Bush's Least Favorite Issue

By Josh Tyrangiel

This is a political loser." So Karl Rove has been telling President Bush about the battle over stem-cell research. Not exactly nuanced analysis from the President's chief strategist. Rove is stuck with the unenviable task of studying the science and politics of the issue and delivering a recommendation to his boss, who is poised to make a decision soon. Insiders say Rove personally leans in favor of research that uses fetal cell tissue. Politically, however, he's in favor of his boss's re-election. Polls indicate that a substantial majority of American Roman Catholics support embryonic research, but Rove fears church leaders would so fervently oppose a decision to back it that they would draw more Catholics to their side. And since conservative Catholics tend to be among those most open to the Bush and G.O.P. agenda, to alienate them on the issue would be a potentially grave political risk. That may be one reason the Bush Administration has just announced a plan to allow states to provide "unborn child" medical coverage, an unmistakable gesture of goodwill toward Catholics. Still, Rove has been heard to say that, with such a difficult choice, the only thing to do is the right thing. That's a sure sign a strategist is in a bind.

--Reported by James Carney and John F. Dickerson/Washington

With reporting by JAMES CARNEY AND JOHN F. DICKERSON/WASHINGTON