Posted on 11/17/2002 3:13:25 PM PST by Druidstl
Why Bush isn't happy about an all-GOP Congress By ROBERT B. REICH Featurewell.com 11/17/2002
President Bush must be worried. Why? Because he didn't want Republicans to control both houses of Congress. Like all first-term presidents, his biggest political goal is to be re-elected. A one-term presidency is considered a flop. Two terms and you get a chapter in the history books named after you. You get a decade named after you.
But now that Republicans are in control of both houses of Congress, the president will have less chance of being re-elected in 2004. It would be exactly the same, but in reverse, if a Democrat were in the White House. A Democratic president doesn't want to face re-election with a Democratic Congress.
Why not? For one thing, a Congress that's completely controlled by the same party as the president inevitably pushes that president toward that party's base, which is not where most of the votes are going to be found in the next presidential election.
A Republican-controlled Congress will push George W. Bush to the right. Its domestic agenda will be even more aggressively anti-abortion, pro-death penalty, pro-guns, more tax cuts for the wealthy, less regulation on big corporations.
And the president will have to go along. Or risk the wrath of his Republican conservative base. And if he goes along, he'll risk alienating voters in the vast middle - swing voters and independents he has to rely on if he's going to be re-elected.
Besides, an all-Republican Congress gives voters no one to blame when things go wrong other than Republicans, including, especially, the Republican-in-chief. And of course something's going to go wrong over the next two years.
When Democrats controlled at least one house, Republicans could blame them. A really dumb regulation? The Democrats pushed for it. An embarrassing leak to the press? The Democrats did it. A miscalculation on foreign policy? Democrats made it happen.
Besides, Americans like divided government. They like checks and balances. They'll be less likely to vote for a Republican president in 2004 now that Congress is already under the complete control of Republicans.
George W. Bush didn't need a Republican Congress to get done what he wanted to get done to be re-elected. He can't and won't do much about the economy. As for foreign policy, the president doesn't need Congress any more. He's already got his Iraqi war resolution. And as commander-in-chief, he has free rein to go after terrorism. Democrats aren't going to stop him.
Yes, the president campaigned like mad for Republican candidates. But that doesn't mean he wanted all of them to win. He wanted what any first-term president wants - to gain credit with party loyalists for having done what he could do, to show once again that he can raise a boat-load of money, to keep in his debt those congressional Republicans who did get re-elected and to show the public he's no slouch when it comes to aggressive campaigning. All important prerequisites for 2004.
So the president must be concerned. With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, the president's chances of re-election have dimmed.
ROBERT B. REICH served as secretary of labor under President Clinton and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Massachusetts.
So exactly when did president Bush utter these words? When did the left hire mind readers?
I'm not in the military any longer. Calling him Bush is no different than calling him Dubya. That's his name. Problem? Show me where it says I have to call him President Bush. I do most of the time. But I certainly feel under no obligation to do so. I'm not sorry if it offends you. I have nothing but respect for Dubya but it's a free country- you know what I mean?
A bitter man.
I can imagine that due to his lack of height, Robert Reich has never had his intelligence, or lack of common sense questioned seriously by anyone.
Who would attack a midget? Who would call him stupid?
The facts are that Robert Reich IS stupid. He is the emperor with no clothes, who believes himself to be a smart person because no one would dare say any different out of political correctness.
Look for Rush Limbaugh to have a field day with this tommorow, he might just laugh for the whole first hour.
Please, Robby, just keep telling yourself that...
Bush did not REALLY want the ability to push his agenda through...
I think he forgot we don't have Klintoon in office.....these descriptors are certainly inaccurate of Bush: a humble man who takes no credit when credit is due, who does not look to polls prior to his decisions, who doesn't take his marching orders from others--he "does what he thinks is the right thing to do," who reads his Bible, privately and daily, and never uses it for display, who hasn't ever been accused of illegally raising campaign funds, who hasn't received BJ's in the oval office, cheated on his wife, stolen things as he departed the governor's mansion.....
All the little Rat men have found that their Humpty Dumpty is broken and they have absolutely no clue of how to put it back together again. The more they lash out, the shriller and sillier they sound and appear.....how utterly delightful!
Sounds like a pretty good start. But only a start. He forgot all of the "right-wing judges", getting rid of HUD and the Dept. of Uneducation, etc., etc..
For many, many years it has been journalistically correct to mention the President by name early in the story and then drop the "President". I've got no problem with this. Reischhhhh mentioned "President Bush" in the first sentence. After that, it's fine to just say Bush.
I'd say this describes Al Gore.
That jack-ass has been trying to complete a full sentence since the day he was born.
He's still practicing with his couterie, and facial-hair decision making. "Tipper, do I shave or not? what do you think Tipper.? Oh that's right, you're "out" for the next three days. I'll have meals-on-wheels wake you up."
Meanwhile, I'll go to VT and have the governor open the dam on the Housetonic River so we can take another boat trip, even though there is a drought. Tipper, you know I can speak for the GREENs but I learned from Slick to be a hypocrite. He "learned me well." Remember, I am the Stump, and, as a log, I can float to any destination; even if I have no course.
All together now. One ...two ...three ..PPPPPPUUUUUUSSSSSHHHH! C'mon, don't let up ... push ...push!!
DB: "So exactly when did president Bush utter these words? When did the left hire mind readers?"
Clinton is behind-the-scenes playing mind reader. Reich is just mouthing the talking points that were sent out to all the DemocRAT operatives from Terrance "the Clinton puppet" McAuliffe.
Think it cant happen? Look at Texas in 1998.
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