President Bush waves to the crowd ,Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002, at the University of New Hampshire as he arrived to speak in Durham,N.H.. Earlier in the day Bush signed the $26.5 billion federal education bill during a stop in Ohio. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Posted on 01/09/2002 6:05:22 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Bush on Kennedy: 'I actually like the fellow'
01/09/2002
WASHINGTON President Bush had warned his fellow Texans just last weekend.
"A lot of my friends in Midland, Texas, are going to be amazed when I stand up and say nice things about Ted Kennedy," the president said Saturday during a town meeting in California.
| Related Bush signs far-reaching education bill |
And Tuesday in Ohio, as he signed his keystone education bill into law, Mr. Bush did just that.
"He is a fabulous United States senator," the president said. "When he's against you, it's tough. When he's with you, it is a great experience."
In the first year of the Bush presidency, this political odd couple has come full circle from Merritt Elementary School in Washington, where the Democratic senator from Massachusetts first appeared with the new Republican president five days after his inauguration, to Hamilton High School near Cincinnati, where Mr. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The president did not get every reform he proposed during his 2000 campaign, but he got many of them. And he was determined to make the most of it Tuesday during a daylong three-state tour that had Mr. Kennedy riding up front with him on Air Force One.
"I actually like the fellow," Mr. Bush allowed at their first stop in Ohio, before flying off to other education events in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where Mr. Kennedy was the host at Boston Latin School.
Education reform nearly stalled after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mr. Kennedy said, but congressional supporters and the president pressed on.
"President Bush was there, every step of the way, making a difference," the senator said in a warm introduction of the president in Boston.
Tuesday's Bush-Kennedy road show was a long way from Texas, where not so long ago, the senator from Massachusetts was often pilloried in Republican campaigns.
In the old days, too, Mr. Kennedy, no stranger to political hardball, used to take after Mr. Bush as the governor of Texas.
"George Bush doesn't have a credibility gap. He has a credibility chasm," Mr. Kennedy thundered on the Senate floor a few weeks before the 2000 presidential election.
But that was then. This is now.
Folks back home might be "somewhat in shock" at the turn of events, Mr. Bush muses. But, in fact, this seemingly topsy-turvy turn of events was carefully nurtured by the new administration to rally congressional support for education reform.
In just the first two weeks of the Bush presidency, the two men met five times, including a private but well-publicized White House screening of the movie Thirteen Days, the story of the Cuban missile crisis during the administration of the senator's brother John F. Kennedy.
The senator, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says he shares "common ground" with the president, though they still differ mightily over myriad health care and economic issues.
Mr. Bush says their relationship shows that politicians at the opposite ends of the political spectrum can work together.
"It's a great symbol of what is possible in Washington," Mr. Bush said.
In this case, too, there's a little something for both men.
"For the president, it symbolically shows that he's willing to reach across partisan and ideological lines to get the job done," political analyst Charles Cook noted.
"For Kennedy, it's just a further sign that he is an 800-pound gorilla on Capitol Hill and that people, if they want to get something done, need to deal with him."
And after spending an hour with Ted Kennedy, President Bush probably feels like the smartest guy in the world. No wonder he likes Kennedy. Great for the self-esteem.
COnservatives have to learn death by a thousand cuts. Some vouchers here, a few there and before you know it the public is sold. And the inner city is actaually a good place to start because support fot them there among parents, despite what Jesse and Donna say, is very high.
Yep. I just love it, myself, how he fools those silly Dems by pushing for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, when you and I know that it's all a clever ruse on W's part. Same thing goes for the deal with Mexican truckers and NAFTA. He's one hell of a trickster, that Bush. Yep, when he pushes the global agenda and end-runs the Constitution day after day, WE know that it's all just part of his Bag O' Tricks to fool the Dems. He's definitely one smart cookie.
"I actually like the fellow," Mr. Bush…
I’m reminded of the guy who doesn’t yet realize that he’s been had at 3-card monte, looking around quizzically and asking “Where’d all those nice card players go? Guys?”
I agree, with Kennedy's health on the skids the friendship with Bush puts him in the national limelight. While I don't like what he stands for politically I'm sure on a personal level he and Bush have a lot in common with both being from political families and both being raised from birth to go into politics.
Kennedy also needs to set up some good will for the family name so the Kennedy heirs can continue their dynasty. I would look for Joe or some other Kennedy to join in with Ted in his Bush friendship thereby setting up a new Kennedy heir to the Senate seat in Massachussets.
It's called politics and it makes strange bedfellows. Bush needs a dem to help get stuff past Daschle. Kennedy needs to be in the limelight to keep the Kennedy dynasty going.
No, Mr. President, he is not. He is a philandering, alcoholic, socialist, criminal bum. Please reserve praise for the deserving.
Ssshhhhh... It's just part of Junior's tricking the Dems thing. Don't give it away.
WASHINGTON President Bush had warned his fellow Texans just last weekend.
"A lot of my friends in Midland, Texas, are going to be amazed when I stand up and say nice things about Ted Kennedy," the president said Saturday during a town meeting in California.
And Tuesday in Ohio, as he signed his keystone education bill into law, Mr. Bush did just that.
"He is a fabulous United States senator," the president said. "When he's against you, it's tough. When he's with you, it is a great experience."
I still think he (and Ashcroft) should prosecute the clintons, reno, and the rest of the criminals. I guess I am expecting too much, "new tone" and all.
g
Don't any of you have Democrat friends or are you all (Including myself) as hateful towards them in real life as you are here? I'm not.
Did anyone else notice how President Bush choked-up when he was describing how Kenedy comforted Mrs Bush in the Senate Bunker during the Terrorists Attacks on 9-11? If so, ask yourselves, wouldn't YOU "Like" ANY person who comforted a loved-one while you were being HUNTED BY TERRORISTS?
Don't read any more into this than what is there...An honest man making an honest statement about another man.
Democrats get votes that way. Why not join the club? They'll sneek across the border anyway. Clinton saw to that. They're here, but the key now is to try to stop any more from comming in.
Mexican truckers and NAFTA.
Nothing wrong with making Mexico Americas strongest supporter. They are our neighbors. If Mexico can become a strong capitalist country, our borders will be even safer. Look at the bigger picture.
end-runs the Constitution day after day,
please explain. War on terrorism? Either you're with us, or you're against us.
Bitter libertarian, eh?
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