Kelly Wallace: Bush faces thorny issues at home

Kelly Wallace

CNN White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace was following U.S. President George W. Bush as he traveled on his second European tour and reflects on some of the issues he faces at home and abroad.

Domestic politics intersected with international politics on U.S. President George W. Bush's trip to Europe on at least two occasions.

At the start of Bush's European tour, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) criticized the president's handling of United States allies in a newspaper interview. The White House called Daschle's comments a violation of a long-standing bipartisan tradition to support the president when he is overseas. Daschle responded, saying he meant what he said, but that maybe his timing could have been better.

And Pope John Paul II stepped into the domestic debate over embryonic stem cell research, putting pressure on Bush as the president faces what he considers one of the most difficult decisions of his presidency so far.

After his first face-to-face meeting with Bush, the Pope condemned the creation of human embryos for research purposes, urging Bush to reject practices that "devalue and violate human life at any stage of conception until natural death."

The president must decide whether to allow tax dollars to back research on stem cells obtained from human embryos, which proponents say could lead to breakthroughs in the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer's.

A decision to support the research could alienate the Roman Catholic voters Bush has been actively trying to court since taking office.

The U.S. president, who is often viewed by Europeans as not being well-travelled, made it a point of touting his prior visits to European countries during his trip.

"Somehow the press got this notion I had never been to London," said Bush outside the British Museum, telling reporters he had been to London two times before.

"I was reading in one of our major newspapers the other day that this is the first time I had been to London which is simply not the case," he said.

As he and first lady Laura Bush walked hand-in-hand touring ancient ruins in Rome, Bush was asked if it was his first time here.

"Second," he replied. "It's a very romantic city."

Bush leaves the romance of Rome and the warm reception from U.S. military troops in Kosovo, and goes back to Washington, where he faces battles with Congress over domestic issues, including a patient's bill of rights, education reform and his faith-based agenda.