President Bush made a very strong attempt to turn around what had been a Democratic free fire zone for the last week over the 8 U.S. Attorney firings. With his forceful statement this evening he has placed the Democrats in an uncomfortable position politically. Any effort by Chuck Schumer and John Conyers to lead a protracted fight against the White House will pretty quickly deteriorate into a partisan brawl, which will actually have the effect of bolstering Bush.

The wiser political move for the Democrats would probably be to quickly accept some compromise version of the President's proposed deal and just pocket the political gift the Attorney General gave them over the last two weeks with his incompetence. However, with President Bush essentially ignoring them on Iraq and proceeding with the surge, it may be asking for too much self-control on the part of the Democrats to not plow ahead and keep firing at the White House.

The President said he hoped the Democrats "don't choose confrontation," but not unlike the Clinton phenomenon in his last two years, confrontation with this Democratic Congress may be just what this ailing President needs...and wants.