Reps - The gang that can't get anything right.

Maybe Americans are finally waking up! Even his own party can't stand * any more!


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite their revolt over the Dubai ports deal, Republicans say they remain loyal to President George W. Bush. But there are signs many may distance themselves from him as the 2006 congressional election nears.

"I'm sure some members already have and I imagine there will be others," said one Republican senator who asked not to be named.

"Republicans are determined that they aren't going to lose these elections because they're seen as too close to Bush," said a former Republican leadership aide. "In the past six years, Congress has taken its cues from the White House. I think you will see that change."

The move away from Bush became more apparent in the past week as the political firestorm over whether an Arab-owned company should run terminals at six U.S. ports culminated in the firm withdrawing from the deal. Bush has faced Republican opposition on a number of other issues, including a controversial immigration plan and unpopular spending cuts ahead of the fall congressional elections.

Bush will not be on the ballot in November but fellow Republicans who will be may find that the president, battered by slumping polls numbers, could be a drag on their efforts to retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

While congressional Republicans stood firmly with Bush during his first term, particularly on the tax cuts and the Iraq war, Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia, said Republicans are running away from him. The port deal is the latest and most vivid example.

'A GODSEND'

"In a way, the port deal was a godsend to them," Sabato said. "It allowed them to put a lot of daylight between themselves and a very unpopular president.

"I'd bet you that most Republicans on the ballot this year end up citing their opposition to the port deal to show how independent they are -- that they are independent Republicans, not 'Bush Republicans."'

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said the belief that Republicans in Congress are bailing out on Bush is "an inaccurate perception."

During a teleconference with reporters about the federal announcement that the U.S. economy created 240,000 new jobs last month, Hastert said on Friday: "We work with the president ... That's why we have this economic growth."

Asked whether Republicans could best hold onto the House if they distance themselves from Bush, Hastert said: "What we're going to do is what's good for this country."

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, said, "There are lots of tremendous successes in this administration."

Yet polls show rising public discontent with Bush and the Republican-led Congress. In fact, recent surveys show the president's approval rating has slipped to below 40 percent, a personal record low.

This has occurred amid public concern and outrage on matters from the Iraq war to the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina to Vice President Dick Cheney's response to accidentally shooting a fellow hunter.

Marshall Wittmann, who served in the administration of Bush's father and is now with the Democratic Leadership Council after a stint as a Senate Republican aide, said, "Many Republicans are scratching their heads and wondering if this is the gang that can't get anything right."

but only because they might lose their elections. what moral hypocrites.

Our own could vote against Alito but did not have the guts to vote for a filibuster. I wanted to puke over that one.