Rift Emerges in GOP After Schiavo Case
p conservative leaders gathered here a week after Terri Schiavo's death to plot a course of action against the nation's courts, but much of their anger was directed at leading Republicans, exposing an emerging crack between the party's leadership and core supporters on the right.
Conservative leaders criticized President Bush for failing to speak out strongly against removing the feeding tube from Schiavo, the 41-year-old incapacitated woman who died March 31. They blamed the president's brother, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, for failing to employ State Police powers to take control of Schiavo. They condemned comments by Senate majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Vice President Dick Cheney expressing support for the nation's judges.
... President Bush may have further complicated his relations with conservative activists yesterday, when he responded to a reporter's question about whether the Schiavo case showed that judges were out of control and should be held responsible. ''I believe in an independent judiciary. I believe in proper checks and balances," the president said in an interview with reporters on Air Force One as he returned from Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome. His comments drew praise from Democrats such as Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
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