Posted on 03/21/2005 1:42:58 PM PST by RWR8189
PRESIDENT BUSH DID NOT INITIATE the political realignment that made Republicans a majority party. But he has helped create the current moment of opportunity for Republicans to enact a far-reaching conservative agenda. Absent Bush, Republicans might not have 55 senators--which they also had in 1997, but otherwise their greatest number since 1930--which was enough to approve oil-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge last week and to enact bankruptcy reform the week before. Both measures had failed repeatedly in recent years.
Five factors have come together to give Republicans their best chance for major legislative and foreign policy achievements in nearly 80 years. And Bush has been crucial to each one.
The first factor is, obviously, the Republican ascendancy. Bush had only a little to do with the breakthrough election in 1994, when Republicans won the Senate, House, and a majority of governorships (including that of Texas, where Bush became governor). Nor did he aid Republicans much in 2000 when he won the presidency but not the popular vote.
But in the midterm election of 2002 and last year's presidential contest, Bush campaigned aggressively for Republican congressional candidates. And Republicans picked up seats. Many Republican challengers might have won anyway, but not all. Either his campaigning or his coattails were critical to Senate victories for Saxby Chambliss in Georgia, Mel Martinez in Florida, and David Vitter in Louisiana. The Bush landslide in Alaska helped Sen. Lisa Murkowski keep her seat. And, of course, Bush's own reelection was necessary for Republican rule.
Factor two: Democratic disarray. Nothing drives Democrats to distraction--and to demagoguery--the way Bush does. He brings out the worst in them. If Bush wants something, they're reflexively and often mindlessly against it. They chose the shrill Howard Dean as national chairman, and he insists Republicans in general and Bush in particular are "evil." Senate minority leader Harry Reid says the Bush gang seeks "absolute power." And so on.
Worse for Democrats, Bush makes them delusional. Sen. Edward Kennedy claims that while Democrats lost the 2004 election, they still represent "majority opinion." And he appears to believe it. Others, like Democratic representative Maurice Hinchey of New York, spin conspiracy theories, in public, about the Bush White House and Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser. The conspiracy? Rove slipped those fabricated memos to CBS News, which led to Dan Rather's downfall and Bush's reelection. Really.
The CBS scandal leads to factor three, the crackup of the mainstream media. The MSM--the big papers, TV networks, and newsmags--had been slipping for years. Their role as gatekeepers, deciding what was or wasn't news, was a thing of the past. In the 1990s, the arrival of talk radio and Fox News meant there was a popular alternative media. In 2004, bloggers emerged as a nation of fact-checkers whose chief target was the MSM.
Bloggers exposed the CBS story on Bush's Texas Air National Guard service as a fraud almost instantly. Just as important, they forced a reluctant mainstream media to take up the story of the Swift Boat Vets and their challenge of John Kerry's claim to have been a Vietnam war hero. Studies found that the national media were lopsidedly more favorable to Kerry than Bush in their coverage. But Bush won, which tells you something about Big Media's loss of influence.
Factor four: the decline of liberalism. No one has described liberalism's sad state better than Martin Peretz, editor in chief of the New Republic. Liberalism is no longer a serious set of ideas. Nor is it a coherent ideology used to guide political action. In 2005, it has become merely a complaint, Peretz suggested, a complaint about Bush and much of America.
And, finally, factor five: an ambitious, impatient president with an agenda. In a word, Bush. Presidents have a choice. They can lead or they can govern. President George H.W. Bush governed. His son leads. He does what he doesn't have to do. Or at least tries to. So Bush aims to reform Social Security, curb trial lawyers, make the federal courts more conservative, and implant democracy all over the world.
These five factors have produced a rare political moment for Republicans. It's a moment that won't last more than a year or two. The question is whether they'll do anything with it. Nothing is guaranteed. But a lot is expected.
Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.
It would only really be a problem if they really good weapon systems! I mean really, russia makes a few bucks off of selling 5000 AK's to the...Oh I dont know....Syrians. This makes the Syrians a serious threat...how?
" His fiction tales?! why? because he will write and teach the truth about one of greatest Presidents, President George W Bush."
Before it's all said and done GWB's policies will make Jimmy Carter look good.
"Americans voted for a President with plain-spoken ideas to navigate difficult waters."
Strange, the people that I know that voted for Bush were voting the "lesser of two evils".
Are you real?
Welcome to earth.. What planet are you from.?.
Who're you trying to kid?
Well said.
The son of a President and the Governor of Texas is not an amateur. Fix your home page, I don't believe you're really a COSERVATIVE.
Well they don't. They hate Dubya just like you.
Gee, poor grammar, poor spelling, hate Dubya, condecending attitude, and a general knack for ticking off Republicans...I wonder why they think you are a troll?
I see you've added "a non-existent domestic energy policy" to your list of complaints. Very powerful. Never change p-wit.
Could you elaborate please? This is news to me.
Face it, there is NO domestic energy policy!! You Bush-butt kissers are something else. Hope you enjoy $3.00/gal gas cause it ain't going to get any cheaper. China will soon be taking over most of Venezuela's crude, the Russians are reducing the amounts sold to the US, China is locking in long term contracts with Nigeria and just wait until crude oil sales is based on the Euro. Look for $4.00-$5.00/gal with then next year. Then watch how the stock market reacts.
It ain't gonna be pretty.
Why is this happening? It's happening because politicians like Bush and Clinton, yes republicans and democrats have sold this country down the drain. Your buddies have forgotten who they represent, thinking only of their politically elite friends. If you honestly think Bush or any other politician currently serving cares about you and your concerns then you're dumber than I thought.
I'm happy to exceed your expectations.
Next to a proactive foreign policy, multiple tax cuts, and abortion restrictions "a non-existent energy policy" looks like a booger. Your latest chicken little ranting is convincing, but not in your favor. Keep it up. You're doing great.
IMHO, Ronald Reagan is the finest President in my lifetime.
The idea that good man, nay fine man, can not make a bad decision is a brand new concept invented and trumpeted only by Bush Bots.
Yeah, buddy.
Korea never considered developing nukes before this President attacked Iraq. You, sir, are clueless.
Bush hasn't been much of a President. I am afraid history will look back at him as having been a disaster.
Good morning David. I live on a planet called Earth, what's the name of your planet? We have one moon and our sky is blue. How many moons does your planet have, what's the color of your sky?
Consider yourself pinged.
I'm going to bookmark this.
How do you like your crow cooked?
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