Looking For The Restart Button

• Share

(2 of 2)

4) With world events largely beyond control, tackle a robust agenda at home. Bush plans an ambitious energy initiative that could include the extension of tougher fuel-economy standards for light trucks to all vehicles, along with a major expansion of research and development of alternatives to oil.

5) Get real. Bush had once hoped to overhaul Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid all at once, saying these entitlement programs would hamstring today's children. Aides say that with Democrats in no mood to help, he will start with Social Security but is not going in with his past no-new-taxes swagger, nor will he insist on private accounts, as he did in 2005, though he wants to wind up with both. An official calls it the "new reality."

At a pre-Christmas news conference, a reporter asked Bush what he planned to do during the final quarter of his presidency in order to be remembered for something in addition to Iraq. "I'm going to work hard," Bush replied. "I'm going to sprint to the finish." The President wanted it known that he's not sweating his legacy. "I'm reading about George Washington, still," he joked. "My attitude is, if they're still analyzing No. 1, 43 ought not to worry about it and just do what he thinks is right." At the same time, he's hoping to pull off a Bush 3.0.