President Bush is going to Europe today and, when I first heard it, the first thing to flash through my mind was that he is going to Europe to try and sell his social security reform plan to them.

Is it just me or has the Administration lost some of its forward momentum? Congress is, as usual, tied up in bickering and thinking about the next election but the steam seems to have gone out of the post-election mandate that the President claimed. Maybe it is just the pollen in then air but the whole political momentum of this country seem at a stand still and I cannot think of anyone in particular to blame – they all seem guilty.

You're right but it's nothing specifc to this time or administration. Look at your multiyear calendar.

The year before mid-term elections,especially in a second term admin', is akin to the month of August during a regular year. Everyone is out of town and planning their next move.

Human nature dictates that there is only so much the average person is wiling to absorb. So everyone is keeping a moderate public profile.

There's still work to be done of course, but President Bush will be keeping his powder dry in order to give the party a boost in the mid-terms. They start ramping up the "machine" the fall of the year before, so Sep to Nov we'll see things step up and then things will gradually build towards Nov06.

The very reason I hate politics is that constant campaigning – a necessary evil but this year and a half away thing is just too much especially when most of them will be re-elected without much of a fight.