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A Tisket a Tasket
Friday April 25, 2003
Post-Toronto Day 1: No symptoms. But, people are shunning me like it's 1835 and I have just returned from a leper colony.
On MSNBC yesterday, I debated Dem strategist Peter Fenn about the Jobs Growth Package which the President was pitching at an appearance in Canton, Ohio.
The Democrats have place all of their 2004 Easter eggs into one basket: That the re-election campaign of George W. Bush will be a re-run of the George H.W. Bush re-election campaign.
After the Gulf War President George H.W. Bush - the 41st President - had approval ratings in the 90's. A sagging economy and a general feeling that his Administration was not properly attuned to the economic problems of the nation meant the President went into the re-election campaign in a weakened position.
While I hate to disappoint my friends on the Left, here are some reasons why they need a new strategy.
First. President H.W. Bush had a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House. George Mitchell (D-ME) was Senate Majority Leader, and Thomas Foley (D-WA) was the Speaker of the House. Democrats, in the 102nd Congress had a ONE HUNDRED SEAT majority - 267-167-1 in the House and a 56-44 majority in the Senate.
President George W. Bush (the 43rd President) has a 52-48 majority in the US Senate and a 229-205-1 edge in the House. While he is not getting all the support from all the Republicans in the Senate he might like, the debate over the current jobs growth program is not between ZERO and $750 billion; it's between $350 billion and $550 billion.
Second. President George H.W. Bush was, for most of his life, a high-ranking appointed government official. Other than a relatively short stint as a Member of Congress, President Bush's resume was Ambassador to the U.N. and to China, Director of Central Intelligence, and Vice President.
All pretty good jobs, but not a perfect training ground for dealing with a hostile Congress.
President George W. Bush, on the other hand, spent six years as Governor of Texas. He understands the strategies and tactics of dealing with legislative bodies. When he was first elected Governor both the State House and State Senate were controlled by Democrats, yet he was successful in getting the main parts of his legislative agenda through the process.
Third. President George H.W. Bush was, probably, the last of the patrician Presidents. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush were not only from families of high social rank, but they were raised to reflect their rank.
President George W. Bush was raised in Midland. In spite of being the son of a President and the Grandson of a Senator, he does not fit the image of a son of privilege.
Fourth. There is no Patrick Buchanan on the primary horizon nor a general election Ross Perot (who got 19% of the popular vote) to siphon energy, money, and votes from Bush 43.
Fifth. President George H.W. Bush was known as being more comfortable in the foreign policy arena. He was not noted as a domestic policy expert so when the economy (briefly) sagged in 1992 it allowed Bill Clinton to claim President Bush was insensitive to the economic plight of the nation. And it stuck.
President George W. Bush was not, at the beginning of his Administration, as a foreign policy expert. He was, in fact, derided for his lack of apparent interest or expertise in that aspect of the office.
President Bush - again having been the Governor of a major state for six years - has developed a clear vision for how he believes the economy should be stimulated and what tools businesses need to grow.
The Left is going to find that the basket, into which they have placed all their eggs is, in the end, empty.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A short bio of President George H.W. Bush; the popular and electoral vote totals for the 1992 Presidential election, a Mullfoto and a Catchy Caption.
--END --
Copyright © 2003 Richard A. Galen
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