Posted on 12/07/2006 5:28:53 AM PST by Small-L
President Bush has a new mandate: It’s back to the basics.
Over the next two years Bush will focus on winning back Republicans and Congress by returning to basic Republican principles, Karl Rove is telling White House allies.
Bush’s political strategist is saying that as part of that process, the party must reevaluate itself.
Down to Business
“We need better candidates, stronger organization, and a sharper, clearer message,” Rove said in a post-election debriefing. “We need to have the courage to say to members who have misbehaved or have overstayed their welcome that it is time to consider retirement.”
At the same time, Rove has stated flatly that Bush does not want to alienate the GOP. One of Bush’s goals has always been to build the party, and he wants to recapture the majority in Congress as part of his legacy, Rove is saying. Bush, Vice President Cheney, and first lady Laura Bush are committed to helping raise money toward that end.
Rove provided plenty of details on Bush’s agenda: The economy and Iraq will dominate the agenda until the end of Bush’s presidency. Given the new circumstances in Congress, achieving results in those and other areas requires good relations with Congress. Bush is committed to reaching out to members of both sides of the aisle. He wants to repair relations and build alliances.
In adhering to basic Republican principles, Bush will not yield on spending issues. More than ever, the White House must reel in Republicans and restrain Democrats when it comes to spending. That means forming majorities that will sustain a veto if required.
As outlined in a Nov. 8 NewsMax story, “Bush Policies Will Not Change,” Bush will not yield on any effort to emasculate tools like the Patriot Act or National Security Agency (NSA) intercepts needed by the FBI and CIA to protect the country from terrorist attacks. While the White House knows Democrats will be launching investigations, a mechanism has been set up to deal with them without allowing staff to become consumed by these events.
One way or another, the situation in Iraq has to improve in the next six to 12 months. In that regard, Bush hopes Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki will be able to produce the results he has promised. Malaki has said he believes Iraqi forces will be able to take full control of security by June of next year.
Steadfast and True
Rove is saying the White House must avoid “triangulation,” a term used by political guru Dick Morris to describe the strategy Morris advocated when he was an aide to President Clinton. As generally understood, Morris’ approach, which Clinton adopted in getting re-elected in 1996, meant appearing to favor policies that appeal to the right and the left to win as many votes as possible. Instead, Rove is saying the party must operate on principle and remain true to its beliefs.
While Bush will tilt more to the right, he will not abandon key programs that illustrate his compassionate conservative approach, a way of helping people by developing government programs and policies that allow them help themselves. Under this approach, Bush does not see government as an enemy, as traditional conservatives do.
He also does not believe the solution to problems is to throw money at programs that do not achieve results. Instead, Bush’s philosophy has favored adjusting existing programs, discarding cumbersome procedures, energizing bureaucrats, or supporting the efforts of faith-based and other volunteer groups to achieve results while saving taxpayers money. Reducing taxes, in turn, is yet another way to help people help themselves.
The No Child Left Behind Act, which seeks to reintroduce phonics, or sounding out letters to reading instruction, is the best example of Bush’s approach. As described in an Oct. 3 NewsMax story, “Margaret Spellings: Media Star,” Bush’s strategy is to get kids to read so they will not wind up in prison, on drugs, or on welfare.
While federal education spending has more than doubled under Bush, according to Bush’s vision, the investment will be worth it because enabling kids to read will strengthen the country and the economy in the long run, not to mention garnering votes.
Programs like No Child Left Behind and the Medicare prescription drug benefit use “conservative means to achieve liberal ends.” Rove told me for my book “A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush.”
Conservative Means for Health Care
In the case of the Medicare drug benefit, “The liberal end is quality health care for seniors,” Rove said. “The conservative means we’re going to use is the market, choice, innovation, and empowerment of the individual and incentives for savings and for taking personal responsibility to try to achieve it.”
Now Rove is saying the emphasis will be on holding the line on spending. In talking to Republican strategists, Rove has been saying that Bush will be advancing an aggressive policy agenda that will start to become public in the weeks ahead and will be highlighted in his State of the Union address.
Efforts to restrict illegal immigration and re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act will be the top priorities.
Social Security Reform
Bush will also be pushing Social Security reform but will not yield when it comes to raising taxes to fund Social Security. He also will not yield on his proposal to offer personal accounts, which was always envisioned as voluntary.
In developing these proposals, Bush will work with the Republican leadership. He recognizes that the White House will not be successful with a “go it alone” strategy, Rove is saying.
Almost from the beginning of the administration, politicians on both sides of the aisle have been critical of Bush for not seeming to recognize that fact. Longtime Washington Republicans complained the White House made no effort to reach out to them.
White House aides would say Bush operates like the Harvard Business School graduate he is and is simply focused on achieving results. Rove would point out that he maintains an intricate system for obtaining feedback from political leaders throughout the country, from governors to members of local school boards.
But Margaret Spellings, when she was White House domestic policy advisor, told me, “My perception is a lot of those people want to say, ‘I was at the White House this morning.’ They get to trade on that and have cachet. We’re not here to puff up the reputations of people who want to trade on their access.”
Spellings has gone on to take an inclusive approach as Education secretary, and Rove is now asking insiders to let him know of members of Congress who need extra love and attention from the White House. In the same vein, since August, the White House has opened up more to the media.
As Dan Bartlett, the White House counselor in charge of communications, told me long before the more open policy took effect, Bush wants results. Too much contact with the media can lead to leaks — as occurred during his father’s presidency — and can undercut the president’s efforts by forcing his hand and allowing aides to push their own agendas in the press.
Laying the Groundwork for Greater Appeal
As Bush’s poll numbers began to drop, he and his advisors began to recognize that, while his press policy was based on high-minded principles, it simply will not wash in this media-driven age. Without a higher approval level, Bush was in danger of losing his effectiveness.
Reporters are human, and even if they are not pushing a liberal agenda, they will take it out on Bush if the White House does not return their calls and does not feed them tidbits for their stories. Sen. John McCain, in contrast, has enjoyed good press because he gives the press access.
As with the new policy agenda recently outlined to insiders by Karl Rove, Bush has reversed course on his press policy, the subject of an Aug. 17 NewsMax story, “New White House PR Pro: Who is Kevin Sullivan?”
I learned reading the old-fashioned way. I read four or five books a week and my reading speed is very high. When I was introduced to phonics, I thought they were confusing and didn't do much for spelling ability, either.
Carolyn
Good argument about 9-11, the wars, and DHS, but let's not forget that Clinton left him with a recession and a zero-deficit federal budget. The classic big government solution to a recession is massive increases in Federal deficit spending. Bush combined that with tax cuts and it worked spectacularly, but once we were recovering, he couldn't stop spending, and spending, and spending...
Harley, dear....WINNING is the exit strategy.....Bush SR did not finish his job...partly due to Powell.
I am keeping hope alive.
>>>President Bush has done all that he could in the fight against "Islamofascists".
Instead of stopping the inflow of Muslims into the US and deporting the huge number of Muslim visa holders, he instituted searches of grandma's and pregnant women at the airports. He calls Islam a religion of peace when it is not.
>>>While Bush will tilt more to the right, he will not abandon key programs that illustrate his compassionate conservative approach, a way of helping people by developing government programs and policies that allow them help themselves.
This is a remarkable sentence. The author is saying that while Bush tilts to the right, he's going to remain tilting left.
The confusion is answered in the next sentence:
>>>Under this approach, Bush does not see government as an enemy, as traditional conservatives do.
Thus, Bush will remain a big government spender... and spout sweet nothings to the conservatives that elected him. He and his partner Rove are truly lost and unfortunately have destroyed the Republican Party -- at least until Bush-bots can be flushed from the party leadership.
Here's what Bush can do to show he's "tilting to the right:"
- Announce a tax credit for parents that educate their children privately. The cost of tuition and books can be CREDITED against their income tax, dollar for dollar.
- Announce that to help fund this tax loss, the Dept. of Education will be abolished.
Now that's tilting to the right.
Where was the LEADERSHIP? He had both houses... he should have been able to get things through.
Bush doesn't control the Congress, and although he can propose things, and even make speeches about them, there are all sorts of arcane legislative procedures that enable blocking of a bill.
Personally, I blame Congress.
Getting rid of federal departments will never happen, of course. I call it the Brezhnev Doctrine of government: Once a federal department is established it can never be abolished. Ah, for the good old days when President Reagan actually had the courage to (gasp!) propose the elimination of cabinet-level departments.
AMEN!!!!!
We were winning. We won every military engagement we entered, including the Tet offensive. It was Walter Cronkite and the rest of the media, aided and abetted by Hanoi Jane and Purple Hearts Kerry, who told us we were losing and made us believe it.
I can't argue with you there. But do you think the media has changed? Do you think they will cut the Republicans a break and tell the American public the success stories of Iraq? No matter how much good we do it will never be broadcast. And how long are we going to stay over there and at what cost? Are we willing to spend $126 billion a year on this not to mention the yearly lost of life? This is deja vu all over again. The Republicans need to come back to reality.
Get rid of your AMNESTY scheme, Mr. President, and you'll get Republican rank-and-filers back.
I wish the President well. We all should. But I wonder if a "sharper, clearer message," or "better candidates," is really compatible with this endless, and now apparently strengthened, compulsion to "work with" the Democrats in Congress.
"While Bush will tilt more to the right, he will not abandon key programs that illustrate his compassionate conservative approach, a way of helping people by developing government programs and policies that allow them help themselves. Under this approach, Bush does not see government as an enemy, as traditional conservatives do."
The title of this article is "Bush goes back to the basics." If anything, Rove's pronouncements indicate that Bush intends to do anything BUT that. Its going to be a long two more years of this administration.
BUT MORE LIBS CAME OUT....This was one of the biggest turnouts in modern history. You can blame this on the Conservatives who sat home, but I'm telling you we are not a staunch Conservative Country anymore.
"He and his partner Rove are truly lost and unfortunately have destroyed the Republican Party -- at least until Bush-bots can be flushed from the party leadership."
bump to those sentiments.
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