Rumors Of Bush's Demise May Be Greatly Exaggerated

A suddenly proactive White House has even some skeptical Democrats admitting they are seeing new life in an administration they were about to bury.

As he made plans for his trip this week to Latin America-an area that was once to have been a primary focus of his presidency-George Bush revisited areas hit by Hurricane Katrina, got ready to tour parts of the South ripped by last week's tornadoes, and announced he would appoint a bipartisan commission to check into the healthcare of wounded war veterans.

Not to mention Friday's firing of the Secretary of the Army and the head of Walter Reed Medical Center over the scandal of care for wounded vets there.

Democrats are also impressed with the administration's new willingness to join with Baghdad in talks with Iran and Syria, a nonstarter in the past. And they admit they are surprised by all the new outreach from the White House to the Hill on domestic issues. Still, it's not clear whether the outreach will result in cooperation for critical domestic legislation. Groused one senior Democratic strategist, "President Bush should have done these things a long time ago."

By Kenneth T. Walsh