Can The New Sheriff Tame The West Wing?

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Aides were still searching last week, according to one, for "someone with credibility with the markets" to replace Treasury Secretary John Snow, who has come to be viewed as an ineffective messenger. They are also on the hunt to replace Jim Towey, director of the President's faith-based initiative, who left saying the effort had "faced a steady headwind from Day One." At one point, say G.O.P. officials, the White House was even inquiring about a possible ambassadorship for White House counsel Harriet Miers, but Bolten issued an unusual public denunciation of reports that she would be replaced. Bolten, 51, hopes to have most of his staff changes in place within a couple of weeks, and his aides are planning a "rollout" of public appearances for him then to discuss the new structure, on the theory that news coverage of change will benefit the President.

But the musical chairs is just the first of a two-act makeover. Friends and colleagues of Bolten told TIME about an informal, five-point "recovery plan" for Bush that is aimed at pushing him up slightly in opinion polls and reassuring Republican activists, whose disaffection could cost him dearly in November. The White House has no visions of expanding the G.O.P.'s position in the midterms; the mission is just to hold on to control of Congress by playing to the base. Here is the Bolten plan:

1 DEPLOY GUNS AND BADGES. This is an unabashed play to members of the conservative base who are worried about illegal immigration. Under the banner of homeland security, the White House plans to seek more funding for an extremely visible enforcement crackdown at the Mexican border, including a beefed-up force of agents patrolling on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). "It'll be more guys with guns and badges," said a proponent of the plan. "Think of the visuals. The President can go down and meet with the new recruits. He can go down to the border and meet with a bunch of guys and go ride around on an ATV." Bush has long insisted he wants a guest-worker program paired with stricter border enforcement, but House Republicans have balked at temporary legalization for immigrants, so the President's ambition of using the issue to make the party more welcoming to Hispanics may have to wait.

2 MAKE WALL STREET HAPPY. In an effort to curry favor with dispirited Bush backers in the investment world, the Administration will focus on two tax measures already in the legislative pipeline--extensions of the rate cuts for stock dividends and capital gains. "We need all these financial TV shows to be talking about how great the economy is, and that only happens when their guests from Wall Street talk about it," said a presidential adviser. "This is very popular with investors, and a lot of Republicans are investors."