President Bush has set out to Europe – principally Poland, Russia and France – and to the Middle East for a week-long trip that is generally considered by many as the most ambitious one during his presidency.
With a clear agenda to mend fences with his major European allies, namely, Russia and France after the post-Iraq war, President Bush will also enjoy the 300th birthday celebrations in St. Petersburg with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
From Russia, Mr. Bush will proceed to Evian, France, for the annual G-8 summit before he leaves for Jordan to participate in a historic three-way summit involving Mr. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the new Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.
On the domestic front, a one-time presidential hopeful and former Colorado senator Gary Hart has been busy urging fellow democrats to be more aggressive in going one up over President Bush’s domestic agenda with the 2004 reelection bid in mind.
Mr. Hart, who has decided not to run for the democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, said Democrats have let the President control the debate on issues like Iraq, homeland security and, especially, tax cuts.