[Torie]

In domestic affairs, GWB is a defensive politician

I don't think so. I think he is on the offensive in domestic affairs, with his own blend of conservatism, which some don't, but I don't care about labels. He is not afraid to push in the domestic arena what he cares about, whether it is tax policy or education, or whatever. He is a moderate conservative overall (but not that moderate on certain issues), and of course disappoints those who are more to the right, but Bush never suggested he was otherwise. Bush may have flaws, but false advertising is not one of them.

[Howlin]

According to David Frum, Bush won't even let them put things like "I'm glad to be here" in his speeches.

[x]

It looks like Bush is for more government initiatives in some areas of social policy and for more federal action if not always more spending. When I think about it, I have to admit that you are right that this is more a matter of long-standing conviction rather than of advantage and convenience. But Bush's approach is so different from the rhetoric of the Reagan and Gingrich years, that it's natural for me to think that someone will be left holding the bag, whether liberals or conservatives. It looks like a return to Eisenhower-Nixon-Ford Republicanism, though Bush is more solid on the culture war issues that became so prominent in subsequent decades. Many limited-government and low-tax conservatives were critical of those administrations. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't help fearing that in both foreign and domestic policy the overconfidence of the 1960s may be coming back, with all the problems that it brought.