There are two Bushes. There is the governor who worked well with Democrats in Texas. And there is the president who has scorned bipartisanship.

Which one will we now see?

I'm guessing we'll see the same Bush we've seen for the last six years.

First, presidents usually don't change their stripes once in office. They assume that the approach they have taken while president is what got them where they are, so why change? I know of no president who suddenly reinvented himself in office. By their sixth year the die is cast.

Second, were Bush to change he would seem inauthentic. We would be left wondering just who he is. This would unnerve his supporters.

Third, he has more reason now than ever to please his base. Without them he has no support at all. He cannot afford to alienate them. Catering to them while striking a bipartisan note is almost impossible.

Fourth, as we go forward from here he will be sorely tempted to blame the collapse of Iraq on the Democrats. He will be looking for every excuse he can to claim that their policies and statements are undermining American morale and giving hope to the enemy. He cannot pursue this approach at the same time that he is making nice to the Democrats (though he will pretend to be making nice to them in order to claim later that he did everything he could to meet them halfway).

I therefore predict that he will continue to make bipartisan noises but will not seriously engage the opposition.