Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) “Freddy Boy” and called Miller “Big George.” (A reporter from Texas later told Miller that it was no small honor; in the Lone Star State, the reporter said, getting a nickname from a person in an important post is “like getting the Nobel Peace Prize.”)

On his priorities, lawmakers said, Bush was opinionated and forceful. When LaHood suggested that Bush move his $1.6-trillion tax-cut plan through Congress piece by piece rather than in one package, Bush decisively batted away the suggestion and said he was determined to keep it whole.

But for the most part, while Clinton was a talker, lawmakers said, Bush is a good listener--a characteristic that is especially prized by politicians who love to be heard.

“This White House has a much more genuine desire to listen,” said Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). “It’s a pretty effective leadership style when you’re working with Congress.”