President George W. Bush is in quite a pickle -- an evangelical pickle. And, it's over what to do about Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

You see, although not yet detectable to the public ear, the Bush Administration's re-election machinery is reported to be already humming along (Read about it here).

This means, when the President comes to work each day, he has another question to consider before making any decision. How will the decision effect his coming election?

President Bush's power base is the Religious Right. In fact, when Bush Jr. was running his father's re-election campaign, Bush Jr. was Bush Sr.'s point man with the Religious Right people. And, it was this close relationship with the Religious Right that helped Bush Jr. win the prized southern vote and White House.

Now here's Bush's pickle: The Religious Right is made up mostly of evangelical Christians who interpret the Bible literally. They believe Israel is God's special nation, the Jews are God's special people, and any nation that harms Israel, or the Jewish people, will be judged by God. In other words, Bush's power base believe in the end-times prophecies about a coming Armageddon in the Middle East. 

Does President Bush believe in the Bible prophecies? I don't know. But one thing I do know, as far as the pickle he finds himself in, it doesn't matter. Since his Religious Right power base mostly do believe in the end-times prophecies, he has to be very careful when he makes a move concerning Israel.

Yet at the same time, not to move isn't an option. Sharon is busy building his huge fence and preparing to take actions into his own hands, the Palestinians are crying out for help (Read about it here), and the entire international community is looking to him expecting America to do something -- anything -- and do it fast.

And if that weren't a big enough pickle to be in, the Bush Administration also has to be concerned about the intentions of all the surrounding regional powers to the Middle East. Each day of inaction that goes by, the EU's High Representative Javier Solana makes significant gains in promoting his own foreign policy agenda in the Mediterranean.

Now here's the kicker; that too is a fulfillment of end-times Bible prophecy!

Yes, President Bush is in quite a pickle.

An evangelical pickle.