Clicking on banner ads enables JWR to constantly improve
Jewish World Review June 23, 2003 / 23 Sivan, 5763

Dick Morris

Dick Morris
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


Presidents often fall victim to their own success: Some advice for the president


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | In this space, I have often lamented the lack of a domestic policy political strategy at the Bush White House and wondered out loud how he can keep control of the 2004 electoral dialogue once the war on terror fades from the front pages of the nation's newspapers.

It had always seemed to me that while Bush could count on approval ratings upwards of 70 percent as he battled the nation's enemies abroad, he had feet of clay, mired at about 50 percent, when it came to the rest of the political landscape.

Now, for the first time, Bush is advancing a coherent domestic political strategy that holds the promise of controlling the dialogue in the presidential campaign. His repositioning began with his "defeat" by the Democrats in having to accept a whittled-down tax cut of only $350 billion.

By passing a cut with a sunset provision that kicks in early in his putative second term, Bush has guaranteed that taxes will be front and center in the '04 campaign. But instead of pushing for tax cuts, a 30-40 percent issue at best, he will be opposing a tax increase, a position that brings him the support of more like 80 percent of the voters.

By describing Democratic plans to let his tax cuts lapse once their sunset dates arrive, he will successfully maneuver his opponents into supporting a tax increase, rather than just opposing a tax cut.

The recent White House flip-flop signaling a willingness to embrace the Democratic reliance on traditional fee-for-service Medicare to provide prescription drug benefits to the elderly is a second master stroke in composing a domestic political strategy.

Bush's refusal to go down the line with the right-wing think tanks in insisting on fundamental changes in Medicare as the price of prescription drugs makes it likely that the benefit will pass this year.

If the Republicans deliver a viable prescription drug benefit to America's elderly, as part of traditional Medicare, it will represent a coup for them as fundamental as was Bill Clinton's signing of the welfare reform bill prior to the 1996 election.

No longer will the Democrats have their pet issue to kick around. Medicare prescription drug benefits will be the law of the land, and it will have been accomplished under a Republican administration.

The conservatives have always wanted to use the need for drug coverage by America's elderly to induce them to accept basic changes in Medicare, either through a managed care approach or by changing Medicare into a tax credit system like the unused Medical Savings Accounts they insisted on inserting into the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act of 1996.

By agreeing to include a full prescription drug benefit in classical fee-for-service Medicare and not asking the elderly to jump through hoops to secure their medication, Bush abandons GOP orthodoxy with the same courage and independence Clinton showed in rejecting the automatic entitlement to welfare benefits.

Bush's embrace of generic drugs and his willingness to curb the appeals process which permits drug companies to delay their introduction onto the market place completes the trifecta of policy repositioning that shores the incumbent up for the 2004 election. By taking so major a step to cut drug prices in the United States and acting so independently of his drug company buddies, George W. Bush has gone a long way toward stripping the Democratic Party of its most treasured issues.

'Yes' is a far more potent word than 'no' in American politics. By adopting the positions which animate the political agenda for the other side, one can disarm them and leave them sputtering with nothing to say. When a president exercises his prerogative and passes the proposals of the other side, he takes their best issues out of play and reduces them to name-calling instead of effective rhetoric as the election approaches.

Bush is finding a place to stand in domestic politics in the nick of time. The most recent polls show American concern over terrorism shrinking rapidly, reflecting the success of Bush's efforts to make us safe.

Presidents often fall victim to their own success. They accomplish their goals and, in the process, do themselves out of a job. Winston Churchill's defeat after winning World War II serves as the classic example of this paradox of losing by winning. Now Bush seems to have absorbed the lesson and has created a domestic policy positioning that is very, very strong.

He has but one major hurdle still in his path: The possibility of a partisan food fight over a Supreme Court vacancy that could make the abortion issue central to the '04 election.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Dick Morris is the author of, among others, Off with Their Heads: Traitors, Crooks & Obstructionists in American Politics, Media & Business" Comment by clicking here.

Up

06/18/03: Times not a-changing
06/13/03: Why did Hillary write the book?
06/11/03: Will the Rev go rogue?
06/05/03: Napoleon's maneuvers at Austerlitz have nothing on prez's
06/02/03: Prez's tax-cut catch-22 for Dems
05/29/03: Liberal author documents Clinton's wasted second term
05/16/03: Early Democrat handicapping for 2004
05/14/03: Gephardt: AWOL
04/30/03: Prez can lose
04/25/03: My message to Putin: Call President Bush
04/23/03: NO OIL FOR BLOOD
04/21/03: The war that network news lost in Iraq
04/15/03: Media meltdown
04/10/03: Giving government a good name
04/03/03: Polls' message to Bush: Relax and win the war
03/31/03: Bomb as you need
03/28/03: The strong grow weak through inhibition
03/26/03: Carping pessimism of TV anchors and interviewers fails to give Americans a sense of defeatism
03/17/03: Poll: Get on with it
03/13/03: It's time for U.S. to play hardball at U.N.
03/10/03: The whole (Hispanic) world is watching
03/07/03: Anti-war errors
03/05/03: Domino theory II: Toppling Mideast despots
03/03/03: Europe's triangulators: Chirac and Blair
02/27/03: Invasion? More like a coup
02/21/03: The first casualty of Iraq war: Liberal credibility
02/19/03: Old Europe's last hurrah
02/14/03: Corzine throws down gauntlet on Wall St. fraud
02/12/03: An exile deal for Saddam
02/07/03: The Dems give up the House
02/05/03: France: Saddam's ally
02/03/03: War critics will suffer
02/30/03: Even by Clinton standards, it's sheer chutzpah
01/24/03: Rebirth of the balanced budget Republican
01/22/03: Next to Bubba, Dubya's got it good
01/16/03: End racism in affirmative action
01/13/03: The new swing voter
01/10/03: Political e-mailing comes of age
01/07/03: In Dem race: Home field no advantage
12/31/02: Hey, Hillary: Want to appear like a stateswomyn? Stay silent
12/19/02: Kerry in the lead
12/19/02: Lieberman the frontrunner
12/17/02: In defense of Lott
12/02/02: An issue for Bush: Drugs
11/27/02: Women gone wobbly?
11/25/02: The U.N. over a barrel
11/15/02: Gore's suicide
11/15/02 One-party control is an illusion
11/13/02 The House of Extremes
11/08/02 I have egg on my face
11/01/02 Is Bush losing control over events?
10/25/02What is causing Bush's free fall?
10/25/02: Anybody sense a trend?
10/23/02: A deadline for Iraq
10/18/02: Only sure bet of 2002 elections is voter angst
10/16/02: Endangered incumbents
10/11/02: Why multilateralism doesn't work
10/09/02: Hey, Dems: Believe NYTimes polling at your own risk
10/03/02: Dem suicide: Let's count the ways
09/30/02: The Dems just can't stop themselves
09/26/02: The perils of polling
09/19/02: W. boxed in the U.N.
09/19/02: Welfare reform: Keep on keeping on
09/12/02: Are Dems insane on Iraq?
09/09/02: Twin shadows of Election '02
09/05/02: GOP should triangulate
08/28/02: Trust the military
08/22/02: It's not the economy, stupid
08/09/02: As America unites, Gore goes divisive
08/01/02: Bush must focus on big picture
07/23/02: Election 2002: Advantage Dems
07/19/02: Rudy for SEC tough cop
07/17/02: The investor strike
07/15/02: Door open for drug testing students --- go for it, GOP!
07/12/02: Dubya looking out for No. 1?
07/03/02: The DNA war for Bush's soul
06/21/02: Why are conservatives winning?
06/19/02: Learning to love the feds
06/14/02: Hey, journalists and Dems: Dubya is doing just fine
06/12/02: It's terrorism, stupid!
06/10/02: Sanctions are a potent weapon
06/04/02: Al Qaeda's more dangerous new front
05/31/02: Why '04 looks tough for liberal Dems
05/24/02: Democratic self-destruction
05/22/02: The Clinton failures
05/15/02: Pataki positioned to win
05/08/02: A wakeup-call for American Jewry
05/03/02: Give Bush back his focus
05/01/02: Immigration fault li(n)es
04/25/02: It's the war, stupid
04/17/02: Bush goes small bore
04/12/02: Bush must be a gentle partisan
04/10/02: In defense of polling
04/08/02: Focus on Iraq, not the Palestinians
04/01/02: Only Internet will bring real campaign finance reform
03/27/02: Where W's drawn a line in the sand
03/22/02: Enron scandal will not trigger a wave of economic populism
03/20/02: Term-limited --- by war
03/15/02: Europe doesn't have a clue
03/11/02: Bush popularity = GOP win?
03/01/02: Will America be forced to chase its tail in its war on terrorism?
02/27/02: The Arafat/Saddam equilibrium must be destroyed
02/21/02: Campaign finance reform won't hurt GOPers
02/13/02: Dodd scurries for cover
02/11/02: U.S. 'unilateralism'? The Europeans don't have a case
02/06/02: WAR: What women want
02/01/02: They all talk in the end
01/30/01: The odd couple: Chris Dodd and Arthur Andersen
01/22/01: His father's son? Bush better get an 'Act II' fast!
01/18/01: Dubya & the 'vision thing'
01/14/01: The Rumsfeld Doctrine 01/03/01: A President Gore would have been a disaster
01/03/02: Clinton's priority: Political correctness over fighting terror
12/27/01: Terror network grew out of Clinton's inaction, despite warnings
12/24/01: Call 'em back, George
12/18/01: What Bush did right
12/13/01: Libs worry too much
12/11/01: "Open Sesame": Feinstein's proposed bill allows 100,000 non-immigrant students from anti-American countries to our shores
12/07/01: The non-partisan president
12/05/01: Both parties are phony on stimulus debate
11/29/01: When terrorists can enter legally, it's time to change the laws
11/21/01: Go for the jugular!
11/16/01: You are all incumbents
11/14/01: Clinton's failure to mobilize America to confront foreign terror after the 1993 attack led directly to 9-11 disaster
11/12/01: To the generals: Don't worry about losing support
11/08/01: The death of the white liberal
11/07/01: Our leaders are being transformed in a way unprecedented in post-World War II history

© 2002, Dick Morris