Is this seminar poster night?
Right on! I am so past stem-cell research and the Adarand challenge. Bush is selling out big time. All in the name of getting votes. So much for principles.
There have only been 4 presidents in 20 th century of 2 in the 19th that changed our nation. Im the 19th century Jackson and Lincoln were the only ones that had a real impact as president. In the 20th century Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Reagan were the only ones with big impacts. All the rest did little if anything to change anything.
To make a big change a president needs one of two things, an opposition party willing to give him what he wants, or a depression or war to give him huge support.
FDR had both the Depression and WWII and he used it to move the nation to the left. The Democrats were certain that Reagan's program would fail, so they gave it to him so he would fail. Much to their dismay Reaganomics did not fail.
Bush could do as Clinton did and do next to nothing. Why do yoiu think Bill let Hillary do health care? Bill Clinton knew it was going to fail, so he let Hillary take the heat. For 8 years Clinton did little but hang on to the Status Quo. He knew that was all he could do. That is what most Presidents do.
To make a change a president needs a cooperative other party, or 60 votes in the senate. To have a shot at 60 senate votes a party must come close to geting 60 percent of the voters to vote for their parties senate Candidates. A president to do anything major has to have people who will support him with filibuster breaking votes.
That means the President has to get 10 percent of the voters that are left of center to vote for his Senate Candidates. It should be obvious that to get to 60 percent you have to have at least 10 percent that is left of center. Once a Pressident has that magic 60 votes in the Senate and control of the house he can make a real impact.
Andrew Jackson did it with the votes of emigrants. Lincoln did it with the civil war. Teddy did it with the huge help of the media. FDR with a depression and war. Reagan did it with Democrats that thought his plans would fail and defeat him in 1984.
Now Dubya is trying to use his war approval to get that magic 60 votes. If he fails we might has well have had Bill or Hillary for another 8 years. For with a Republican house and a tied senate, next to nothing can happen except a good chance a Democrat will be President it in 2008.
The only way to get to 60 percent is to get 10 percent of the voters that are left of center to vote for your party. Then claim those left of center people supported right wing plans. If a President can get it done and it works, the center moves by 10 percent. Then the Republicans could be a majority like the democrats were from 1932 to 1952.
There is no way the right has ever had more than a third of the votes. There is no way the left has every had more than a third of the votes. The party that does the center best while leaning left or right wins. Since 1932 that has almost always been the Democratic party.
Bush never had any.