No Deal?

Debbie from Right Truth commented on my last port deal post on Wednesday:

I think this entire UAE/Dubai Port World scare is just that, ... a scare. The politicians jumped on the bandwagon before anybody new the facts.

I would agree. Despite that it seems that facts are not helping:

Hugh Hewitt recounts attitudes about the deal-- Jim Geraghty and Jack Kelly have been the two most eloquent proponents of the ports deal, although Robert Kaplan did contribute a very persuasive explanation on my radio show ten days back.

Still, the American public appears very opposed to the concept, and although Jim and Jack are right to spot some nativism in the opposition, and some flat-out stupidity, there is a large segment of the opposition that clings to Reagan's admonition to "trust but verify."

The deal came through CFIUS, with no great claim on the public's trust. The president hadn't been briefed on it, nor apparently the vice president, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of State.

It is a homeland border issue.

Over at NRO, the editors want to dump the deal: This is simply a debacle, shaping up as a lose-lose for Bush. If he loses on the Hill, he will be humiliated and identified with the unpopular deal. If he wins, it’s hard to see how he won't be doing so against the grain of public opinion, harming himself on national security in a cause — having DP World manage the terminals — that is not of fundamental importance.

The deal is unpopular among Republicans — almost 60 percent of whom oppose it, according to polls. The ports controversy is actually wreaking the damage on Bush's political base that the Harriet Miers nomination only threatened to inflict. Congressional Republicans aren’t going to let Sen. Chuck Schumer, who will surely find a reason to oppose the deal no matter what, get to their right on port security, and many of them actively want to split with the president on a high-profile issue.

Although many of our friends have sincere doubts about the deal, we have yet to hear a compelling argument against it. So it is with regret that we say the deal should be jettisoned. That seems to be where the trajectory of this controversy is headed anyway, and the sooner it happens the less painful it will be for the administration. There are many more important issues on which Bush should, nay must, spend his dwindling political capital, the war in Iraq foremost among them. To realize this is to prioritize, not to panic.

Perception has become reality it would seem.