President Bush waves to the crowd ,Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002, at the University of New Hampshire as he arrived to speak in Durham,N.H.. Earlier in the day Bush signed the $26.5 billion federal education bill during a stop in Ohio. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Posted on 01/09/2002 6:05:22 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Bush on Kennedy: 'I actually like the fellow'
01/09/2002
WASHINGTON President Bush had warned his fellow Texans just last weekend.
"A lot of my friends in Midland, Texas, are going to be amazed when I stand up and say nice things about Ted Kennedy," the president said Saturday during a town meeting in California.
| Related Bush signs far-reaching education bill |
And Tuesday in Ohio, as he signed his keystone education bill into law, Mr. Bush did just that.
"He is a fabulous United States senator," the president said. "When he's against you, it's tough. When he's with you, it is a great experience."
In the first year of the Bush presidency, this political odd couple has come full circle from Merritt Elementary School in Washington, where the Democratic senator from Massachusetts first appeared with the new Republican president five days after his inauguration, to Hamilton High School near Cincinnati, where Mr. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The president did not get every reform he proposed during his 2000 campaign, but he got many of them. And he was determined to make the most of it Tuesday during a daylong three-state tour that had Mr. Kennedy riding up front with him on Air Force One.
"I actually like the fellow," Mr. Bush allowed at their first stop in Ohio, before flying off to other education events in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where Mr. Kennedy was the host at Boston Latin School.
Education reform nearly stalled after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mr. Kennedy said, but congressional supporters and the president pressed on.
"President Bush was there, every step of the way, making a difference," the senator said in a warm introduction of the president in Boston.
Tuesday's Bush-Kennedy road show was a long way from Texas, where not so long ago, the senator from Massachusetts was often pilloried in Republican campaigns.
In the old days, too, Mr. Kennedy, no stranger to political hardball, used to take after Mr. Bush as the governor of Texas.
"George Bush doesn't have a credibility gap. He has a credibility chasm," Mr. Kennedy thundered on the Senate floor a few weeks before the 2000 presidential election.
But that was then. This is now.
Folks back home might be "somewhat in shock" at the turn of events, Mr. Bush muses. But, in fact, this seemingly topsy-turvy turn of events was carefully nurtured by the new administration to rally congressional support for education reform.
In just the first two weeks of the Bush presidency, the two men met five times, including a private but well-publicized White House screening of the movie Thirteen Days, the story of the Cuban missile crisis during the administration of the senator's brother John F. Kennedy.
The senator, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says he shares "common ground" with the president, though they still differ mightily over myriad health care and economic issues.
Mr. Bush says their relationship shows that politicians at the opposite ends of the political spectrum can work together.
"It's a great symbol of what is possible in Washington," Mr. Bush said.
In this case, too, there's a little something for both men.
"For the president, it symbolically shows that he's willing to reach across partisan and ideological lines to get the job done," political analyst Charles Cook noted.
"For Kennedy, it's just a further sign that he is an 800-pound gorilla on Capitol Hill and that people, if they want to get something done, need to deal with him."
Bush on Kennedy: 'I actually like the fellow'
http://www.dallasnews.com/national/STORY.eb493dd1bd.b0.af.0.a4.1186.html
He must have been of a diet!
It made me SICK to hear President Bush say, "I actually like the fellow." I LOVE our President, but found myself growling at the TV.
I agree. It is going to be very hard for the Democrats and their friends in the Media to demonize President Bush. It does not cost anything to be nice.
I believe the President is sincere, which only makes it more effective.
No, Mr. President, he is not. He is a philandering, alcoholic, socialist, criminal bum. Please reserve praise for the deserving.
I think this is called 'damning with feint praise'...
Although Kennedy is a liberal boob he might be a nice fellow to be around. Maybe he has changed some things about himself and might not be as obnoxious. I have liberal boobheaded friends who are very nice. Just politically challenged.
I believe President Bush is leading by example and leading as a Christian.
I also think Bush enjoys a worthy adversary. Ted Kennedy embraces many political positions I think are wrong, but he's not continuously a hatchet man like Daschle, Waxman or Waters.
I'll never forgive Kennedy for the Chappaquidac (sp?) incident, but he is less vile than many members of his party. Anyways, Bush probably recognizes that Teddy's liver is pretty much shot and he is not far from the grave.
So do I - my best friend was a dyed-in-the-wool conservative Christian democrat. We didn't discuss politics.
Somehow, given the rhetoric and behavior displayed by tubby teddy, I doubt that he'd be a pleasant dinner companion. To be equal opportunity, I don't think I'd enjoy an evening with John mclame, either. Nor would I want to hear my President call him a "fabulous sinator".
I was growling not so much at the President as at the lavishness of his remarks, as I don't believe teddy deserves such high praise from such a decent man.
The old Kennedy-Democratic party is toothless. The Clinton-Democratic party is dangerous.
Plus, this sure nails it for the public that Bush really can work with the other party...a black-and-white contrast between Bush and Clinton.
I agree with your description of Kennedy. No problem there.
Sure. I support Bush.
It's good political chess.
How do you think the dems feel about this? They run on emotion. They must be O.D.ing on themselves right now. Panic hormones galore!
And then on reflection....
Second: I would say I actually like my next-older sister. In fact, I love her. But politically and just Weltanschauung-ally, she's probably further to the left of me than a rifle shot would reach.
Third: would Bush accomplish more if he said he loathed Kennedy and everything he stood for? Who gets more diverse folks to work with him: W or Keyes?
Fourth: Kennedy is (this is going to hurt me) a "fabulous senator" — in the sense that W explicitly says. In other words, he is effective. Usually effective for evil, yes; would that those who were morally on-target were more fabulous and effective themselves.
Dan
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