More Downside - Jonah Goldberg

More Downside - Jonah Goldberg on what Bush needs to do:

So now Bush has room for some long passes. He has a Republican House and Senate which know — or should know — that they owe their power to him. This means George Bush has, at best, a year to topple Saddam Hussein and get some serious work done on the home front. For the last year Bush has been MIA on domestic policy, and if he doesn't get some big stuff accomplished, there's every reason to believe the GOP could lose the House, the Senate, and the presidency to Al Gore and the forces of Mordor.

In other words, the administration has to deliver. Fortunately, the administration has been good at that so far.

So what does it mean? Goldberg says:

One irony to keep in mind is that while this election made the government more conservative, it also made the opposition more liberal. Daschle and Gephardt are going to be punished for not attacking Bush on the war and the economy more (because that strategy didn't work), and Democrats like Gore are going to be rewarded (for wanting to fight on those issues). When a party is completely out of power it not only stands on its base, it runs on it. That means a more antiwar and pro-tax Democratic party for the next two years. That can be to Bush's advantage if the Democrats come to be seen as out of the mainstream while the Republicans are seen as the responsible, govern-from-the-middle types.

Exactly. Bush has out-Clintonned Clinton himself, triangulating the Dems into leftie loopdiloop-land. If you're a conservative purist (and I have my moments), that's not all good. If you just don't like liberals running the show - it's a good start.

Posted by Mitch at November 7, 2002 08:50 AM