Are we in another quagmiers? Tom DeFrank suggests not:
"Delay is Bush's best tactical weapon. An emerging strategy is to slide next week's decision date by 30 to 60 days so the White House can launch the education job with Congress and the public it should have done weeks ago."
Politically, it seems to me that the Bush response should be more than this. It should focus on a renewed effort to secure the ports, allotting as much money and manpower as we do for airports. He can and should defend the P&O deal, while acknowledging that much more needs to be done for port security. Of course, given the rebellious mood among the GOP grass roots, this may still not be enough. Live by Jacksonian rhetoric; die by it.