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Posted on 10/05/2003 10:04:52 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Remember Olivia Newton-John's early '80s tune "(Let's Get) Physical?" Well, change the words to "Laura Gets Political," and you have the 21st century version. Laura Bush, that is. The so-far apolitical first spouse — the most apolitical first lady of our time — is vaulting into politics with a capital P.
There is this week's voyage to France and Russia, which reporters dutifully note promoted the lofty goal of "improving U.S.-European relations." This would be quite the task even for an astute career politician or diplomat. But "improving relations" with Europe would seem to be all the more insurmountable for an avowed political back-seater who usually places matters of public policy squarely in her husband's court.
The first lady's representation of the United States at our re-entry into UNESCO, the United Nations' main cultural organization, is a deft move by the White House public relations machine. Former President Ronald Reagan withdrew the United States from what is widely regarded overseas as little more than a feel-good group in 1984, citing mismanagement and anti-Western bias. But President Bush wants back in as a sop to our otherwise thoroughly miffed allies.
Sending the highly likeable Laura Bush into such unfriendly territory represents a fairly sizable break from what has been until now a concerted White House public relations strategy to position her one step to the side and one or two steps behind her man. Republican stalwarts love the fact Laura Bush "put the lady back in first lady" after Hillary Rodham Clinton tried, in their eyes unsuccessfully, not just to break, but to smash the mold.
Oh sure, Laura Bush had already taken two overseas trips sans husband. But they did not sport the policy overtones that drape this trip. And yes, she has forayed out into political circles to raise money for the Republican Party and for the upcoming campaign, but those appearances took place before strategically selected friendly audiences.
The only other time she "got political," or overtly so, during her husband's three years in the White House was to avoid political confrontation, not to put herself in the position of creating, or to serve as a target for it. This past February, Laura Bush postponed a poetry celebration she had scheduled in the East Room. Some of the invited poets opposed the administration's then-pending war on Iraq.
Postponement of this celebration of the work of Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman and others was ripe with irony. Whitman himself described the ultimate pointlessness and futility of war in the poem "Reconciliation," "For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead."
Yet Laura Bush decided to brush aside First Amendment considerations, as her press secretary told National Public Radio, ". . . while she (Laura Bush) respects the right of all Americans to express their opinions, she too has opinions and believes it would be entirely inappropriate to turn what is supposed to be an event to celebrate the written word into a political forum."
So why the change? Why is it now OK for Laura Bush to "get political" when it wasn't then? Just look at recent poll numbers. A poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is one of many showing a drop in the president's popularity ratings during the past few months — that due to voters' fears about the economy and the apparent failure of his foreign policy. But the drop is most pronounced among certain categories of women.
In 2000, President Bush captured the married, white women's vote, while losing single women and women of color to former Vice President Al Gore.
This demographic was key to Bush's victory. The Pew poll shows between July and September of this year, the percentage of women who would like to see him re-elected dropped from 43 percent to 41 percent (versus dropping from 51 percent to 49 percent among men) and among white women that figure declined from 49 percent to 45 percent.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz, was recently quoted as saying Laura Bush is "one of the few people in political life who is a guaranteed home run. It is strange to me that she's not more public."
Now that the president needs women's support, she's taking your heed, Mr. Luntz. She's "getting political."
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Two points from each demographic, LOL. Pardon me while I hold up the sky.
"Yet Laura Bush decided to brush aside First Amendment considerations..."
Whining that turning a poetry celebration into an a rabid, anti-war rally is stomping on their rights again. Actually, cancelling it was the best tactical move Mrs. Bush could have made.
No one but the hard core haters would find fault with Laura's European trip. The rest will ignore this drivel......
Laura, angel - Hillary, devil
Laura, light - Hillary, dark
Laura, fresh and clean - Hillary, rancid
Laura, in a vibrant marriage with a real man - Hillary, in a political arrangement with a reprobate
I could go on forever, but you get the picture. ;o)
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