[Vision2020] Governing From the Base

[Tom Hansen]

>From Bob Schieffer's commentary on today's (November 12, 2006) "Face the
Nation" -

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Governing From the Base
By Bob Schieffer

A funny thing happened to George Bush on his way to the Presidency: He
became a base-based politician. 

When he first ran for governor, no one would have mistaken him for a liberal
Democrat, but he believed the key to winning was to get the moderate and
independent vote. 

It worked, and once elected he became one of the most bi-partisan governors
in Texas history and one of the most popular. 

In 2000 he began his run for the Presidency the same way - convinced that
people cared more about common sense and results than party ideology. 

Then he was blindsided in the New Hampshire primary by John McCain. His
advisors panicked. Moderation may have worked in Texas, but the only way to
win now, they said, was to move right and appeal to the party's so-called
base. 

And so he went to the extremely conservative Bob Jones University (where his
father had once been denounced as an agent of the Devil) and reminded people
that he - and he alone - was the candidate of the Right. 

>From that day on, he campaigned from the right, won, governed from the right
and was re-elected. 

But playing to just one set of voters can take even a President only so far.


The base-based strategy could not overcome an unpopular war, scandal and
government ineptitude. 

Where does he go from here? If he hopes to accomplish anything over the next
two years, I believe he must return to his roots - not the buttering up of
the so-called Republican base, but his deeper roots, the belief that you can
accomplish more by bringing people together than by driving wedges between
them. 

It wouldn't hurt if the Democrats gave that some thought as well.

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What our government desperately needs is to find (and support) common ground
in the political aisle.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.