Republican governors worried about Bush's recent troubles

WASHINGTON -- Republican governors are openly worrying that the Bush administration's latest stumbles -- from the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina to those of its own making on prescription drugs and ports security -- are taking an election-year toll on the party back home.\nThe GOP governors reluctantly acknowledge that the series of gaffes threatens to undermine public confidence in President Bush's ability to provide security, which has long been his greatest strength among voters.\n"You've got solid conservatives coming up speaking like they haven't before; it's likely that something's going on at the grass roots," said Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina. "Whether it's temporary or not remains to be seen."\nThe unease was clear in interviews with more than a dozen governors over the weekend, including nearly half of the Republicans attending the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. The annual conference took place in a capital enthralled by the \npolitical firestorm over government plans to approve takeover of operations at some terminals at six U.S. ports by a company owned by the United Arab Emirates government.\nDemocrats see opportunity, and even those in conservative states say the administration's missteps will have a ripple effect politically at home. \n"I do think there's a considerable degree of skepticism about what's been happening at the federal level," said Democrat Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. "If you didn't pick it up on Katrina, you did when you tried to help your parents" get drugs through the new Medicare program. \nBut it wasn't Bush's political opponents alone who saw weaknesses. So did his allies -- listing the days of chaos in New Orleans after the hurricane, the nationwide confusion over the drug prescription program that forced many states to step in to help seniors get medications and the ports security debacle that has drawn criticism from leading Republicans in Congress and the states.\nFor Republican Mitch Daniels of Indiana, who served in the administration as budget director and left to run for governor, the stumbles are undeniable but must be seen in context. \n"There's a lot of lousy luck involved," he said. "I'm not saying the White House hasn't had better days, but I'm probably not nearly so hard on them as most."\nHis return to a Washington weathering a barrage of criticism reminded him of the benefits of leaving. "I'm proud to have been associated with this administration. But second terms are tough. I think they've caught some bad breaks. I'm not yearning to be more than a tourist here."\nRepublican Bob Taft of Ohio offered judgment on Katrina: "This is hindsight, but it was a mistake to bury FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security."\nOther Republican governors said that while constituents back home were paying attention, much could change for the better before elections nine months off.