Iam truly amazed by how perceptions of George W. Bush have radically changed since the last time he stood on the west front of the Capitol to take the presidential oath of office.
Four years ago, defeated Democrats were complaining that Bush was a drunken frat boy and failed businessman who floated through life on the basis of his famous last name, who fell into the Texas governorship courtesy of the 1994 Republican tidal wave and who backed into the presidency thanks to voter fraud and Al Gore's incompetent campaign. He was considered a simpleton who was ignorant on policy issues and whose strings were being pulled by aides while he sat in the White House and played president to please Daddy.
To be sure, the president's grasp of policy is minimal at best, and his refusal to acknowledge reality on issues like Iraq and the federal budget deficit has crossed the line separating unshakable faith from willfully blind fantasy. But simpleton though he may be, there is no denying that he has been one of the most productive and politically adept presidents of the past century. In fact, I would go as far as to call him a political genius.
Bush entered office not only without a mandate, but with half the country believing he had outright stolen the 2000 election. Undaunted, he somehow convinced the deadlocked Congress to pass both of the cornerstones of his campaign, over a trillion dollars in tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act.
Sept. 11 required him to retool his entire political image, and he did so flawlessly. Suddenly, instead of the frat boy son of the president, he was the resolute commander-in-chief to whom frightened Americans ran for comfort, protection and inspiration. With Democrats terrified to stand up to a wartime president with approval ratings higher than 90 percent, Bush rushed the USA Patriot Act through Congress with only token opposition. Then he swiped the Democratic idea of creating a Department of Homeland Security, loaded it with special interest money and anti-union clauses, sent it to Congress and allowed his minions to question the patriotism of anyone who dared oppose it. It passed easily.
The spin surrounding the war in Iraq was perhaps Bush's most brilliant political accomplishment. With supposed puppet masters Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld urging him to bypass Congress and essentially give the finger to the United Nations, Bush had the political sense to realize that he needed some sort of legitimacy to quell the significant national and international reluctance to invade a country that had nothing to do with al-Qaida.
So he went to the United Nations to plead his case and accomplished the goal of appearing to have consulted the international community. Then he went to Congress for authorization to use force, and his political spin was so successful that Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards thought they had to vote for authorization if they were to be serious presidential contenders.
Of course, Kerry's strategic votes on the war and the $87 billion Iraq reconstruction package ended up crippling his campaign, and Bush laughed all the way to a second term. He won despite an Iraqi quagmire and a record budget deficit, and he won largely without compromising with Democrats or retreating from any of the things he said he'd do during his campaigns, with the exception of being a uniter and not a divider.
I suspect that in the long-run, history will not look kindly on Bush. However, that doesn't change the fact that he has masterfully used the presidency to make his mark on America. People know what he stands for and can understand the terms in which he lays out issues. He has also built the Republican Party around his ideas and is responsible for its straight-down-the-ticket electoral success of recent years.
Given the sad state of the nation and the world on Election Day, Bush's re-election says to me that Bush must have been brilliant to win, and Kerry must have been totally incompetent not to win when so many things were going wrong. Be that as it may, Bush has laid it all on the line twice now and has, by the slimmest of margins, prevailed. People who would like to do the same would be well-advised to study how he did it instead of \misunderestimating"" his considerable skill.
Nick Barbash is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies. He can be reached at opinion@dailycardinal.com. His column runs every Thursday in The Daily Cardinal.
