Boston Herald -

Bush thrives although Dems sell him short by Mickey Edwards

Tuesday, March 6, 2001

More than a month after his inauguration, some find it hard to believe (and harder to accept) that it is George W. Bush, and not Al Gore, who pops up on the evening news to announce high-level administration appointments. Blinded by party-induced wishful thinking, they have apparently convinced themselves that Bush is a doofus who is barely competent to tie his own shoelaces and that his proposals are so filled with holes that no thinking person could support them.

One can imagine, therefore, what must have been going through their minds after Bush's speech last week to the Congress and the nation.

Bush laid out a number of proposals the Democrats in Congress have vigorously opposed, principal among them his prescription for a $1.6 trillion tax cut. It is not the government's money, the president says; it is the people's money (this, to a liberal, is an amazing construct).

And because the government took more from them than was called for (hence the budget surplus), the president believes the taxpayers deserve a refund.

These ideas, you recall, were denounced by Gore during last year's presidential campaign, and they have been attacked by leaders of Gore's party ever since. But according to a CBS News survey after the president's speech:

88 percent of the public supported Bush's agenda.

More than two-thirds favored the tax cuts.

The tax reduction ranked first among the goals the voters wanted to see enacted during the coming year and by a huge margin (84 percent to 12 percent).

Respondents to a CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll said the president was taking the country in the right direction.

Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and Richard Gephardt, the party's leader in the House, began their own commentary by warning that Bush's proposals seemed scarily similar to a similar agenda put forth by (gasp!) Ronald Reagan.

But it is a cardinal mistake in politics to assume that others think as you do. Only days ago a national survey found that when American voters were asked to name the greatest president in U.S. history, Reagan came in first. To have the top Democrats in Congress suggesting that you are like Ronald Reagan is no small thing. Perhaps Bush should thank the Democratic leadership for drawing the comparison.

Even worse for the Democrats, it seems that the idea that Bush actually lost Florida and ``stole'' the election simply has no credibility. Not only have two major newspapers in Florida now challenged that conclusion after an impartial recount of Dade County votes, but according to a Mason-Dixon Poll, 56 percent of Floridians themselves believe Bush won the election and that he won it fairly. Men think so, women think so, Republicans think so, independents think so.

Rapidly, it seems, the tiny pool of Bush-denigrators is drying up at the edges.

Bush's presidency still has years to go, but so far so good: Another poll, by Fabrizio and McLaughlin, shows the president with an early 61 percent favorable rating (former President Clinton's favorable rating, by contrast, has now dipped to 42 percent). Perhaps this would be a good time for the Democratic leadership to cool the rhetoric and respond to Bush's call to bridge the partisan divide. Otherwise they may find that they have underestimated this president in much the same way they underestimated Ronald Reagan, and with the same result.

Mickey Edwards teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

-- Not (From@Sen.Clinton), March 06, 2001

Answers

Not only have two major newspapers in Florida now challenged that conclusion after an impartial recount of Dade County votes, but according to a Mason-Dixon Poll, 56 percent of Floridians themselves believe Bush won the election and that he won it fairly. Men think so, women think so, Republicans think so, independents think so.

Rapidly, it seems, the tiny pool of Bush-denigrators is drying up at the edges.

ROFL!

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), March 06, 2001.

Here is the thesis:

"More than a month after his inauguration, some find it hard to believe... Blinded by party-induced wishful thinking, they have apparently convinced themselves that Bush is a doofus..."

Here is my answer:

More than a month after Bush's inauguration, some believe they were abducted by aliens during a commercial break on Super Bowl Sunday. Blinded by wishful thinking they have apparently convinced themselves that Elvis is still alive and pumping gas in Michigan. I say, let's all laugh at them. All the smart people (you know who I mean - wink - wink) are like us. Like you and me. Not like them. They drink the wrong brand of beer. We are normal. They are clowns. Hurray for us. Polls show most of us think alike. The only ones who don't are those other turds. You know who I mean. Them.

Sheesh!

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), March 06, 2001.

Who is Mason-Dixon and why are they taking polls?

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), March 06, 2001.