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Fred Barnes: They Still Haven't Figured Him Out (Bush's unexpected qualities)
The Weekly Standard ^ | December 13, 2004 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 12/03/2004 7:34:52 PM PST by RWR8189

A DEMOCRATIC SENATOR who attended a special screening of the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 was asked what he thought was the most revealing part about President Bush. The senator pondered a moment, then said it was the episode where Bush, in close-up, continues to talk to a grade-school class in Sarasota, Florida, for six or seven minutes after he's learned that planes had flown into the World Trade Center. What did it reveal? The senator couldn't say.

My impression, as Bush begins his second term in the White House, is that many in the political community, including the press, still haven't figured him out. One reason is the Bush presidency has emerged quite differently from what was expected. So here are five things about the president that help explain why he does what he does. They aren't the only five aspects of his presidency, but they're five important ones.

* ACTIVIST. The label is usually applied to liberal politicians, rarely conservatives. In Bush's case, it means he has a lengthy agenda and is impatient about enacting it. And it's an agenda--Social Security reform, altering the balance on the Supreme Court, tax reform, reversing cultural trends, a crusade for democracy around the globe--for change. Bush didn't get his activist streak from his father. George H.W. Bush was a caretaker president, dealing with items as they arrived in his in-basket. He lost his bid for reelection in 1992 partly because he didn't have much on his mind for a second term. Bush has a lot, and it's not trivial. One of his most stinging criticisms is to label a proposal "smallball"--in other words, not big or bold enough for serious presidential attention.

* OUTSIDER. Bush is an alien inside the Beltway. His election was the equivalent of getting a green card to work in Washington. He's not part of the social whirl. Nor has he made many close friends on Capitol Hill or around town. What separates him from the Washington crowd? More than anything else, it's religion. Bush is the first president who's a product of the modern evangelical movement, which means his Christian faith is personal, intense, and all-encompassing. It's not a part-time, Sunday-only thing. Leave Washington and you frequently encounter people who say of the president, "He's one of us." You don't hear that in Washington. A Texas friend recently sent the president a copy of Natan Sharansky's book, The Case for Democracy. Bush read most of it and asked Sharansky to meet with him at the White House. Bush praised Sharansky for his years as a dissident in the Soviet Union. To which Sharansky replied, "Now you are the chief dissident of the world."

* PRESS-BASHER. Bush has not made peace with the press, far from it. He views most reporters as political opponents eager to pepper him with gotcha questions. In Colombia last month, he appeared before reporters with President Alvaro Uribe. Bush didn't like the first question about a scuffle two days earlier involving the Secret Service. "This is a question?" he said, and gave a curt answer. Uribe said, "Do you want to get in one more [question]?" Bush said, "That's plenty. No. Thank you," ending the press conference prematurely.

Bush believes, correctly, that the Washington press corps favored John Kerry in the election. "Ninety percent for Kerry" is what White House aides say. Coverage of Bush reflected this. The Center for Media and Public Affairs found that coverage of Kerry was the most favorable for any presidential candidate since it began examining campaigns in 1988, while Bush's was mostly negative. Reporters complain they get little information from the White House. Chances are they'll get even less in the second term. Bush's calculation is that spending more time with the press would be time poorly spent.

* SURPRISER. Bush likes to defy the conventional wisdom. He often does it without even trying. I recently asked a leading supporter of Israel if he had known Bush would become the most pro-Israel president ever. He hadn't. Bush was expected to govern as a moderate conservative, but on most issues he's become hard core. He was expected to relax after November 2. Instead, he's plotting for next year. Presidents, indeed most politicians, are disinclined to give aides credit for their success. But Bush surprised Washington on the day after his reelection by calling Karl Rove "the architect" of his victory. The conventional wisdom is that Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage to help win reelection but won't actually push it. The surprise of his second term may be that he pushes it aggressively.

* VISIONARY. Really. True, the word just doesn't seem to go with the Bush persona, or at least with the popular notion of Bush, the swaggering Texan. But in speech after speech, Bush has laid out a vision of democratizing the Middle East, then the world. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, last week, he pretended Canada shares his "great commitment . . . to enhance our own security by promoting freedom and hope and democracy in the broader Middle East." Most of Europe and Bush's own State Department disagree with this effort. But Bush is adamant. "It is cultural condescension to claim that some peoples or some cultures or some religions are destined to despotism and unsuited for self-government," he said in Halifax. With little fanfare, Bush also changed America's national security strategy from containment to preemption.

So where does all this leave us in understanding Bush? The first step is to abandon the original preconception of President Bush. He's different. The second step is to accept that he's attempting big things. And the third, as a result, is to get ready for a second presidential term like few we've seen.

Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barnes; bush43; f911; fredbarnes; term2; weeklystandard
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To: Joe Hadenuf

That's right,Joe...you'll be pleased as punch to vote for Hillary and her supposed anti-illegals stance (that she's honing now,but doesn't really mean),won't you?


121 posted on 12/03/2004 11:10:11 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

In 2008, no more illegal alien apologist from Texas!


122 posted on 12/03/2004 11:11:34 PM PST by Joe Hadenuf (I failed anger management class, they decided to give me a passing grade anyway)
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To: Joe Hadenuf

Just come out and admit it,Joe...you'll happily vote for Hillary,should she run. After all,she IS talking about banning illegals.How/if she'll do that,is anyone's guess.LOL


123 posted on 12/03/2004 11:15:18 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons
We here in Louisiana, voted in our FIRST Republican Senator.

Louisiana has become Republican. Am I'm proud to be a Republican.

124 posted on 12/03/2004 11:21:45 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: edchambers
"Pajama clad Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad"

Good one! Haliburton Death Squad...... hmmm. Is that a special division of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy? ;-)

125 posted on 12/03/2004 11:22:10 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
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To: pbrown
Yes,I know that you did and the rest of us are SO proud of you! :-)
126 posted on 12/03/2004 11:24:33 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

Now, if we can just get rid of that cow Mary Landreau, life would be almost perfect.


127 posted on 12/03/2004 11:34:05 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: pbrown

Now THAT would be marvelous! :-)


128 posted on 12/03/2004 11:41:03 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons

What a cow. How anyone could vote for her is beyond my capacity to understand.


129 posted on 12/03/2004 11:45:49 PM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: RWR8189
I believed, even before Bush announced he would run for the presidency the first time, that he would be an excellent president. At that time, I was not at all sure Americans would have the wisdom to elect him.

Even so, I have been continually surprised by Bush. I've watched many presidents and seldom have they worked so hard to fulfill their promises. Bush truly does mean what he says. A Christian, especially, knows that words are important and powerful. True words are the most powerful force in the world. And Bush speaks true.

I think the liberals and anti-Americans around the world do know that Bush is completely different from what they say. Their words are untrue, and so are intended to destroy, not to heal or to help anyone but themselves. They hope to limit Bush with their lies and distortions.

Bush is 'one of us', and the Left's hatred of Bush is the loudest, most blatant expression of the Left's hatred of us they'll ever let slip.

130 posted on 12/04/2004 12:25:05 AM PST by WaterDragon
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To: WaterDragon

Bravo.


131 posted on 12/04/2004 12:30:13 AM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
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To: wrathof59

I like your scorecard. It certainly puts the "smirking chimp" in perspective! Looks to me like ol' W has a lot to smirk about if he wants to.


132 posted on 12/04/2004 12:33:32 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: California Patriot
Barnes is a shallow, second-rate political analyst. Krauthammer is far better.

I think the majority of the comments on this thread agree with your assessment, although I would certainly not state the matter so harshly. Krauthammer clearly wins the "gravitas" contest. I greatly admired his speech in acceptance of the award from one of the think tanks which appeared on C-Span and I commented upon it at length. By comparison Krauthammer is the better "political analyst" but Barnes is by no means "shallow." His boyish looks and tonality of speech combine to deprive him of the weightiness that those who are truly shallow attribute to baritones. Remember, the Dems sucessfully convinced a lot of folks that George H.W. Bush, a true war hero who saw much combat, was a "wimp" and that Slick Willy, a draft dodger documented by his own hand, was a take charge guy. But the war hero had a winpy voice....

Barnes has a gift not for brilliant "political analysis" but for insight and insight is exactly what he has given us in his description of George Bush:

What separates him from the Washington crowd? More than anything else, it's religion. Bush is the first president who's a product of the modern evangelical movement, which means his Christian faith is personal, intense, and all-encompassing. It's not a part-time, Sunday-only thing.

All flows from this insight in understanding our President, all the rest are symptons of this central animating truth. Fred Barnes had the depth to see it.

133 posted on 12/04/2004 1:59:08 AM PST by nathanbedford
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To: RWR8189

Christian.


134 posted on 12/04/2004 2:07:38 AM PST by Raycpa (Alias, VRWC_minion,)
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To: okie01
There is no stigma to a fan of an American League team also following a particular NL team.

Unless you live in Chicago and the NL team is the Cubs and the AL team is the Sox...
135 posted on 12/04/2004 2:12:50 AM PST by RWR8189 (Its Morning in America Again!)
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To: Soul Seeker

Well said.


136 posted on 12/04/2004 4:25:43 AM PST by IndyMac
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To: wrathof59

Great post (#9)


137 posted on 12/04/2004 4:29:28 AM PST by Right_in_Virginia
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To: RWR8189

I have a feeling that the next 4 years are going to be unlike any this country has seen.


138 posted on 12/04/2004 4:40:40 AM PST by tkathy (There will be no world peace until all thuggocracies are gone from the earth.)
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To: RWR8189
Am I the only one here who thinks we are going to get a new president on January 20th? With a fresh Cabinet, comfortable control of both the House and Senate, a clear mandate from the people, and most importantly, no re-election to worry about, I think the second Bush Administration is going to kick butt and take names. I think we are going to see a completely different President Bush.

When Ronald Reagan began his second term in 1985, the Democrats controlled both the House and Senate. President Bush is in a position of great power here. Now is the time for action. The GOP may never again have such a position of strength.

139 posted on 12/04/2004 4:53:16 AM PST by SamAdams76 (Red Sox Win The World Series...And Bush Wins Re-election Too!)
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To: wrathof59

I like your tally.


140 posted on 12/04/2004 5:18:43 AM PST by kassie ("It's the soldier who allows freedom of speech, not the reporter..")
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