Bush Enlists Government in GOP Campaign (washingtonpost.com)

Scholars called Bush's partisan use of the government unprecedented for a midterm election, and said the aggressiveness and thoroughness of his politicking approached that of a presidential reelection campaign. The broad orchestration of executive branch activity to benefit campaigns was moved up to the midterm elections this year because of a confluence of history: a hairsbreadth margin of control in both chambers of Congress, the huge repercussions of tiny swings in a closely divided electorate, and the dawn of new campaign finance restrictions the day after the election.

But longtime activists in both parties said this administration was setting a new standard. NASA has traditionally stayed out of campaigns because of the need for bipartisan support for its multibillion-dollar projects. But the space agency's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, has plunged into home-stretch Republican politics. He toured a technology center this week with Bob Riley, the GOP challenger for Alabama governor, and is heading to Florida to hold a town meeting on Monday with a Republican House candidate.

Another new extension of White House political activity is the 10-person Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which has been sponsoring seminars on federal grants that have heavy attendance by black ministers. The office's director, James Towey, has appeared with endangered House Republicans and promising GOP Senate candidates, including joining Hutchinson to tour a Little Rock shelter for abused women and children.

Unprecedented and dangerous - We limited politics from civil service years ago but it's back. This is also the holdup on Homeland Security, Bush wants to appoint Republicans and ideologues regardless on qualifications and civil service regulations.