President Bush has little to show so far from his attempt to rally conservatives over a budget battle, but Republicans think a focus on spending and taxes will eventually pay off.
The president’s veto of a Democrat-sponsored children’s health bill, and veto threats against 11 of 12 spending bills, have failed to energize the conservative base this year.
Potential political momentum has been slowed by the Republican Party’s own fiscal recklessness in the past.
Jim Nussle, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, said the Republican Party “lost our way with our constituents” in particular because of earmarks during the GOP’s time in the congressional majority.
“Because of the lack of credibility practically everyone has now, it’s going to take more than one or two instances to gain credibility with anyone,” Mr. Nussle, a former Republican congressman from Iowa, said at a lunch with several journalists last week.
Mr. Bush is fighting Democrats over spending, which is naturally less of a rallying point than a tax battle.
“We don’t get calls from constituents about spending,” said one senior aide to a ranking Republican senator, speaking on the condition that their names not be used.
Conservatives remain focused on immigration — an issue that has turned the president’s own base against him — and fighting terrorism, the aide said.
Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, agreed, but said his party is behind Mr. Bush and is banking on delayed gratification.
“Republicans have been highlighting this fact all year, bill by bill. It’s been a major focus for us. The media may not find it very sexy all the time, but the American people pay attention when they hear that Washington wants to take — and spend — more and more of their hard-earned money every year,” he said.
“There’s no silver-bullet solution. We’re just going to fight these battles consistently,” Mr. Kennedy said.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said that conservatives will eventually rally to Mr. Bush, despite being burned in the past.
“If some conservatives are wary, they will soon enough rally to President Bush holding a banner of bold colors,” Mr. Norquist said.
Democrats accuse the White House of picking budget fights for political reasons and to distract from the Iraq war.
“Whether it was because he needed to distract from the war in Iraq or because he needed to score some political points with his base by picking a fight over appropriations, the president has been threatening to veto bills before he had even seen them,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.
Many Republicans, however, believe that the Democrat-controlled Congress doesn’t want to allow Mr. Bush to use his veto pen on spending bills.
“Democrats recognize that Republicans can reclaim the fiscal discipline mantle by upholding presidential vetoes on spending bills,” the Senate Republican aide said. “So, the cynical speculation is that they will not conference bills, continue to delay and ultimately offer up an omnibus that will be much more difficult to veto.”
White House press secretary Dana Perino warned Democrats against combining all 12 appropriations bills into an enormous omnibus bill, which often becomes a vehicle for massive amounts of pork.
“What we don’t want to see is a large omnibus bill at the end of the year, where all kinds of mischief can occur,” Mrs. Perino said.
A House Republican source said that Democrats “know they’ll get their clocks cleaned in these fights, so they’re avoiding these fights entirely until they can compile enough sensational heartstring rhetoric to accompany bills down Pennsylvania Avenue, like [the State Children’s Health Insurance Program].”
Mr. Manley brushed aside Republican charges.
“We are going to start sending bills down that are fiscally responsible while funding key priorities that this administration has ignored for far too long,” Mr. Manley said. “It will then be up to the president to decide how to proceed.”
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