Dre, in the comments section to this post:

... The only body on earth that can check [Bush] is the Democratic Party. Back in August the threat to Bush's power was the Democrats in Congress. By changing the topic of discussion from corporate scandals and the economy to war, he was able to neutralize that threat. Having put Saddam into play he might have to deal with some messy consequences, but that was a gamble worth taking to gain control of Congress. ...

An interesting theory. Except that Bush has been hot for Sadaam's tail since before he occupied the White House. Using him for electoral advantage was convenient, but not the only reason for banging the war drums. I agree that, by putting Iraq into play in the 2002 election, Bush effectively put himself into a corner as far as action is concerned. The congress may have given him the authorization to attack, but does that authorization have no real or practical expiration date? People won't let him go forever without doing something. Otherwise his lack of action would become an issue in the 2004 race. Does anyone know if the authorization act was open ended or time-limited?