Bush

For this we fought the Reagan revolution? said Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal. A year into his second term, President Bush is redefining what it means to be a Republican and a conservative, and most of us who proudly call ourselves both don't like the results. His brand of 'œcompassionate' conservatism, it's now becoming clear, means a return to the same government-without-limits philosophy that Democrats practiced for 40 years. Bush has yet to veto a single spending bill, and has stuck taxpayers with the most expensive entitlement since the 1960s'”the Medicare drug benefit. With a smile, he's signed energy and highway bills swollen with billions of dollars in special-interest pork. Now, following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the White House has pledged up to $200 billion to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. In the Bush presidency, the governing philosophy appears to be: 'œWhatever it takes.' The Democrats, of course, would be even worse, said Mark Steyn in the Chicago Sun-Times. But that's small comfort. 'œThese days, one party raises a ton of money from George Soros. The other raises a ton of money from you.' Some choice.

Bush isn't expanding government for no reason, said Andrew Busch in Newsday. He's trying to forge 'œa new majority Republican coalition' by keeping his base happy while poaching senior citizens, Hispanics, and other traditional Democratic voters. Most conservatives 'œheld their noses and their tongues for four years,' hoping that once Bush won re-election, he would return to the small-government principles that launched the Republican renaissance. But thus far, Bush's deficits, the botched war in Iraq, and his various missteps have left traditional conservatives puzzled and restless. His rebuilding plan for the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast, though, is loaded with conservative ideas, and it's Bush's 'œbest chance to prove to skeptical Republicans that his approach deserves to govern their party. It's also probably his last.'

In Congress, said Gloria Borger in U.S. News & World Report, most Republicans have already written Bush off. A group of them, led by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, has even proposed something called 'œOperation Offset''”a series of spending cuts aimed at reclaiming the GOP's mantle of fiscal responsibility. Behind the scenes, these disgruntled conservatives are now making plans for what they're calling the 'œpost-Bush Republican party.'

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Bush has certainly been less than inspiring, said Jonah Goldberg in National Review Online, but I suspect the current Republican malaise isn't wholly his fault. When our party was in the political wilderness, it was exhilarating to stage our assault on the liberal establishment. Now that Republicans have won over the electorate, and we run both the executive and legislative branches, we're stuck with trading pork for votes, with cronyism'”with all the unpleasant compromises that come with governing. 'œRunning things is better than the alternative, but some days that just doesn't feel like it's good enough.'

Jacob Weisberg

Slate.com