When A Pep Talk Isn't All That Peppy

With Bush's poll numbers sinking and Republicans in Congress bickering among themselves, it was surely a good time for the President to pay a visit to Capitol Hill to rally the troops. And his pep talk on Iraq to G.O.P. legislators last weekan Iraqi President, he said, would one day come to the U.S. and "thank us for what we've done"—got the expected public raves from those in charge of the party's message. "To the last person in there, we're all behind him," said Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

But the private reviews among some in the room were less gushing. Some lawmakers checked e-mail on their BlackBerrys or read newspapers on their laps while Bush rambled "on and on and on with a stream-of-thought speech that lasted 35 minutes," groused a G.O.P. Representative, adding that the applause afterward was only "polite." Others were miffed that Bush took no questions — even though microphones had been set out in the audience for the lawmakers — and said nothing at all about the prison-abuse scandal. Instead, he pleaded for patience on the war with "the same boilerplate speech we've heard before," said a G.O.P. Senator.

Ironically, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi may have done more to rally the G.O.P. troops that day than Bush. In a press conference after the President's visit, she accused him of "incompetence" and declared that "the emperor has no clothes." Reaction was predictably swift and harsh. "Nancy Pelosi should apologize for her irresponsible, dangerous rhetoric," said House majority leader Tom DeLay. When times get tough for the G.O.P., the Democrats can always help out.