The GOP for Sharon

WASHINGTON -- Conservative sage William J. Bennett, blunt as ever, last Thursday said publicly what elected Republican officials say privately. President Bush's new Middle East peace initiative, said Bennett, is "making very angry ... his entire political base. A firestorm is starting to build -- a firestorm of criticism." That defined the political threat to the president for seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The transcript of Bennett's remarks (in his new role as a CNN contributor) was perused, but not officially commented on, by senior aides at the White House. They are concerned. Bennett may have exaggerated a little, but not much. I telephoned several prominent Republican conservatives, some of them elected officials, who were in unanimous agreement with Bennett while declining to go public.