President to 'Meet the Press'

President Bush suggested to his staff that he appear on Meet the Press on Sunday as a way of answering questions about Iraq after a barrage of Democratic criticism against him, a White House official said Thursday.

Bush's decision to submit to an hourlong interrogation by NBC's Tim Russert comes as Democrats John Kerry, Howard Dean, John Edwards and Wesley Clark have been denouncing him not just on Sunday morning shows but on programs ranging from Hardball and Larry King Live to David Letterman's Late Show and Jon Stewart's Daily Show, where Edwards announced his candidacy.

Communications director Dan Bartlett said Bush "felt it was important that the American people hear his thinking on this issue and pursuing the war on terrorism." Bush suggested Meet the Press Tuesday because of the "lengthy format" and because "Tim Russert has an enormous amount of respect," Bartlett said.

Others were puzzled. "Frankly, it seems that they're overreacting," said GOP consultant Don Sipple, who worked for Bush's first gubernatorial campaign in Texas. "I don't think it's the best forum for him right now." But, Sipple said, "he's in a much different race than they thought they were in a month and a half ago."

Michigan Democratic officials thought Internet voting would attract a slew of ballots cast from the comfort of living rooms across the state.

But the new voting option, along with the chance to vote by mail, hasn't turned out to be the participation boon party leaders predicted. As of Thursday evening, about 20,000 people had cast their ballots online and another 20,000 voted by mail, far fewer than hoped for by party officials, who sent out about 110,000 of the ballots.

The reason, many say, is the collapsed or faltering campaigns of Rep. Richard Gephardt and Howard Dean, which had been most active in trying to get out the Internet and mail vote.

The Federal Election Commission has put off a decision that could place new limits on partisan interest groups and jeopardize a fundraising strategy Democrats are using to counter Republican money in this year's elections.

Under the proposal, the FEC would ban partisan political groups from using corporate and union donations known as soft money on get-out-the-vote drives, ads and other spending targeting presidential or congressional candidates.

Three Democratic FEC members blocked action on the proposal Thursday, saying they needed more time to review comments. The commission also includes three Republicans. The FEC plans to consider the proposal Feb. 18.

President Bush's twin daughters may take part in their father's re-election bid after they graduate from college this spring, first lady Laura Bush said Thursday.

Mrs. Bush told CNN that her 22-year-old daughters, Jenna and Barbara, are contemplating a role in what may be their father's last campaign. "They are terrific girls. They are getting ready to graduate from college and we'll see when they graduate," Mrs. Bush said. "You know, this will be really their first campaign that their dad has run that they are really old enough to be involved."

Jenna, a senior at the University of Texas, and Barbara, a senior at Yale University, have not taken a prominent role in their father's past campaigns. A recently published biography on the first lady, Ann Gerhart's The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush, portrayed the twins as uninterested in political life.

The first lady declined to say which candidate she'd like to see the president run against in the fall, but she took issue with some of the negative campaigning so far.

"It seems to me that they are spending most of their time saying really terrible things about my husband," she said. "No, I really don't like that."

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