FEB. 2, 2004: WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT DOING?

Ntional Review Online ^ | 2 FEB 2004 | David Frum

[Coop]

the abandonment of Social Security and tort reform

I think "postponement" is a more appropriate word than "abandonment."

[goldstategop]

David Frum has written a very thoughtful analysis of why President Bush is behaving as he does. The first act of any politician to go where the voters are. And the President isn't hearing any great outcry for smaller government outside his base. Yes, he needs us but he can't win with us alone. Bush is not and will never be an ideological conservative in the Ronald Reagan mold. The country has changed and Bush has simply recognized the political landscape today is very different in America than it was back in the 1980s.

[EternalVigilance]

Dick Morris points out that Minnesota is the only state in the Union that has grown more Republican since 1988.

HUH???????

B.S.

[Honestfreedom]

Very good essay by Frum. The conclusion should be that we need to work harder to educate Blacks to vote their status and Hispanics to vote their values. In other words we need to strengthen the conservative values and their mass appeal or we will be running uphill.

[Winston Smith Jr.]

America in 2004 is a less ideologically conservative country than it was in 1984. The partisan map has been trending Democrat for a dozen years: Dick Morris points out that Minnesota is the only state in the Union that has grown more Republican since 1988.

His facts do not support his conclusion. Conservative does not equal Republican.

[EternalVigilance]

Besides, I can think of a large number of states that have grown more Republican since then, right off the top of my head.

Frum needs to get outside the Beltway more often, so he can get information from sources other than that sleazeball Morris.

[Winston Smith Jr.]

It might depend on how you measure "more Republican."

[inquest]

Daniel's answer is that Bush is a new kind of conservative: an advocate of choice and accountability in government rather than of reduction of government.

Sounds pretty misguided to me. There's only one sure way to improve "choice and accountability" in our republic today, and that's by reducing the size of government. Everything else is window-dressing.

[optimistically_conservative]

An interesting analysis along the lines of a leader can only lead where his followers will follow.

A President can only lead the American populace where the majority of the voting electorate will follow.

However, this is always an unknown and the "safe" course is never assured to be the "best" or "predictable" course.

I tend to think Bush has been less innovative in his domestic programs and less courageous in the use of his executive power in domestic issues than I would like.

[inquest]

I don't buy it either. Fox News and the whole panoply of conservative talk shows didn't exist in 1984, because there wasn't yet the market for them that there is now. And back in '84, liberals could still say with a straight face that the Soviet Union was more or less morally equivalent to the U.S. They can't get away with that now.

Certainly the Republican Party has been getting more liberal since then, but that speaks more to the allure of the power that can come from big government (small government is so boring) than to the popularity of their apostasy.

[pwatson]

Excellent remark "The conclusion should be that we need to work harder to educate Blacks to vote their status and Hispanics to vote their values. In other words we need to strengthen the conservative values and their mass appeal or we will be running uphill." I have been attempting to explain this to the Conservative base, instead of screaming about how liberal Bush is; we need to be working on the problem, demographics. There is no way a real Conservative can get elected and pass conservative legislation until the masses and the Senate and House reflect more Conservative values. Thinking you can fix everything by simply having Bush act as a Conservative is missing the big picture. (Still some lip service against big government would be helpful}

[EternalVigilance]

It might depend on how you measure "more Republican."

Pretty simple, really. Just look at the voter registration rolls.

My original home state, Iowa, for example, has changed tremendously in that time period. Republican registrations grew bigtime. Democrats are now less than independents.

I'm currently in TX. This state used to be a RAT stronghold, and is now a GOP stronghold. Most offices, if you want to be elected, you HAVE to be a member of the GOP, or you might as well forget about it.

Even some states that are still Dem are slowly but surely trending GOP...take WV for example: if the trend line there continues, and there is no reason to think it won't, the Mountain State will be Republican in just a few more years.

There are plenty more where that came from. Morris, and therefore Frum, are either lying or ignorant.

[Dog Gone]

Bush is more conservative than he's given credit for by Frum. Even Ronald Reagan never proposed that Social Security be privatized.

However, it should be remembered that Bush never campaigned on a platform of downsizing government. Instead of seeing government as the enemy, he sees it as something which, if managed correctly, will do good.

And what's the BS about only Minnesota becoming more Republican since 1988? Compare Texas in 1988 to today.

[Nonstatist]

How to understand the discrepancy between Bush's record on taxes and his much less commendable record on spending

I think he learned the following from his father's loss in '92: Don't piss your base off over the main issue that matters most to them, and don't martyr yourself with "good economics" by cutting a deal that compromises that issue.

And everything else is up for compromise; ie. the deficit can be the next guy's problem.. He feels he MUST get reelected, everything else is secondary.

[jwalsh07]

Funny, I don't remember the GOP controlling all three branches of government and most of the state houses and governorships back in 1988. I could have sworn the Dems were controlling most of those things for my entire life.

What the hell if Frum smoking?

[inquest]

Still some lip service against big government would be helpful

That's exactly it. Calling himself a "compassionate conservative" does not help him. He's completely surrendering to the leftist notion that "compassion" can be exercised through government spending, and therefore has effectively given up the ideological field to the Left. Once he's established that that's an appropriate goal of government, he will never be able to outdo the libs in pushing for that goal. They will always be ahead of him in the public mind. It was, and continues to be, a horrid mistake on his part.

[EternalVigilance]

I agree with you.

[EternalVigilance]

Funny, I don't remember the GOP controlling all three branches of government and most of the state houses and governorships back in 1988. I could have sworn the Dems were controlling most of those things for my entire life. What the hell is Frum smoking?

No kidding.

This article is a gross distortion of reality.

[inquest]

However, it should be remembered that Bush never campaigned on a platform of downsizing government. Instead of seeing government as the enemy, he sees it as something which, if managed correctly, will do good.

Aside from talking about how "compassionate" he was, Bush's main campaign theme was limited government, not managed government. I'm still waiting to see what his limit is.