Posted on 12/03/2004 7:34:52 PM PST by RWR8189
A DEMOCRATIC SENATOR who attended a special screening of the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 was asked what he thought was the most revealing part about President Bush. The senator pondered a moment, then said it was the episode where Bush, in close-up, continues to talk to a grade-school class in Sarasota, Florida, for six or seven minutes after he's learned that planes had flown into the World Trade Center. What did it reveal? The senator couldn't say.
My impression, as Bush begins his second term in the White House, is that many in the political community, including the press, still haven't figured him out. One reason is the Bush presidency has emerged quite differently from what was expected. So here are five things about the president that help explain why he does what he does. They aren't the only five aspects of his presidency, but they're five important ones.
* ACTIVIST. The label is usually applied to liberal politicians, rarely conservatives. In Bush's case, it means he has a lengthy agenda and is impatient about enacting it. And it's an agenda--Social Security reform, altering the balance on the Supreme Court, tax reform, reversing cultural trends, a crusade for democracy around the globe--for change. Bush didn't get his activist streak from his father. George H.W. Bush was a caretaker president, dealing with items as they arrived in his in-basket. He lost his bid for reelection in 1992 partly because he didn't have much on his mind for a second term. Bush has a lot, and it's not trivial. One of his most stinging criticisms is to label a proposal "smallball"--in other words, not big or bold enough for serious presidential attention.
* OUTSIDER. Bush is an alien inside the Beltway. His election was the equivalent of getting a green card to work in Washington. He's not part of the social whirl. Nor has he made many close friends on Capitol Hill or around town. What separates him from the Washington crowd? More than anything else, it's religion. Bush is the first president who's a product of the modern evangelical movement, which means his Christian faith is personal, intense, and all-encompassing. It's not a part-time, Sunday-only thing. Leave Washington and you frequently encounter people who say of the president, "He's one of us." You don't hear that in Washington. A Texas friend recently sent the president a copy of Natan Sharansky's book, The Case for Democracy. Bush read most of it and asked Sharansky to meet with him at the White House. Bush praised Sharansky for his years as a dissident in the Soviet Union. To which Sharansky replied, "Now you are the chief dissident of the world."
* PRESS-BASHER. Bush has not made peace with the press, far from it. He views most reporters as political opponents eager to pepper him with gotcha questions. In Colombia last month, he appeared before reporters with President Alvaro Uribe. Bush didn't like the first question about a scuffle two days earlier involving the Secret Service. "This is a question?" he said, and gave a curt answer. Uribe said, "Do you want to get in one more [question]?" Bush said, "That's plenty. No. Thank you," ending the press conference prematurely.
Bush believes, correctly, that the Washington press corps favored John Kerry in the election. "Ninety percent for Kerry" is what White House aides say. Coverage of Bush reflected this. The Center for Media and Public Affairs found that coverage of Kerry was the most favorable for any presidential candidate since it began examining campaigns in 1988, while Bush's was mostly negative. Reporters complain they get little information from the White House. Chances are they'll get even less in the second term. Bush's calculation is that spending more time with the press would be time poorly spent.
* SURPRISER. Bush likes to defy the conventional wisdom. He often does it without even trying. I recently asked a leading supporter of Israel if he had known Bush would become the most pro-Israel president ever. He hadn't. Bush was expected to govern as a moderate conservative, but on most issues he's become hard core. He was expected to relax after November 2. Instead, he's plotting for next year. Presidents, indeed most politicians, are disinclined to give aides credit for their success. But Bush surprised Washington on the day after his reelection by calling Karl Rove "the architect" of his victory. The conventional wisdom is that Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage to help win reelection but won't actually push it. The surprise of his second term may be that he pushes it aggressively.
* VISIONARY. Really. True, the word just doesn't seem to go with the Bush persona, or at least with the popular notion of Bush, the swaggering Texan. But in speech after speech, Bush has laid out a vision of democratizing the Middle East, then the world. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, last week, he pretended Canada shares his "great commitment . . . to enhance our own security by promoting freedom and hope and democracy in the broader Middle East." Most of Europe and Bush's own State Department disagree with this effort. But Bush is adamant. "It is cultural condescension to claim that some peoples or some cultures or some religions are destined to despotism and unsuited for self-government," he said in Halifax. With little fanfare, Bush also changed America's national security strategy from containment to preemption.
So where does all this leave us in understanding Bush? The first step is to abandon the original preconception of President Bush. He's different. The second step is to accept that he's attempting big things. And the third, as a result, is to get ready for a second presidential term like few we've seen.
Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.
Excellent summary and assessment.
ditto that
I will make a prediction that only history can bear out. This president will make a mark on this planet far deeper than any other president of the last 200 years. It will be a mark that will return us closer to what the founding fathers intended. It will also come closer to healing the unmitigated damage done by 50 years of democRATic rule. I may be wrong but who do you want to bet with? I'll bet with President George Bush.
Liked 'ACTIVIST' and 'VISIONARY'. By contrast, Clinton simply wanted to get LAID.
I've learned more about Reagan since his death. I was a dim back then, so I didn't try to learn anything about him. The things I have read, he was a great man.
But Bush...Bush has my heart. He's my first Republican President. And I think I made a wise decision when I chose a party that had such a man like him..
Generations May Pass before the "Beneficiaries" of "W's" Policies & Speeches are "Appreciated By" Cultures Now Totally Unaware of the POWER & WISDOM of "W's" Leadership.
I TRULY BELIEVE that "W" MAY WELL HAVE a PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON "Human Culture" for "Centuries to Come!!"
We Live in a Time of PROFOUND CRISIS; ONLY a "GREAT LEADER" is "Capable of" RESOLVING THAT CRISIS!!
Doc
I believe he's the most honest of the Beltway Boys Of Summer. And I believe he's glad he no longer has to put up with old McL's "Beadle" taunts...
Yup. When it is Krauthhammers turn to speak, the rest of the panel SHUTs the HELL UP. The man speaks with intellect and conviction; vs. when Juan blathers incoherent mindless disconnected (dan) blather.
I put the life of my family in his hands and it's strong hands he has.
He looks to a higher power that's for sure. He's a man I can trust.
He can root for both. The Rangers and the Nationals are in different leagues. There is no stigma to a fan of an American League team also following a particular NL team.
this is the truth...and I think it has been made known to him, and he walks with it, not in pride, but in humility and a great sense of responsibility...I think he was warned what would be on his plate if he went forward and what terrible things he would have to deal with. He accepted and has not faltered.
I can't even begin to imagine what he - and Laura - have gone through since 9-11. We know some - but what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. How one man can deal with what he has had to - and knows he will have too - and still remain so calm and steady is amazing - and a test of what he is made of, as well as a testimony to the protection he gets from Above.
The dems use his straight talking and his "simple" way of looking at things to make people think he is looking to retalitate for all percieved wrongs.
Tonight, H&C had Geraldine Ferraro on and she was talking about how terrific Kofi Annen is, and that the only reason that Bush isn't backing him now, against the call for his resignation, is because right before the election Kofi said the Iraq War was illegal and immoral. Therefore, she said, Bush is "paying Kofi back". Actually, I think Bush has known the character of Annen for a long time, and is glad that he is going to get his comeuppence.
I think that is also what the media think---that because they say negative things about him, he pays them back. Well, duh!!!!!
I don't doubt that. He is in a unique positon. He has a mandate, he has a resolution, and he has a faith. We may well be on the verge of "one for all and all for one" again. We may not have to deal with radical egalitarianism and radical individualism. Those two concepts are good for 1960's nutcases but we are far above that.
Love the Shopping List, its almost all checked off! LOL
4th church in Bethesda, MD is also where Jack Kemp worships. Fred and Mort are friends from a Bible study they originally attended, and Mort is the more liberal of the two in his views.
Fred Barnes needs to get away from the superficial people he runs into in the big city of his choice.
Fred must remember a Harvard MBA guy like Bush always has ideas miles and years beyond the present.
Fred misunderestimated dubya like everyone else has.
Excellent observation and well delievered. Thanks.
Yup. you nailed it.
By George, I think you've got it.
:o)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.