But he has struggled to find his political footing as a first-term mayor and at times has not seemed his usual voluble, unsinkable self.

Mr. Powell is now the outsider as he seeks to regain his political footing.

He was never again to regain his political footing.

Lagos was much more cosmopolitan while the delta was composed of different and varied ethnic groups of equal political footing.

Mr. Bush has just over 22 months left in office to regain his political footing.

But with so many defections, Dom Jorge found it hard to maintain his political footing, and his star was quickly waning.

But today, Mr. Gingrich sought more solid political footing.

Looking for solid political footing, Mr. Dole, who normally offers an opinion on every issue in the legislative galaxy, has kept quiet this week about the tax matter.

In the process, the president regained his political footing, and his period of dithering and hesitation appeared to be over.

Would his critics say he was wagging the dog -using a war to regain his political footing?