Posted on 06/30/2003 3:59:40 PM PDT by TLBSHOW
The Vast Dubya & DeLay Conspiracy
June 30, 2003
Depending on where you go and in what circles you travel, conservatives are livid with the Bush administration. Some, more so than others, are furious over the size of the federal budget, the failing to rein in any kind of spending, tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the list continues - and there’s a great deal of head scratching going on.
I came across an Associated Press story over the weekend that attempts to shed some light on what’s happening, which you can hear me read in the audio links below. However, the story seems to imply there’s a conspiracy between the White House and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
Here’s just one excerpt: “DeLay has become the most identifiable representative of the party's right wing, and the two Texans have had a sometimes scrappy relationship. Clashes may become more frequent as Bush moves beyond his current phase of fund raising among loyal Republicans and shifts his attention to the general electorate, analysts suggest. At the same time, Bush and his advisers are mindful that if they go too far, they could alienate conservatives whose support he needs. ‘Bush is carefully picking and choosing his fights,’ said GOP consultant Scott Reed. ‘There's a healthy back and forth between the White House staff and DeLay that is mutually beneficial to both.’”
The story continues to suggest that Bush is telling DeLay to go ahead and stop what he’s trying to do - on purpose. The idea being that Bush can thus claim credit for supporting whatever measure, while DeLay and other conservatives can point to victory for blocking its ultimate passage. A caller later asked: “Isn't this the same strategy that Bush used on campaign finance reform, only he is counting on the Supreme Court to shoot it down?” You can hear my answer below.
The " true bluers " don't know what a Conservative is. They don't even know that the GOP is not now and never was a solely Conservative political party. Heck, they don't understand politics at all ! If there's one thing that can be said for them, though, is that if an article/editorial/talking head bashes President Bush, they post it, quote from it, and lap it up. If and when President Bush does/says anything at all, that they've been whinging about, that they want, it isn't good enough/fast enough/right enough ... not ever, even when it's exactly what they've previously claimed they wanted.Some people see a glass as 1/2 full, others see it as 1/2 empty; those people see a totally empty glass into perpituity.
| Democracy Corps Poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (D). Latest: June 17-23, 2003. N=1,011 likely voters nationwide. MoE ± 3.1. | ||||||
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| "I know it is a long way off, but thinking about the elections in 2004, if the election for president were held today and the candidates were Republican George W. Bush and the Democratic nominee for president, for whom would you vote: Republican George W. Bush or the Democratic nominee for president?" | ||||||
| George W. Bush |
Demo- cratic Nominee |
Other (vol.) |
Not Sure |
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| % | % | % | % | |||
| 6/03 | 51 | 40 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5/03 | 52 | 40 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1/03 | 48 | 41 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 7/02 | 52 | 37 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6/01 | 44 | 44 | 3 | 9 | ||
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Incrementalism is the ONLY way.
You just aren't getting YOUR issues addressed and fixed as fast as you want them to be. Patience is a virtue. There has been progress made. This one fact alone (although a bit out of date, as GWB has had some apptments confirmed)should tell you about the long, uphill task we have of fixing things:
OK.....here's the deal.
Who picked the judges?
Johnson 1
Ford 5
Nixon 7
Carter 38
GW Bush 59
Vacancies 95
Reagan 142
Bush 156
Clinton 359
Let's get this right okay? You mean, I could NOT care less.
And this:
Monday, June 30 2003
BUSH AND THE BASE: Last week provided somewhat of a measuring stick for President Bush among his conservative base.
Social conservatives agonized over Supreme Court rulings upholding affirmative action and striking down sodomy laws across the country and were disappointed when President Bush issued a statement "applauding" the former and making no public mention of the latter.
Meanwhile, fiscal conservatives fumed as they watched the Republican-led House and Senate pass a new $400 billion prescription drug entitlement last week at President Bush's urging. Donald Lambro details the growing anger among fiscal conservatives in the Washington Times this morning.
There have also been recent rumblings among pro-life groups who are adamantly opposed to President Bush's possible nomination of Al Gonzales to the Supreme Court.
So is President Bush in the process of alienating his base? Not according to this article in today's NY Times. Despite the disagreements many of the narrowly-focused constituencies on the right have with President Bush, there seems to be an overall appreciation of his character, integrity, and his unwavering commitment to U.S. national security. There also seems to be an understanding that Bush, like Reagan, is helping to facilitate a continued shift toward conservatism in U.S. public opinion:
Today, many conservatives say, American public opinion is shifting their way, so there is no reason to be impatient — or to pressure Mr. Bush into doing things before the election that might hurt him next year.
"The Republicans are looking at decades of dominance in the House and the Senate, and having the presidency with some regularity," Mr. Norquist said. "So if this year the tax cut isn't the one we wanted — no biggie. There's a sense that we can afford to wait."
This tolerance of Bush only runs so deep, of course, and if the economy doesn't enjoy a robust recovery the President can't afford to have conservative groups sitting on their hands next November.
Meanwhile, the upside for conservative groups in the coming election is bigger than ever: if the economy does spring back to life and conservatives come out en masse for the President, it could produce a landslide victory and an historic mandate for Bush and his conservative agenda. - T. Bevan 8:44am
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