GOP Candidates Courting "Political Risk of Appearing in Lock Step" with Bush on Health Veto
Patrick Healy set Republican presidential candidates up for failure in Friday's "G.O.P. Contenders Endorse Children's Insurance Veto."
"The four leading Republican presidential candidates have aligned themselves with President Bush's veto on Wednesday of an expanded health insurance program for children, once again testing the political risk of appearing in lock step with a president who has low approval ratings and some critics of the veto within their party.
"It is yet another issue - like the Iraq war, North Korea's nuclear program and the management of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina - where the Republican contenders are treading delicately as they gauge how to position themselves with an unpopular president on contentious issues. While all four are defending the veto, some in full-throated language, the candidates are at the same time forgoing praise of Mr. Bush's judgment on the issue or of his leadership in general."
