Bush's Two Sides

Working the Hill on HMO reform, he can be dazzling--or bafflingly distracted. But can he win?

When members of Congress pay a visit to the White House these days to talk with the President about HMO reform, the lawmakers are never sure which George W. Bush will show up. Will it be the distracted Bush of a June 27 meeting with moderate Republicans--the Bush who seemed to be doodling on his notepad and parroting the talking points of his aides? Or will it be the other fellow, the impassioned advocate of a July 11 sitdown, whose nuanced arguments surprised some people who had also been at the June meeting? The first time, "he was just going through...

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