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Article: Partisan Divisions Bedevil Bush; Advisers Seek Ways to Redefine Presidency as Popularity Slips
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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President Bush has failed to ease the partisan divisions in the
country during his first months in office, frustrating administration
efforts to enlarge his fragile political base and prompting advisers
to look for ways to redefine his presidency, according to polls,
administration officials and party strategists.
Despite passage of the biggest tax cut in two decades and
substantial progress on an education reform bill, Bush's approval
ratings have declined over the past 60 days, and the electorate
remains as sharply divided as it was at the end of last year's
election.
The drop in public opinion, coupled with the fact that Democrats
now control the Senate, has emboldened the president's ...